Life Issues area of the chat is a useful tool, yeah.
Personally, my brain is always very active so it's less a matter of trying to get it to quiet down (impossible) as it is occupying it so thoroughly that there's no room for it to hare off somewhere on its ownsome.
Which is also a challenge.
Attempting to learn a new language is a useful method for me, and so is picking up a new form of skill of any other type (I once stumbled over an estate sale where they were selling a laundry basket full of random instruments. I have no idea what that person did while they were alive, but I bargained the sellers down to a price I could afford, took them all home, and have been slowly turning the neighbors deaf with caterwauling as I try them all out).
Puzzles and riddles and games are also sometimes useful.
None of this is actually avoiding my own thoughts, though, it's just trying to direct them down specific channels.
Also, I regulate my moods via the books I read (and I read a lot, because frankly I'm a mess). Because, for whatever reason, I tend to be easily emotionally influenced by books, if I find ones that evoke certain emotions in me, I can revisit the book to bring back that specific mood.
If I've reread a book often enough, sometimes I can even shortcut the process by going straight to the specific chapter, or even passage, that did it for me, and just rereading that.
I tend to gravitate towards young-adult novels, as with some obvious exceptions they tend to be more optimistic in their worldview, and be self-empowering (coming-of-age is all about finding one's own power, after all, so it's a good one to reach for when I feel powerless).
Anyhow, that's how I try to cope with life. Maybe it can be of some help to you.
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