Print Intrusive thoughts are unwanted thoughts or images that seem to repeatedly come out of nowhere. Intrusive thoughts are like uninvited guests, showing up unexpectedly and bringing along a host of emotions—distress, anxiety, tension, embarrassment, shame, and even disgust. It can feel like you have no control over these intrusive thoughts. Common intrusive thoughts range from doubts about relationships to concerns about safety, religion, death, or unsettling aggressive and sexual thoughts. Sometimes, they’re just random thoughts that defy any logic!
This article will focus on understanding intrusive thoughts. By understanding our intrusive thoughts, you’ll gain the tools to detach yourself from them, ultimately reducing the distress they bring.
Understanding intrusive thoughts
Intrusive thoughts are a common symptom in various mental health conditions, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), where they are part of the diagnostic criteria (obsessions). Additionally, stress, anxiety, and even physiological factors, like hormonal fluctuations, can trigger intrusive thoughts. Nonetheless, it is important to understand that everyone experiences peculiar, violent, inappropriate, intrusive thoughts from time to time and that they are a normal part of the human experience. In fact an international study found that 94% of people reported experiencing intrusive thoughts at some point in their lives, showing that you are far from alone in experiencing these thoughts. You can read more about common intrusive thoughts people have in this article.
Intrusive thoughts can be very explicit and intense which can lead to feelings of guilt or shame about them. You might even be worried that you will act out on the thoughts you have in your mind or that they say something about you as a person! One common myth is that these thoughts say something about your unconscious desires or intentions. As a result you can end up worrying about them, and trying to ‘’fight’’, control them or push them away. While a completely understandable response it is unfortunately actually this meaning you attach to these thoughts and the effort you put into controlling and struggling with them which paradoxically makes them stick and keeps them coming back.
Coping with intrusive thoughts
In reality, our thoughts, even scary or unsettling ones, are just ‘’thoughts’’—they don’t necessarily define us or hold significant meaning. Learning that the content of these thoughts is often irrelevant and unimportant and nothing more than words or pictures in our mind can help you to detach yourself from them and learn to manage them. When it comes to managing intrusive thoughts, it’s crucial to label them as intrusive and treat them as though they’re uninteresting distractions. Over time, this approach will help these thoughts fade away.
Here are some tips that can help you to effectively manage intrusive thoughts:
- When you notice an intrusive thought, label the thoughts as ‘’intrusive’’. This will help you to to distance yourself from these thoughts and not take them too seriously.
- Remember that the thoughts are automatic and you cannot control them. Understanding that thoughts arise without your control diminishes self-blame and reduces anxiety about having them.
- Accept the thoughts and any associated feelings and allow them to be there without fighting them or criticising yourself for experiencing them. This will help to reduce their intensity and the distress they cause.
- Continue with what you are doing prior to the intrusive thought and be persistent in bringing your attention back to activity. Redirecting focus back to your current activity helps in grounding yourself in the present, reducing the thought’s hold over your attention
- Try not to engage with the thought or push it out of your mind. Fighting or struggling with the thought will amplify its presence and bring it to your attention.
- Try not to figure out what the thought ‘’means’’ or says about you. Avoiding over-analysis of the thought’s meaning prevents unnecessary self-judgement and reduces the likelihood of spiralling into further negative thoughts
- Try not to keep checking whether you were able to get rid of the thought and try to focus on the present moment. Focusing on the present instead of monitoring the thought helps in breaking the cycle of rumination and reduces its recurrence.
While these tips can be difficult to apply and take a lot of practice. Persisting with this approach should help the frequency and intensity of your intrusive thoughts to decrease in the long term!
Sources:
- https://accesscbt.co.uk/thinking-errors-and-cognitive-distortions-in-ocd/
- https://adaa.org/learn-from-us/from-the-experts/blog-posts/consumer/unwanted-intrusive-thoughts
- Richard Moulding, Meredith E. Coles, Jonathan S. Abramowitz, Gillian M. Alcolado, Pino Alonso, Amparo Belloch, Martine Bouvard, David A. Clark, Guy Doron, Héctor Fernández-Álvarez, Gemma García-Soriano, Marta Ghisi, Beatriz Gómez, Mujgan Inozu, Adam S. Radomsky, Giti Shams, Claudio Sica, Gregoris Simos, Wing Wong. Part 2. They scare because we care: The relationship between obsessive intrusive thoughts and appraisals and control strategies across 15 cities. Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders, 2014.
