They believe that friends and loved ones will reject them if they knew. They worry that these thoughts reflect who they “really are” deep down. People who struggle with intrusive thoughts can become sidelined by shame, guilt, or anxiety. 1 More often than not, people simply dismiss them because they’re so “out there.” A particular thought may make you pause long enough to ask yourself, “Whoa, where did that come from?!” but then you move on.įor some folks, though, intrusive thoughts become incredibly disruptive because they arise with great frequency, or because the person finds them so disturbing that they have a hard time letting them go. ![]() Yet, research suggests that intrusive thoughts are a near-universal human experience. We don’t talk about intrusive thoughts all that much, probably because the content is often violent or sexual in nature. It’s not that you want or intend to do so, but you realize that you could stand up and yell obscenities in church, kiss a stranger on the bus, or ram your car into the car in front of you at the stoplight. ![]() Usually, they involve imagining yourself, just for a moment, doing something dangerous, harmful to others, or socially inappropriate. I’m talking about those odd or disturbing thoughts that pop into your head seemingly out of nowhere. This may also be a helpful approach to get rid of negative thoughts.Chances are, you’ve experienced intrusive thoughts. Similar to acceptance, Buddhist mindfulness meditation promotes an attitude of compassion and non-judgement towards the thoughts that flit through the mind. Just watch them march by.” ( Marcks & Woods, 2005, p. Do not argue with the signs, or avoid them, or make them go away. I want you to allow the soldiers to march by in front of you, like a little parade. Imagine that they are coming out of your ears on little signs held by marching soldiers. “Struggling with your target thought is like struggling in quicksand. Here are the instructions from one study which found it decreased participants’ distress: Acceptance of intrusive thoughtsĪlong similar lines, but not so direct, there’s some evidence that trying to accept unwanted thoughts rather than doing battle with them can be beneficial. This approach is not for the faint-hearted, but research suggests it can be useful to get rid of negative thoughts when used by those tackling obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviour. It’s based on the long-established principle of ‘exposure therapy’: this is where, for example, arachnophobes are slowly but surely exposed to spiders, until the fear begins to fade. It seems paradoxical that focusing in on a thought might help it go away, but some research suggests this can work. What if, instead of trying to suppress a worrying repetitive thought about, say, death, you head straight for it and concentrate on it? So save up all your worrying for a designated period and this may ease your mind the rest of the time. Some studies suggest that people find this works as a way of side-stepping thought suppression. Researchers have tried asking those with persistent intrusive thoughts to postpone their worrying until a designated 30-minute ‘worry period’. While continuously trying to suppress a thought makes it come back stronger, postponing it until later can work. In fact, rather than being a distraction, stress makes the unwanted thoughts come back stronger, so it certainly should not be used as a way of avoiding intrusive thoughts. When tested scientifically, this turns out to be a bad approach. ![]() The thinking here is that the rush will leave little mental energy for the thoughts that are troubling us. Avoid stressĪnother intuitive method for avoiding persistent thoughts is to put ourselves under stress. That’s because aimless mind wandering is associated with unhappiness it’s better to concentrate on, say, a specific piece of music, a TV programme or a task. Distraction does work but, oddly enough, studies suggest it is better to distract yourself with one thing, rather than letting the mind wander.
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