Dealing with intrusive thoughts ?
 

Just wondering if anyone has had issues with this and how they dealt with them. You know , those thoughts that just pop in all of a sudden , often attached with fear or anxiety , kind of like shock jock thoughts that go way against your normal character ,. I've read that they happen to a lot of people and take many forms for different people . Some worse than others. Or maybe if anyone has read any channelings that address intrusive thoughts? thanks

See the intrusive thoughts as being symptoms of an underlying negative emotional state. Rather than trying to get rid of them by dealing with the thoughts individually, take them in stride when they appear and focus on healing the negative emotional core that they are coming from. When the negative emotion that they come from is gone, the intrusive thoughts will no longer appear.

Think of how you feel as being like a magnet that attracts thoughts that reflect that feeling.

For example, if you feel bad about yourself, it attracts thoughts or memories that reflect that feeling - so you might remember a time you hurt someone that you regret or imagine a scenario in which you make a mistake. The thoughts or memories might be about different things on the surface but they will reflect the underlying feeling that is attracting them.

So 2 things:

1. Do something consistently every day that helps you feel a little better.
2. If there is something specific that's bugging you, find a way to resolve it.

For me, that's usually affirmations or energy meditations. Do whatever works for you.

As for how to handle the intrusive thoughts when they come up, here are 2 things you can try:

• The Sedona Method
• When they appear, don't resist them (push them away) - embrace the thoughts and feelings with love. Think of intrusive thoughts as being like small children who are in pain and are coming to you for comfort.

If you take the intrusive thought personally/seriously (get worked up about it), you will reinforce the negative emotion they are coming from and that will just perpetuate the situation and lead to more in the future. So respond in a way that diffuses or neutralizes their emotional charge. Or release the negative emotion to improve how you feel as quickly as possible.

If you aren't able to resolve the specific thing that's bugging you, just focus on lifting your overall mood. When you feel better, how you think and feel about what was bugging you before may change, or you may come up with a solution from your higher state.

It's possible for a situation to remain the same but neutralize negative feelings surrounding it by changing how you think about it or by working with the negative feelings themselves. That's a much bigger topic, though.


A real life example:

There's a part of me that wants growth or expansion. A way that I meet that need is to do something every day that moves me in that direction - usually some spiritual activity, like meditation, or energywork or some kind. If I neglect or stop doing that activity, it bugs me a bit. Not always enough to notice in a single day but, over time, I gradually start feeling worse about myself, less confident, and powerless (I don't feel in control of myself or my life).

When those underlying negative feelings get strong enough, intrusive thoughts start appearing - usually in the form of painful memories and imagined situations that scare me.

When I restart the activity, the intrusive thoughts start appearing less and less, and usually vanish entirely in a week or so. The activities I do usually have a positive effect on my emotional state by themselves, so I'm both lifting my emotional state and removing the cause (stopping doing the thing that I felt bad about in the first place).

This is something that has happened with me many times over the years and this approach has always worked for me.

Razzer. Just for the record, EVERYONE has those unwanted thoughts that you are talking about, so you aren’t on your own.

The unwanted thought is NOT the problem, it’s the associated thoughts about it, that is the problem. That is, when the unwanted thought comes up, we have to nip it in the bud before it escalates down a path that we do not want to go down. It’s a bit like stopping a small snow ball rolling down a hill and becoming enormous by the time it gets to the bottom.

What works for me is to acknowledge the thought and say, “actually I don’t need to think about you right now”. And then STRAIGHT AWAY i bring to my awareness another thought that is pleasant, which in turn, takes me down a different path instead.

I’ve been doing this for years and it really does work. Painful thoughts do not stay in my awareness for very long. But it does take a lot of practice.

Hope this is helpful.

I would have To agree with Redchic



Namaste

I've practiced Thought Control since 2007 ...and these Cringe Thoughts still pop in. I talk to them with 1 word, "No!" ---and they vanish.
Then I think of the thought on purpose while doing the Basic EFT technique..found online...an 8 or 9 point tapping
that actually works.
Do the tapping for a few days at each thought and you may be good for a few weeks with none of these stupid things floating in!
WE have an EFT Section here.

"Thoughts are like birds overhead...you can't control them - but you certainly can control whether one makes a nest in your hair!"

Great advice everyone , thanks

When I was a new mom, intrusive thoughts hit me out of the blue. Sudden thoughts of me harming my baby. Right out of a horror movie. I remember one hitting me while she was in my arms and I was coming down the stairs. Fortunately, I was not dealing with any depression and hubs and me had settled into a feeding routine so I got a good chunk of sleep at night. So when the thought came, I was able to just say "huh, that was weird" and toss it aside. According to experts, that is exactly how you should handle them. Acknowledge them and then deliberately think about something else. A favorite song, book, give your brain something else to focus on.


Funny thing is, those danged intrusive thoughts are really common for everyone, including new moms. My OB never said one word about them though. There's a book that has been around for ages called Taming Your Gremlin by Rick Carson. He talks about those authoritative 'voices' in our head that feed our self doubt, anxiety, guilt, fear, etc. and how to disarm them and send 'em packing. Might be worth it to check it out.


I've had decades to think about those intrusive thoughts and I've come to the conclusion that somehow in our hopped-up hormonal brain, our subconscious is actually trying to help us keep our tiny humans safe by alerting us to be aware of possible dangers. But with sleep depravation, it can easily turn into postnatal psychosis and have the very opposite outcome. OBs need to talk more about this to their patients so they can be aware and watch out for early symptoms of depression and get treated for it before it develops to psychosis.

Negative thoughts are ok, we all have them from time to time, don't beat yourself up over them, its the ego that tries desperately to form a reaction, what's important is that you disregard it and surpress it, it always challenges us trying to raise a reaction, it wants us to feel bad, and does a chain reaction of mixed feelings, but remember the difference between feelings and emotions, a feeling is something we invest our time into, and emotions are things we can't control, so you can decide not to invest your feeling into it, being in control of your ego, and rising above it, just swipe it from your mind like you do your phone screen, and switch it to a positivity. The tapping is a great method aswell like miss Hepburn mentioned.

For me my intrusive thoughts get really bad when I do not take my supplements for mental focus and clarity.

I often do things that bring me joy as well, such as listening to music I love listening to, expressing my creativity through fashion and also meditate.

So best thing you can do is find what actually works for you and if it doesn't, check to make sure you're not lacking anything on a chemical level.