Ever had a thought that kept eating at you? One that creates stress and you can’t seem to get past? Sometimes these thoughts come in as you are laying in bed, or in the shower, maybe even when you are driving. These might have even been haunting you for months or years. They seem to come out of nowhere, Right? They can cause a great deal of distress. You might even fear that you may commit the act that is playing across your mind. It is possible that you think the thought means you are broken or bad.
These thoughts come into our head and there are two beliefs that feed them. These could be thoughts of doubts about a relationship. Or maybe what the outcome will be of a decision you have to make. They could be questions about identity. These can be about your safety, religion or spirituality, or even about death. Some people mistakenly think that I'm having these thoughts because I want them to come true. This cannot be farther from what is real. But the effort you put into fighting the thought does make it stick and fuels it return. It is people that love life that have thoughts of suicide. Another myth that we have is that every thought is worth examining. This too is light years from the truth.
So first we have this thought that comes into our mind. The estimate is that these thoughts trouble more than 6 million people in the US. So if you believe you are alone in this problem you are wrong. But after the thought comes if you are like me the thought starts anxious thinking. This anxious thinking gives apparent power to the thought. We try desperately to remove the thought from our mind. All of this only fuels the intensity. As you have experienced they become harder to suppress or distract from.
First off label these thoughts as “intrusive thoughts.”
Remind yourself that these thoughts are not yours, they are automatic thoughts.
Accept the thought, do not push it away.
Ask yourself about the thought:
What can I do?
What can I read?
Who can I ask?
Breathe, slowly and deeply; relax and allow time for the thought to pass
Expect the thought to come back again
Even though the anxiety is still there, return to what you were doing.
Shy away from:
Engaging with the thought
Pushing the thought out
Figuring out what the thoughts mean
Check to see if this is getting rid of the thoughts.
With all of the education we have little of it teaches us how to deal with intrusive thought, feelings. I doubt you had many classes on overcoming depression or anxiety. With the number of people this is a problem for this is of life and death importance.
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