Poll Do You Have Intrusive Thoughts?

[Marine0311]

I have a lot of triggers, that put me in that twilight. Combat and EMT work. I'm alone a lot and prefer to be alone, but I can see how Intrusive thoughts would ramp up. Never thought about that hmmm. I have no hobbies or Interest in anything, no friends really other than Marine buddies that are far away. I tried Kayaking once and about freaking drowned. I'm proned to accidents. I guess I dont have the fear of death so I take too many risks.

 

[Sinead]

I do quite regularly. They are always worse at night though.

 

[Lucky Laser]

Its when I start having thoughts I can't seem to control that things start getting out of hand. If only I could turn them off! I'm not sure if nightmares are considered intrusive thoughts or not (because I certainly can't help them) but those are probably second worst.

 

[cragger65]

I do have a voice that tells me I'm nothing, and that nothing I do is worth anything. It's amazing, that can be the voice one day, and two days later I'm a good person. WTF? I personally have to reframe my thinking about 200 times a day to avoid "the pit". It's so easy to slide into. Also have a hell of a time changing what I'm thinking about. In one of my CBT books there is a list, "15 ways to break out of a bad mood" but I've never made them work for me. (sigh).

But, not as bad as it was 3 months ago... or a year ago... yikes, don't like to think about that.

Dave

 

[BlankCanvas]

Intrusive thoughts? All the time. They're like a news ticker that gets increasingly bizarre and insane. Sometimes I wonder how the hell I'm capable of thinking up such catastrophes? And then I waste a ton of time and energy either a) getting increasingly afraid that those thoughts are going to come true or that I'm going to act on them or b) trying to counter them with normal, rational thoughts.

It's a constant battle. Sometimes it's less frequent than others.

 

[Josephine]

This is the worst symptom I have. Sometimes I wish I could bang my head against the floor to make them stop(of course I don't). I can only sleep with medication because of this. My brain will not shut off by itself. Sometimes these thoughts go on even while I am sleeping. I wake up exhausted.

 

[Ambience]

The intrusive thoughts go away when my stress levels go down for a continued while, but triggers and general daily living, like work makes them quite prevalent. I sometimes feel like what is the point. This is one of the most tramatising aspects for me.

 

[Insane in York]

I do have intrusive thoughts. The thoughts are not as bad to me though as the memories and flashbacks.

 

[BrownEyes]

I have intrusive thoughts, but I never knew that's what they were. I only found this out since being diagnosed with PTSD a few months ago. I always thought they were just "my way of thinking".

I wouldn't consider them my worst symptom though. They are probably tied in first place along with nightmares and flashbacks.

 

[a3a2]

I get relief from the thoughts when I talk about them at therapy, but then two-three days later...a new one!

Thanks for the poll. Very helpful to read everyones posts.

 

[Dragonfly]

I'm so glad I'm not alone in this

 

[This Ends Now]

I have frequent intrusive thoughts. I did not list them as my "worst" symptom, but it is close. By far the worst of my intrusive thoughts are the ones about torture. Little kids should not be taught was I know... NOBODY should be taught what I know. Sometimes the thoughts get so vivid that I start to loose touch with reality, I get physical sensations like pain and can almost see the things happening. Sometimes when I am the one being harmed, other times I am the one harming someone else. The latter is worse for me than the former, b/c it makes me feel like a monster.

The other intrusive thoughts are bad, don't get me wrong. It is no fun to feel like there are voices in my head telling me to kill myself or that I am worthless or that I am a whore... those thoughts can be overwhelming. I have found that it helps me to scream back at these thoughts and tell them to go f*** themselves.

The visions of torture though... they are so detailed and disturbing. Medication helps somewhat, but I am still looking for a long term solution. I would be grateful if anybody has some suggestions on how to make those thoughts go away.