Intrusive Thoughts - Any Tips On Exorcising Them?

[Leah123]

Hi all,

One issue that's really been hurting me lately is having intrusive thoughts, mostly upon going to bed, but also throughout the day now. They're so uncomfortable, and I just have no practical idea how to get through and over them. I'm in therapy, but... this is a hard issue to discuss and I don't have a sense of any concrete fix yet. Maybe I'm being too optimistic to hope for one, but... in the same way I've learned tricks, techniques, and strategies for anxiety attacks, outbursts, and even a couple for dissociation that help a little, I hoped some of you might have good experiences with tackling this symptom? It's really messing up my days, you know, what should be pretty good days, except for stress and sleep issues and these awful thoughts.

Thanks in advance for any replies at all.

 

[Deleted member 1860]

I've tried everything under the sun. Intrusive thoughts are one of my worst symptoms. Neurofeedback helps slow down my mind in general, but talking to God/Angels is the only thing that instantly stops it in its tracks. (No harm intended if you're not religious/spiritual)

 

[JustBe]

I keep my audiobooks, music and podcasts on 24/7.

 

[Leah123]

Sigh... I've been thinking about trying to take some music to bed... I'm not super-technically minded about those things, but it's a good idea Movin'On, thank you, maybe... maybe a chance to get out ahead of those thoughts.

I am working on slowing down my mind too, ScaredOfLonely, and I do try sometimes to visualize a helpful presence, like real life angels or archetypes of powerful women, but... I don't know, it's a struggle. Those thoughts sneak up on me, quick strikes, stealing the moments and turning them dark.

 

[Lost Pup]

I've found EFT and meditation helpful.

I also like a practice given to me by a clinician friend called "shaking and dancing" that is basically just what it sounds like.

For 5-10 minutes, you shake fiercely like a rag-doll, which decreases catecholamine levels. This is then followed by a similar amount of time dancing to music of your liking which, I think, mostly just sort of re-programs the stuck energy and gets some endorphins going.

Hope this helps - it is such a drag when all is well in the here and now but the past comes back to haunt...

 

[GeorgiaOnMyMind]

Hi, I am brand new on here, but I am going through some PTSD and having intrusive thoughts every single day, because I have a runaway imagination. They are mostly in the form of scary imaginary scenarios--but even though they're imaginary, my body/mind reacts like they're reality. I'm finding it helpful just to practice asking myself some kind of "Is that real?" question.

Like, if I'm going downstairs and I suddenly visualize a stranger waiting for me at the bottom, I ask myself, "Is going downstairs a risky behavior?" The answer is "no." So I know that my visualization is not reality--it's just a made-up scenario, and I don't need to be scared.

This sounds ridiculously basic but I'm finding it pretty helpful...apparently my brain is actually having trouble distinguishing between real dangers and imaginary ones. I don't know if it will help for you, too, but I hope so!

 

[franciemarnie]

So many great ideas here. Some I do, some I'm going to try.

Late at night when I want to avoid them most intensely, I watch a certain show that rivets me. It took me all my life to find one so I consider it a blessing indeed. I have reruns recorded and it doesn't bother me a bit to rewatch.

I also look thru magazines and cut out images that resonate with me in a positive or strengthening way, and then I glue them onto sheets of paper in a way that is meaningful to me.

Sometimes I sit with the thought or thoughts in mindful meditation depending in the nature of the intrusion. There might be something there I need to pay attention to or work on healing.

I bought the book Shamanic Journeying by Ingerman from Amazon and it came with a CD with drumming tracks on it which put your brain in a meditative state. I love that. It does most of the work for me! She has suggestions as to what you might focus on, but really you can choose whatever imagery or whatever yourself.

 

[Mayday]

Something I was told recently that I've found a bit helpful, is when I found myself having those thoughts was to acknowledge them. For instance I will say to myself "here I am having those self hating thoughts again". But all I'm doing is acknowledging that I'm having the thoughts, I'm not trying to "fix" them. Somehow, just doing that, gives me a bit of distance from the thoughts. I suppose similar to being detached (which I am so good at in real life anyway!) but detached from my thought.

For some reason, it makes it easier once I'm a bit detached from the thoughts to then ignore them or not pay so much attention to them. It's a technique based on ACT Therapy (Acceptance Commitment Therapy).

 

[Leah123]

I'm really struggling with this: having thoughts about my abuser, at the worst moments, it's therapy, of course, dredging it all up- they just... make me feel so uncomfortable, just cold and shut down. I don't know the way through them. I try to acknowledge them sometimes, but still feels like I'm losing a lot of what could be much nicer times to them. Sigh.

 

[Mayday]

sorry to hear that Leah...it sucks having to deal with the after effects of abuse for so long. I wish there was some way to surgically remove certain thoughts so that they could just be gone for good.

 

[Lost Pup]

Leah, do you have a meditation practice?

Some forms of meditation are based on emptying the mind of thoughts while others are about just simply noticing thoughts come and go and ultimately seeing how fleeting they are. Tough work when you have PTSD/intrusive thoughts, but helpful.

I have a meditation practice that is based in the latter and it has been extremely helpful to me in dealing with similar sorts of things as you are right now.

I hope things ease up soon.

Best, LP

 

[Leah123]

Thank you LP. I used to meditate and found it very helpful, but got out of practice, and now I find the way I feel so uncomfortable sometimes that being more mindful of it seems like a terrible idea, lol. I'm been meaning to work on this again though, sigh, sure it should get better with practice again.