Never ending intrusive thoughts....

[Friday]

Yep. Very much relate, although it's infinitely better these days.

A few years back, when my past broke open I couldn't stop remembering. Some were flashbacks, some were memories. Sometimes it was a flood, other times a blurring of past and present, most jarringly it was often this hugely violent worlds-collide! between past & present, or past & past, or multiple pasts & present. Major clusterf*ck in my head.

Between flashbacks, memories, panic attacks, & rage storms... It was eating about 10-15 hours out of my day, most days. Although sometimes it was constant and I'd lose days/weeks to being locked in my past, I could usually push through by the end of the day to being mostly here. And then all of my dreams at night. By last year it had been cut in half to about 5 hours a day, most days, and nightmare cycles instead of nightmares every night.

 

[Freida]

hen my past broke open I couldn't stop remembering. Some were flashbacks, some were memories. Sometimes it was a flood, other times a blurring of past and present, most jarringly it was often this hugely violent worlds-collide! between past & present, or past & past, or multiple pasts & present. Major clusterf*ck in my head.

@Friday Yes!!!! that is exactly what's happening! I held it together for a long time by keeping my brain so busy (70-80 hour work weeks n such) that I could stuff it away. When I couldn't do that anymore it just rushed in. Now its mostly a constant drone ...with forays into sheer panic. I haven't hit anger yet, but I know its coming....

 

[Super CoolTM]

Reality check please!

Does anyone else have intrusive thoughts running in their head constantly? I don...

I have OCD. How I cope with it is "I understand I am having these thoughts, but it will not help if I think of this." This is really hard, but you need to accept these thoughts. It will stop once you do. Just keep doing it until your brain realizes it doesn't affect you. Best of luck

 

[The Albatross]

Compulsive intrusive thoughts and overthinking are common and can become behavioral thinking patterns. Anthony has good articles in the archive about thinking patterns, but I liked " Eating, Drinking Overthinking: The Toxic Triangle of Food, Alcohol, and Depression--and How Women Can Break Free" by Susan Nolen-Hoeksema

 

[EveHarrington]

Not sure where the line between intrusive thoughts and flashbacks are, but never have I ever had a full immersion flashback where I've forgotten where I am, when I am, etc. (And yes, they are flashbacks.)

 

[Victory]

Yes, it happens to me all the time, and it makes me want to scream. I can't figure out why, but the thoughts are very intrusive right now, without any kind of identifiable trigger. It sucks and I don't know how to make them stop. Thanks for opening up this dialogue. It helps to know that I'm not alone in this hell. If you find a magical way to stop the merry-go-round from hell, please share. I'll be waiting...

 

[Kristi]

Reality check please!

Does anyone else have intrusive thoughts running in their head constantly? I don...

I feel like I know a bit of what you mean.

My brain is like the energizer bunny. I feel as if it never stops or slows down. If it does, it's such a small amount of time that I cannot even remember.

Daymares, nightmares and dissociation have filled every moment of these last 3 weeks.

Will it ever end.....

 

[Victory]

I feel like I know a bit of what you mean.

My brain is like the energizer bunny. I feel as if it never...

I'm finally, finally getting some relief. 3 days ago I started taking GNC 750 mg GABA pills, 3 times a day. I even slept through the night for the first time in years. Wahoo! I've read several articles on GABA supplementation, some saying it doesn't work because of the blood/brain barrier, and other articles saying that GABA causes depression, but so far it's working for me. Keep your fingers crossed that this isn't just a fluke!

 

[simplysawa]

Yes, it happens to me all the time, and it makes me want to scream. I can't figure out why, but the th...

It may not be the case, but you may want to look at a list of known triggers for mind control. Its possible you could find one that rings a bell. What i found from research is there are a good number of trigger words,phrases and particular songs that were used as specific triggers. I realize this is totally different from being triggered by a smell or something, but when it comes to the intrusive thoughts, i have a feeling they are connected. The one trigger i found was a song, i was not aware it was a trigger or that it effected me till i read the list and the song with the accompanying message that it was intended to send. When this piece was put in place and matched my experience and the persistent thoughts i was getting, it was hard to deny this as possible. Now that i knew the trigger i thought about it and realized the song had been popping in my head a lot around the time the thoughts started, it was in my head so much i would sing it as i did chores, had no clue i was triggering myself more. Since k became i aware of it, i think it helped reduce the thoughts a little

 

[Freida]

@Victory that's going on my list for my next naturopath appointment!!

@simplysawa one of my biggest triggers is the sound of football games on tv. It was the soundtrack for one of my fun filled adventures and it took a long time to connect the sound with wanting to throw up and then even longer to start looking at why. I don't think it was intentionally used as control but it definitely left an impact

 

[simplysawa]

@Victory that's going on my list for my next naturopath appointment!!

@s...

absolutely, it does take a long time to figure these things out. I really feel i stumbled on it. I was researching something that i didn't realise would trigger, i hadn't really been triggered much, at least to my knowledge, and wasn't researching my own memory, just happened to come across some stuff that made sense, and even though its scary it gave me some relief, it made some things make sense, and to have a little less mystery with myself is a good thing