I have intrusive thoughts on occasion but over the years have learned to be an observer of them and use them as a trigger to see how to improve my self care and balance. They can be distressing though, for sure. In my younger years I had some very very distressing thoughts. I could get caught thinking about terrible things that were going to happen to myself or other people. Before getting on meds I was obsessively thinking about how I would ruin my children and what terrible things would happen to them. In truth it's a relief to have some respite from those thoughts.

Reading a book on Mindfulness Meditation right now... reminds me of the technique to just be an observer of the thoughts and let them float by as leaves on a river.... I really like Almeera's post - what her pdoc said about psychopaths having no empathy and the truth of it is that we have empathy and guilt about our thoughts.