How do you stop thinking about something you never wanted to think about to begin with? I don't know why this happens, but I get disturbing, intrusive images of horrible things that actually cause me to feel physical pain on my body. And I can't make it stop! I know it isn't real, and I try to think about something else, and then it just pops up again. It's been so bad I've had to pull over because I couldn't concentrate on driving or keep a thought running in my head. I think it may have something to do with the fact that I'm so anxious lately.

Specifically, the intrusive thoughts are of torture. (Don't read on if you're squeamish about hands and feet). I have a constant image of a nail stabbing me in the toe, or my knuckles being crushed, or losing my fingernails. My toes are constantly curled up in a ball because it HURTS! I can feel physical pain in my feet every time the image pops up. And it's insistent and repetitive, over and over and over all the time. The more I try not to think about it, the worse it gets. It's like the immediate "ouch" empathetic reaction you get when you see something awful happen to someone in a movie or book...a wince and a flash of sympathetic pain and a shudder. Except then I get stuck there and it doesn't stop. Help me