[onlymedid]

For some reason, every time I am doing something, I get these negative/bad thoughts in my head. Some examples would be:
-when I am cutting something like veggies, my mind goes to 'what if you cut yourself and you are bleeding really bad and you are dying on the floor and no one can hear your cries or you can't make it to the phone?'

-when I have chest pain I think 'what if I am having a heart attack and I collapse and am unable to get the the phone to call 911?'

-when my BF was taking a plane to and from cali, 'what if the plane crashes, no one can contact me, he dies alone and I am without him for the rest of my life?' and on this one it came up at work and I was so into my thoughts that I actually started to cry at work!

These are just a few of the ways that my mind goes ALL the TIME! My BF says that I just need to think more positive thoughts, but when I try, those end up negative too!

It is really exhausting and frustrating to live like this and yet....I have NO idea how to change it.

Any thoughts or ideas would be helpful at this point.

Thanks

I do exactly the same thing. An example: My husband & I were hiking on an extremely popular hiking trail on a beautiful Sat. morning & there was no one else on the trail--very strange. I immediately thought: We have not been watching the news. There is probably a serial killer on the loose in the area & the police have warned everyone to stay inside. Real reason: The parking lot was closed for repaving & since we can walk to the trail from our house we didn't go to the parking lot or see it. NOT A NORMAL THOUGHT.

I am going to Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (originally designed for those with borderline personality disorder, but now finding it helpful for basically anyone with difficulties in the mental health realm; I'm bipolar). It is like a class with a manual & we have homework assignments, but it has been SO HELPFUL in getting me to regulate my emotions & step back from my escalating irrational thoughts & start to think in a more rational way. They call it using the "wise mind." For once, I have hope of learning a new way of thinking & reacting emotionally to things (like appropriately).

For more info: www.tara4bpd.org

www.behavioraltech.com

1-888-4-TARA APD

Call the head of the nearest university dept. of psychiaty or psychology in your community & ask for a referral to a DBT program.

Call the commissioner of the state, county or city office of Mental Health & ask for a referral to a DBT program.

All DBT therapists must receive specific training & be certified.

If you cannot find a DBT program in your area, try Recovery, Inc. (a self-help free of charge program that usually meets monthly). I have attended this group & found it very helpful, as well.

Good luck from one negative & scary thought person (though I do see progress in decreasing the amount & intensity of them) to another.--Suzy

[Zloppy]

I have the same thoughts as well. I thought that they are considered more of Paranoia.

[gimmeice]

(((((((((((((( onlymedid ))))))))))))))
I have the same kind of thoughts, I always just figured it was a part of anxiety. I really wish I could find a way to make those thoughts go away.

[Sannah]

After I recovered from anxiety I realized that when you are anxious you are just keyed up and your brain just has to find something to think about. This is why I think that our minds just grab at anything to occupy it. Now that I am recovered my mind is relaxed and so now I find myself thinking sometimes "Hmmm, what should I think about". I used to grab onto thoughts and they would just keep recirculating through my mind.

[bananasarecool]

im the same way.
its anxiety.
it WILL get better.

[e_sort]

uncomfortable, intrusive, unwanted throughts are a symptom of OCD. believe me i have enjoyed many a lovely hour this way. most of mine are too unpleasant to detail but there was a long period of car accidents.

http://psychcentral.com/disorders/sx25.htm

http://ocdonastick.blogspot.com/2007...-thoughts.html

[onlymedid]

Thanks everyone! Really!

I hope this doesn't sound completely wrong, but it's nice to hear that I am not alone. That others suffer from the same thing. It's nice to know that there may be some help, too!

Suzy, thank you for the info and the links. I will have to check them out and see if that is something that would feel safe enough for me to venture into. It's promising hearing about your experience and I appreciate you sharing it with me!

e_sort, I never would have thought about OCD. Gosh, reading about it sounds SO much like me and what I go through. Honestly, when thinking of OCD I would always think of someone that does the same thing over and over again, like hand washing. I didn't think about the obsessive part!

Thank you all, again! I don't feel so....like....an outcast or something.

[Zloppy]

Haha, yeah. OCD is more than washing your hands hundreds of times and germs. :P

[e_sort]

Originally Posted by onlymedid

e_sort, I never would have thought about OCD. Gosh, reading about it sounds SO much like me and what I go through. Honestly, when thinking of OCD I would always think of someone that does the same thing over and over again, like hand washing. I didn't think about the obsessive part!

yeah that is exactly what i said when the therapist told me what she thought my problem was. "but i don't count things or touch doorknobs twenty times or wash my hands over and over" says i. everyone thinks about the germ thing, so it never occurred to me as a diagnosis. then a psychiatrist said the same thing, and to put the cherry on top, i got 23 on the OCD quiz here.

i've heard different things about whether something like 'pure O' OCD exists. not really in my case as I also used to do a lot of checking, but some people say the thoughts are mental compulsions.

anyway i'm glad to be of help sort of, "help" anyway.

[Perzephone]

Have you tried the rubber band method?

Get a thick rubber band that will fit around your wrist (but not tightly) & every time you have one of the negative thoughts, snap your wrist with it & redirect your mind to something pleasant or at least neutral. It's sort of a stop-gap method, but you can retrain your mind to seek other diversions than worst-case scenarios.

[e_sort]

Originally Posted by Perzephone

Have you tried the rubber band method?

Get a thick rubber band that will fit around your wrist (but not tightly) & every time you have one of the negative thoughts, snap your wrist with it & redirect your mind to something pleasant or at least neutral. It's sort of a stop-gap method, but you can retrain your mind to seek other diversions than worst-case scenarios.

this might help but personally it never worked for me. it was suggested to me as a stop-gap, along with meditating, which i couldn't do either. the whole point of obsessing is that i can't pause in obsessing to snap a rubber band, and if i do, i go right back to obsessing afterward!

but I did try it and so should you. i just say this so you don't get even more anxious if it doesn't work.

if it's the middle of the night sometimes it helped to get up and watch tv. sometimes. before i got diagnosed i was drinking a lot and taking sleeping pills. which worked in the very short term but had their own lovely side effects and i don't recommend it.

[onlymedid]

Hmm, I haven't tried to rubber band method before. Maybe I will have to try that out!

Thanks for the ideas!

I am going to talk to T about it next Monday to see what we may be able to figure out.