How do you deal with your intrusive thoughts?

So I get a lot of intrusive thoughts, sometimes it's hard to control them.... and wonder how you cope with them?

Thanks

I don't try to control thoughts, I either just keep bringing them back to something "I" want to think about or I get busy/engrossed in doing something that takes a lot of attention and that I find more interesting. The middle of the night can be hard for me though since I'm "captive" in bed. If I have trouble for too long though, I get up and go downstairs and immerse myself in a book or project for awhile so when I get more tired I can go back to bed and have something to continue thinking about while I fall back asleep.

Hi there,

I learned from a very good T that trying to "control" the intrusive thoughts, or push them away, makes things worse. It took a lot of work...but I learned to let my thoughts flow by, including intrusive ones. The thing is, it doesn't matter WHAT the thoughts are, but HOW we react to them.

My T and I would do meditation together where we'd practice mindfulness...watching our thoughts flow by and allowing them to happen, no matter how "bad" I thought they were. It's much harder than it seems. Hopefully this technique can work for you.

I don't think I really control them...but I'm learning how to not let them control me.

I have had intrusive thoughts for a very long time...since I was a child. Grew up in an abusive environment with lots of trauma and now live with PTSD. I find the thoughts and memories popping up pretty much all day long. It's like they are a CD stuck on repeat....they just keep looping in no particular order. There is rarely a moment in my day when I do not have the thoughts of horrible things that have happened in my head.

For a long time, I would have anxiety attacks over these thoughts. I was convinced I was going to go crazy. I have never equated these thoughts with OCD. I always thought they were related to the PTSD, but I know I have other OCD traits like picking, pulling my hair, and sometimes needing to repeat things that I say or have heard others say. I wonder how much of this is OCD vs PTSD...or maybe they just blend in together?

I've been in therapy for six years working on my issues and I've gotten to the point where I can almost ignore the thoughts. They are still there, but it's like they are just a noise in the background....like the wind blowing or a bird chirping. I have been able to pull myself away from them and just let them be. Sometimes I am more successful than others.

I also can't stop thinking about death. Always I have thought about death. My death...how I would die, what it would feel like seconds before I died....and when I am driving down the freeway and I see plastic bags on the side of the freeway or rolled up carpets on the side of the road...I constantly think there are dead people in them. Same thing with forested areas. I took my dog for a walk in a nature park yesterday and it was a great relaxing walk....but the whole time the thought that I was going to find someone dead along the path kept playing in my head. It doesn't freak me out as much as it used to, but it does get annoying from time to time.

I too have been plagued with intrusive thoughts for a very long time and its probably been one of my most crippling sagas associated with my mental health concerns...Unfortunately out of all the years ive been havin therapy/counselling/support group/ hospital/ and meds nothin has yet isolated this problem with my existing mental health issues....But may i add that perhaps it may be an isolated case to me that nothin has worked,Yet to this one individual (being me).Its basically hindered me from a lot of forward momentum since i was first diagnosed with ocd and the intrusive thoughts have just been that extra baggage i really didnt want...However ive tried techniques to deal with it but i generally would leave a place or an an environmment at a drop of a hat unceremoniously when intrusive thoughts came on and walk it off taking deep breaths and would generally go away and do some menial task like cleaning tile grout off a bathroom wall with a tooth brush to desensitize thought(s)..Bizarre but zen!!!!!!!!!!!! all mindfullness...Please dont despair as im sure there must be approches and alternative ways to deal with this issue, and im confident youre on the right path being on this site for starters with a smorgasboard of opinions and techniques from so many wonderful souls to alleviate this burden youre comfronted with....Please take care and hope you find some comfort and resolution with any of youre concerns!!!! Best wishes.

Hey its hard for me to control my thoughts and it does sucks cause when I am talking to somebody then the thoughts are there and its hard for me to focus on the person Iam talking too.

I've been trying mindfulness and cognitive restructuring lately. I was trying to put myself in the moment by learning sign language and spelling out a sort of here and now affirmation when intrusive thoughts came... but it was starting to turn in to a compulsion. What I find works best for me looking back is a combination of faith (99%) and exposure response prevention (1%). Much easier said than done, I know... it takes patience and perseverance.

if you try to block them out they will only get worse try to do something to sway your mind from thinking whatever thought might be going on @ that moment, the thought will not go away but maybe gone for the moment

Hji what meds do u find best for ocd intrusive thoughts how long for meds to work

My T has told me over and over again I have to let those thoughts in. I have to find a way to deal with them or simply have my brain "Skip over" my thoughts. I'm no where near the point of being able to do that now, but I am slowly working on it. Saying "STOP!" helps sometimes, but not very often. Are you working with a therapist? Is (s)he giving you coping strategies?

To the poster who asked about medication. I am on 150mg of Zoloft which helps with my generalized anxiety, postpartum depression and OCD. I've gone through many dose changes, but I am starting to feel like I finally may be at a dose tat is working for me.

I too have struggled with intrusive thoughts for years. For a while, I was able to deal with them by actually, shutting my brain down and making it go blank. (Sort of like imagining I was in a coma or something and just not thinking about anything at all.) But, I can no longer do this and haven't been able to for a couple of years now. The intrusive thoughts have gotten stronger and now, I am no match. During the day, I can occasionally fight them by submerging myself in my studies (grad school) or in my work at the hospital but at night in the dark when there is no noise and nothing to distract. The thoughts overpower me and I have to take 100 mg of Elavil in order to be able to get any sleep at all and even then at times, it is a struggle to shut my mind down and try to rest.

So, I am not really sure I know how to help you solve your dilemna. I think this is something that most of us with OCD battle with on a regular basis and yet, it is also something that has to be solved on an individual basis. I don't think the same solution works for everyone. I hope you can find your solution and have some peace of mind soon. I hope we all can.

Cathy