Intrusive Thoughts

[Shaky]

Hello there. How do you lot (death) deal with intrusive thoughts, then? (your mum on the toilet)

I've been plagued by these for (graphic footage of a flubbed vasectomy) years and alas, have nearly always indulged. Happiness has rarely ensued. I need these gone STAT. Any tips? Real tips that actually work, so I for example stop thinking about my ex shagging other men (your ex shagging other men) or fantasizing about oblivion 24/07?

(your dad nude on a yacht)

[Buelligan]

Heheh.  Have you tried making money out of it?  That's a sure fire way to put the mockers on.

Really sorry to hear it's plaguing you.  Intrusive thoughts are pretty normal, in my experience.  Like most compulsive activities you need to turn the horse's head away, firmly and kindly, every, every, time.  Never indulge these fucks for a moment and they'll get bored and piss off to bother someone else.  Also, never indulge, consciously, the topics that feature in these bothersome thoughts.  So don't look at YT vids or whatever that feature your dad naked on a yacht.

[Emotional Support Peacock]

Wish I knew, my current one is imagining my wife and I suddenly dying and the children starving to death because no one notices.

[ZoyzaSorris]

Just make sure your reality is so disturbing that the intrusive thoughts are actually a relief. Once your brain realises that its sabotages have become helpful it will stop them.

[Tony Tony Tony]

Why not take up a hobby to distract you, like say completing jigsaws?

This should fit the bill...

[Tony Tony Tony]

Also, never indulge, consciously, the topics that feature in these bothersome thoughts.  So don't look at YT vids or whatever that feature your dad naked on a yacht.

Dont suppose you know of any vids of your ex shagging other men? Lots of them.

[sirhenry]

Hello there. How do you lot (death) deal with intrusive thoughts, then? (your mum on the toilet)

I've been plagued by these for (graphic footage of a flubbed vasectomy) years and alas, have nearly always indulged. Happiness has rarely ensued. I need these gone STAT. Any tips? Real tips that actually work, so I for example stop thinking about my ex shagging other men (your ex shagging other men) or fantasizing about oblivion 24/07?

(your dad nude on a yacht)

I think you're suffering from a bad case of spoonerism - try changing the Personal Text under your avatar.

[non capisco]

I find the idea of my dad naked on a yacht hilarious. Him standing on the prow like Simon Le Bon with his knob flapping about in the wind while my mum chastises him in the background. Stop acting the giddy goat, Gerald!

My main stupid thought indulgence is imagining having arguments with people I don't like. I obviously always win these because, here's the trick, I'm controlling the voice of both participants! I think having the other person win the argument would be a sign of my self esteem truly going for a burton.

[Buelligan]

I think you're suffering from a bad case of spoonerism - try changing the Personal Text under your avatar.

Lovely.

[Noodle Lizard]

I think all my thoughts are intrusive. Never really understood the difference.

[Hand Solo]

Knowing what I well know,
Intrusive thoughts don't exist,
Like figments of your imagination,
Like shadows in the mist.

You can control your own mind,
Obviously this is evident,
Usually through meditation,
Ruminations non-emigrant.
So don't fret about such things,
Every dismal adverse citation,
Lapsed cognition should not give to,
Figments of suicide ideation.

[bgmnts]

This is partially where my debilitating fear of heights come in. L'appel du vide, the French call it. I think Celtic peoples are semi desth seekers anyway, always something in the back of the mind.

[Buelligan]

Not sure it's just death and falling down a hole though, it's like your mental conversation has Tourette's. 

[bgmnts]

Well yeah your brain goes "Jump!" and you go eh what the fuck?

I think intrusive thoughts are healthy though, you randomly think "I wonder what would happen if I slowly slid a knife into this man'a neck and pulled it out and watched the blood spurt everywhere." or "I wonder what would happen if I crush this kitten's head with my hand." and it kind of exorcises it I think.

[pancreas]

Shout out loud. Doesn't matter what. Dominate your brain.

'WHAT WILL I COOK TONIGHT'

for example. Has to be out loud.

[Shaky]

I've given meditation a bash before but always gave up quickly. Need to knuckle down and find a method that works before my mind explodes. I get distracted or bored then crushing knowledge of the futility of life seeps in, annoyingly. I know you're told to look at such notions then brush them aside etc but the artifice of the activity is something I need to get used to.

Heheh.  Have you tried making money out of it?  That's a sure fire way to put the mockers on.

Really sorry to hear it's plaguing you.  Intrusive thoughts are pretty normal, in my experience.  Like most compulsive activities you need to turn the horse's head away, firmly and kindly, every, every, time.  Never indulge these fucks for a moment and they'll get bored and piss off to bother someone else. Also, never indulge, consciously, the topics that feature in these bothersome thoughts.  So don't look at YT vids or whatever that feature your dad naked on a yacht.

Ha, thanks Buelligan. You have a lovely way with words. I like the gentle equine gesture followed by sweary abuse. Shit those thoughts right up! I don't own a horse but it's advice I will try to follow.

Just make sure your reality is so disturbing that the intrusive thoughts are actually a relief. Once your brain realises that its sabotages have become helpful it will stop them.

I like this idea up to a point but then... wouldn't I still be trapped in a hellish reality? Or am I overthinking things? So hard to know, natch. Setting fire to my flat now anyway just to see.

I think intrusive thoughts are healthy though, you randomly think "I wonder what would happen if I slowly slid a knife into this man'a neck and pulled it out and watched the blood spurt everywhere." or "I wonder what would happen if I crush this kitten's head with my hand." and it kind of exorcises it I think.

Normal thoughts indeed. But what if I am that man, or that kitten?

[NoOffenceLynn]

Hello there. How do you lot (death) deal with intrusive thoughts, then? (your mum on the toilet)

I've been plagued by these for (graphic footage of a flubbed vasectomy) years and alas, have nearly always indulged. Happiness has rarely ensued. I need these gone STAT. Any tips? Real tips that actually work, so I for example stop thinking about my ex shagging other men (your ex shagging other men) or fantasizing about oblivion 24/07?

(your dad nude on a yacht)

Are you talking about Pure O, which is a form of OCD?
It's rare and misunderstood condition.*
First of all you need to have this mantra "Its not me its my OCD".
A lot of people are ashamed of talking about it as they think it somehow reflects on their character or personality.
The thoughts can be anything from violence to inappropriate extreme sexual thoughts.
Just remember this is not the real you this is OCD talking/thinking this

There is a great book by a Havard professor who has specialised in OCD for over 30 years
Its called Brain Lock by Dr Schwartz and you can pick it on on Amazon. Its considered one of the best books for dealing with Pure O.

Also you can check out his website here hhttp://hope4ocd/foursteps.php its all free no signing up or anything

Good luck with it all, its a horrible debilitating condition but one that you can recover from and live a happy healthy life

*lf l've misunderstood your post apologises and just ignore my post :)

[canadagoose]

Yeah, when I'm not on antidepressants, I end up having these whenever I interact with people, or things, or anything. It used to be quite bad when I was a teenager - the most horrid response to something would come into my head, and I'd be scared it accidentally came out, as well as being ashamed of the thought in the first place. You start to think you're the worst sort of person, and it's not great. Nowadays I still get intrusive thoughts but they tend to be more whimsical and ridiculous. Like seeing something and then mentally starting an HS Art topic in your head based on it.

[greenman]

I'd imagine CaB generally is very OCD, not in the clichéd sense of viewing it as some kind of fastidiousness but rather as a guilt phobia, people being very self aware morally.

[Buelligan]

I'm pretty OCD but luckily it mostly manifests in useful shit like never having mountains of stuff that needs washing and ironing or any washing up hanging about or a messy bathroom.  I lived with a man once, who was very nice, after I left him, he was a bit down so I popped round fairly often on the old motorcycle to bring him cake and so on.  He had a hallway in his house that was about 10 metres long.  Went in and noticed a line of his shoes, all clean, all paired, all along that hallway all the way to somewhere very far away.  I don't have that problem.  I don't even have the money for the shoes.

[bgmnts]

I'd imagine CaB generally is very OCD, not in the clichéd sense of viewing it as some kind of fastidiousness but rather as a guilt phobia, people being very self aware morally.

I'd not associate being conscientious with being OCD.

Unsure if even the flippant usage of OCD is acceptable nowadays, or if it's spacker behaviour.

[flotemysost]

My main stupid thought indulgence is imagining having arguments with people I don't like. I obviously always win these because, here's the trick, I'm controlling the voice of both participants! I think having the other person win the argument would be a sign of my self esteem truly going for a burton.

I get this a lot but it's arguments with people I do like, and they always win, because in my intrusive thoughts everyone I know hates my guts. Self esteem six feet under.

Also get the classic "what if I flash my tits at my boss/spit on this passing baby/kick this homeless person" horrors on a pretty regular basis.

Sorry to hear that anyway, OP. I only know very little about OCD, but the resources in NoOffenceLynn's post definitely sound worth looking into.

This thread also made me think of the Netflix series Pure (I haven't read the memoir it's based on), about a young woman who struggles with intrusive sexual thoughts - I thought the couple of episodes I've watched seemed like a frank and sensitive treatment of a complicated topic, but I understand it could be triggering or uncomfortable for a viewer whose life is being controlled by unwanted thoughts.

[Twit 2]

Shout out loud. Doesn't matter what. Dominate your brain.

'WHAT WILL I COOK TONIGHT'

for example. Has to be out loud.

I have started a form of this. On the way to work, if I sense my day is going to be a struggle, I bellow something in the car, whatever comes into my head, really fucking loud. And/or I shout-sing along to whatever I'm listening to. DANG DANGA DANGA DANG!!! It does sorta work.

[moondogs]

In my darkest times I found that a nice round of golf would allay the worst of my black thoughts.

They were replaced by other thoughts such as 'why am I so shit at golf', 'why am I hooking AND slicing it', or 'it's really fucking cold and wet underfoot'.

Swings and roundabouts.

[bakabaka]

In my darkest times I found that a nice round of golf would allay the worst of my black thoughts.

They were replaced by other thoughts such as 'why am I losing Pennsylvania, 'why am I employing lawyers AND libertarians', or 'it's really fucking cold and wet underfoot'.

Quislings and roustabouts.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

I've noticed when unnecessarily dwelling on failures I'll start this internal, occasionally external babble noise to drown it out, dropkicking the fucker back down the stairs it crawled up into the basement of ignominy. Learning from mistakes is good but letting them chew you up almost for recreational purposes is bad.

[Shaky]

Are you talking about Pure O, which is a form of OCD?
It's rare and misunderstood condition.*
First of all you need to have this mantra "Its not me its my OCD".
A lot of people are ashamed of talking about it as they think it somehow reflects on their character or personality.
The thoughts can be anything from violence to inappropriate extreme sexual thoughts.
Just remember this is not the real you this is OCD talking/thinking this

There is a great book by a Havard professor who has specialised in OCD for over 30 years
Its called Brain Lock by Dr Schwartz and you can pick it on on Amazon. Its considered one of the best books for dealing with Pure O.

Also you can check out his website here hhttp://hope4ocd/foursteps.php its all free no signing up or anything

Good luck with it all, its a horrible debilitating condition but one that you can recover from and live a happy healthy life

*lf l've misunderstood your post apologises and just ignore my post :)

No, you raised some good points. I've considered I might have some form of OCD and have even mentioned it to GPs and psychs in the past, but we always end up discussing anxiety and depression. My thoughts tend to be of the negative self-talk variety - like, ALL the bloody time. I find it hard to do anything without something "bad" popping up about an unrelated activity or conversation. To a lesser extent, also fantasizing about stuff a loved one could be doing or saying that would be upsetting to me. I struggle to break familiar cycles and routines in life too. I'm trying to kick the ol' booze as I use it the stamp out the thoughts so that's, ultimately, got to be a good thing. Just need healthy coping mechanisms and positive distractions to fill that rather large void.

I'll deffo check out those links. Thanks again!

This thread also made me think of the Netflix series Pure (I haven't read the memoir it's based on), about a young woman who struggles with intrusive sexual thoughts - I thought the couple of episodes I've watched seemed like a frank and sensitive treatment of a complicated topic, but I understand it could be triggering or uncomfortable for a viewer whose life is being controlled by unwanted thoughts.

Yeah, that show's been on my mind too. My thoughts aren't as extreme as that but are still intrusive, upsetting, and guilt-inducing enough.

I'm finding that finally being able to admit all this shit is a relief at this stage,, even if the way forward feels long, stark and painful.

You've helped, you lot. Appreciate it.

[Mister Six]

No, you raised some good points. I've considered I might have some form of OCD and have even mentioned it to GPs and psychs in the past, but we always end up discussing anxiety and depression.

Intrusive thoughts can absolutely be a result of anxiety and depression. I have a couple of good pals who had problems with this exact issue, but therapy and medication has helped massively. Are you looking into that?

[itsfredtitmus]

Manifests itself in extreme, focused bouts of manias where I do/say something stupid I might not have  b4

[Shaky]

Intrusive thoughts can absolutely be a result of anxiety and depression. I have a couple of good pals who had problems with this exact issue, but therapy and medication has helped massively. Are you looking into that?

Oh sure, I know there can be a big correlation but I've never had a focused discussion about OCD with any GPs or psychs. That's on me to bring it up again, I suppose. I do take meds and see a counsellor but I struggle with the scheduling of the latter and the former is hit and miss due to various other pills I take for health things.

I am finding that opening up is helping - just going, "This is me," to a few close people and beyond has taken the edge off for the moment. I've always had empathy for people with similar issues so feels like time to admit I share some of the same struggles.