Intrusive thoughts

[JustAnYtka]

I've been getting intrusive thoughts randomly for a month or so. I haven't had a chance to talk about it with my psychologist but I have a session in a couple days.

The thoughts usually are about hurting myself or ending my life. I know I'm safe but it can be really hard to get through the thoughts.

Does anyone have any strategies to block/stop intrusive thoughts?

Thanks, Bee

[Sophie_M]

Hi JustAnYtka,

We are so grateful that you reached out to us here tonight. We're so sorry to hear that you're feeling so low and are struggling with intrusive thoughts about self-harm and suicide. We are glad to hear you are safe, but understand how difficult it can be to live with intrusive thoughts. Please know that you are valued.
 
It sounds as though you are needing some support and we want you to know that there is help available to you. Our Support Service is available 24/7 by phone on 1300 22 4636 or on Webchat 3pm-12am AEST on our website: www.beyondblue.org.au/getsupport. One of our professional mental health counsellors at our Support Service will give you support and do their best to point you in the right direction for help in your area.
 
Our friends at Lifeline may also have some strategies or be a useful port of call to speak to when you are unable to work through the thoughts on your own. There are available anytime on 13 11 14 or you can visit https://www.lifeline.org.au/Get-Help/Online-Services/crisis-chat for online chat.
 
We hope that a few of our members will pop by with some words of wisdom for you!

[geoff]

Hello JustAnYtka, intrusive thoughts are something I also have suffered from, but now know none of them have ever happened, they just appear for a reason or may not be for any reason but are unwanted thoughts that pop into our mind with no warning.

Write down these thoughts on some paper then you give this to your psychologist, sometimes it's much easier to do this, rather than trying to explain each individual thought and please don't be afraid of having them, I don't any notice of them anymore.

If you type this in google or in the search bar above there will be many comments on this subject.

Geoff.

[romantic_thi3f]

Hey Bee,

Thank you for sharing this with us and I'm sorry to hear you are struggling with intrusive thoughts; I totally get them too sometimes, but it's not as bad now.

I know that our every instinct is to push them away. They're awful. We don't want to think about it. We want them to shush and go away. But the irony of it all is that the more we push it away the more it comes back.

One way to think about all this is like a radio, that our natural instinct is to try to turn it down, but the more we do that the higher the volume goes. So the key is to kind of accept that there's really terrible music there, but to know that it won't last forever and that there's also good music on there too.

I hope this kind of makes sense. It might sound a little weird but it's one technique of letting go from it all (it's also from a type of therapy called ACT). Hope it helps a little. Feel free to let us know how it goes with the psychologist too.

rt

[white knight]

Hi, welcome

You already have some great advice.

Imagine you are on a tennis court. Your opponent slams balls down directly at you and they strike. In a vain attempt to stop them hitting you, you move but you are not fast enough to avoid them. That's like it is at the moment for you.

Now, if you had a flat board and allowed the ball to deflect away from you it would avoid hitting you. The balls will keep coming - you cant stop them.

The next step is to turn around. From then on you are aware they are still coming but you dont see them. Finally the last act is to focus on other things, that way your attention is less on those balls than ever.

That in theory has been my method of overcoming the effects of my uncontrolled imagination.

The conclusion for me was- the allow the intrusive thoughts air time, allow them to come and go treating them as normal thoughts of the wandering mind, no big deal I keep telling myself. During that process of them being present I usually realise that such thoughts need to be replaced with other things, other activities like hobbies. Once I had a large jigsaw in a spare bedroom and each time intrusive thoughts came I'd sit and do say 12 pieces. By the time I'd done those, the intrusive thoughts were gone.

So this process is- deflection rather than elimination, acceptance rather than frustration and focusing on other activities.

TonyWK

[Petal22]

Hi Bee,

Im sorry you are experiencing distressing intrusive thoughts.

I understand that when we have these thoughts we just want them to stop.

How do we stop the thoughts? The more that we try to stop these thoughts the stronger they will become….. what we give attention to we give power to.

The best thing you can do is to just allow them to be there and float away……. ( I know this is hard to do)….

Or when you have the thoughts put your attention on something in the present moment…..like if your driving… what can you notice on the road…..

I strongly encourage you to speak to your psychologist about the intrusive thoughts you are experiencing, your psychologist may be able to provide you with strategies.

My intrusive thoughts provoked a lot of anxiety within myself it became severe, I was diagnosed with severe anxiety OCD…. Ive now recovered thanks to the professional help I received.

Please feel free to chat to us more.