Do you ever have really morbid intrusive thoughts? How do you deal with them? Is this healthy?
It’s actually kind of common for people to have thoughts or feelings suddenly “intrude” that are the opposite of what they might normally feel or that they “feel” they should feel.It’s common enough that Edgar Allen Poe wrote a story about it and gave it a name: The Imp of the Perverse (short story) - WikipediaIt can be something where you suddenly have a terribly negative thought that you might or that you could hurt someone… someone who you would normally never entertain that kind of thought about. It can be a thought where you realize that you could just “do something” really bad… perhaps you’re playing with matches and you realize you could just throw one into the hayloft and burn the barn down. Or you might be at a solemn funeral for a family member and the minister has called for a moment of silence and you suddenly feel an insane urge to laugh out loud.It can also manifest as the fear of doing something simple that would really hurt yourself: e.g. if you’re on a ledge that’s perfectly wide enough to walk safely along, suddenly getting the feeling that you might veer over and walk off the edge; or if you’re driving down a road, thinking that it would be so easy to just swerve a bit for an instant and die in a head-on collision and have a flash of fear that your hand and arm might just DO that. (Heh, fortunately I don’t drive, so THAT particular worry is one I don’t have to deal with!)The Imp is likely what you’re dealing with and it’s just a normal thing that a lot of people have unless it really starts becoming frequent and strong and worrisome. In such a case, or even if it’s milder and you have easy access, you might want to see a counselor and get reassured in person.MJM, not a psychiatrist, a psychologist, a counselor, or even a tea-leaf reader… just someone on the internet (or maybe someone’s imp!)
Do my intrusive thoughts make me evil?
No, I don't believe they do. I have OCD and I will sometimes experience what is called Harm OCD. This is where I have violent thoughts towards the people and animals I love and care about. Am I evil? No, I'm not. In fact, I'm so far from evil that I feel bad if I accidentally step on a bug, if I watch movies where people are being physically or emotionally hurt, if I see someone hit or say something hurtful to an animal, and so on. I let people walk all over me because I want to do ‘right' by them and nothing in this world would make me happier than being the best wife and mother…and owning a no-kill animal shelter. That being said, I have very violent intrusive thoughts that scare me horribly at times. I am so against the thoughts that overtake my mind that I have actually thrown up from disgust that it was even there. Truthfully, even 'normal' people have thoughts of running an old lady crossing the street down or following someone who cut you off home to tell them off (or worse). The difference between those people and people like me is that they have the thought and they let it go while I will sit there and think “What kind of person does this make me?”. My husband has admitted to having horrible thoughts about me but no desire to carry out the action, my mom as well has told me this, my grandma has had them toward other people she loves, and my father-in-law has admitted to having them when he was angry on occasion…shoot! I just met someone today who said she has had them and she's a sweet older lady with grandchildren! Don't allow yourself to put too much thought into them unless you enjoy what you are thinking or if you want to do these things. If you enjoy them you should get help, but even at that I dont think you're ‘evil'. I would think that maybe due to unforeseen cercumstances your brain is temporarily not balanced or firing off correctly and that you need professional help, but you are certainly not evil.
Is my therapist right for me?
I'm not entirely sure about the therapist I'm seeing. I've seen her twice and I feel like she sometimes puts words in my mouth and intentions or feelings that weren't there. Today she gave me advice that I didn't like so I was kind of getting very frustrated and she told me that I don't access my emotions very well and kept trying to ask me where in my body I was feeling my emotions. I felt kind of attacked, but I know that therapy is kind of designed to be unpleasant sometimes so I don't know- is that normal?
How can I manage intrusive thoughts of violence on my own after ending an abusive relationship ?
It takes time and a counselor, After being abused, its like grief of someone dying, No matter what kind of abuse, there is emotions we go through that wont go away we have to go through them to get to the other side. For me, At first I cried for years, and then once I got away from it the anger came in, its just like loosing someone, there are many steps to get through it, you can either try it on your own, or have a counselor. You may never be able to get over everything, but try and find yourself again, after you let out, the hurt and anger, then you can find yourself again. Your thoughts are natural, there’s no avoiding it, you cant bottle it up, it will release at some point, like a volcano. Don’t feel bad about yourself, or let anyone make you feel bad, believe in who you are, not everyone understands, because they haven’t been through it, a lot of times, this road is on our own, and very lonely, hopefully you will have some support group, family or freinds, if not you can still get through it, if you believe in yourself.
What do you know or think about the story of Jessica Forsyth?
I think its very sad and maybe a bit creepy, but they do have images and photos from right before the crash that they wont put online. I loved watching Jessica and Boomers videos and she was my inspiration to never give up on riding. As silly as it sounds I named my rabbit after Boomer :P R.I.P Jessica!
How can we completely concentrate while studying?
It's not only about getting distracted during our study-time. Mind wandering is constant. People mind wander 47% of the time. And that means we live the present moment for only half our lives.Intrusive thoughts are almost always created by anxiety and/or negative emotional experiences. They hinder your concentration, encourage you to procrastinate , distract you from the task in hand and inevitably increase your anxiety which leads to an increase in intrusive thoughts.Trying to block out unwanted thoughts is actually counterproductive. Close your eyes right now and set a timer. Your aim is to spend a minute without thinking of a white bear.How did you get on? How many seconds did you last before the white bear appeared in your thoughts. And why do we think of a white bear when we have expressly told ourselves not to?Trying to suppress thoughts lead to obsession. So, don't block out unwanted thoughts or ear worms. Instead, congratulate yourself for recognising that you are experiencing them and realising that your concentration is wandering.YOU’re a HOMO SAPIEN.As human beings, we have this unique ability to have our minds stray. This ability of having our minds focussed on something other than the present is amazing - it helps us to learn, plan and reason.While most people think of mind-wandering as a lifting escape from daily drudgery, research shows that this may not be the case. In fact, mind-wandering appears to be correlated with unhappiness. Mind-wandering might make us feel less content, but it could also have a functional purpose. A study suggests that mind-wandering might be a sign of a high capacity working memory — in other words, the ability to think about multiple things at once.Here are a few solutions to it :1)Try to postpone the thought.Write a list of the things that are bothering you and then set it aside to be dealt with at an assigned point later in the day. This means that you don't have to hold that thought in your memory and you know you will deal wiht them later.2) Wherever possible , avoid multitasking, which can reduce productivity by approximately 40% by some researchers,as well as increasing stress and anxiety.3) Exposure:Allow yourself to think about the unwanted thought, so that it is less likely to pop up unwantedly at other times. This is painful, but it might work.4)Meditation and mindfulness strengthen mental control and help to control unwanted thoughts.Everyone in this world gets distracted. It's natural. So , stay cool.
What's the easiest way to get rid of contamination OCD?
From my experiences, I can safely say that everything that has to do with my OCD, is because I’m afraid of something. In your case, it’s most likely getting dirty and getting a disease or getting infected with something. This may or may not work for you, but remember that germs and bacteria are everywhere. Whether you like it or not, you have trillions of bacteria on you at all times. Coming into contact with a school kid isn’t nearly as bad as touching a public desk, door handles, even your own bathroom sink have way more germs than some kid you accidently bumped into while walking in the hallways. Therefore, my advice would be to not care!!! I know that this is easier said than done, especially if your OCD is as bad as mine, but just hear me out. Whenever you have that feeling of dread when you come into contact with a kid or something else you find dirty, do not act on it. Embrace that feeling and hold on to it until it eventually passes. Don’t try to not think about because we both know that makes it worse. If this doesn’t work for you, I would definitely see a psycotherapist or something similar, as 6 months is a terribly long time to be struggling with OCD. There you may learn your own techniques to help cope . I know it helped me and it may help you too.Hang in there!Cedric,
In what kind of situation would committing suicide NOT be an overreaction?
Besides terminal illness with severe pain, I can't come up with another circumstance. Possibly if you were imprisoned and being tortured, suicide would be an option, if you knew in your heart that there would never be an end to it other than ending it by your own hands.