The greatest myth is that having thoughts of a sexual or violent nature mean that you want to do the things that come into your mind. There are a number of myths about intrusive obsessive thoughts. Intrusive obsessive thoughts can be very explicit, and most people are embarrassed and frightened of them. They might imagine hurting someone or committing an act of sexual violation. People who experience intrusive obsessive thoughts are afraid that they might commit the acts they picture in their mind. Taking off your clothes in public.” This is not a complete list, but it gives you a good feeling of the content of these thoughts. Jumping onto a train track as the train comes into the station. Throwing someone (or yourself) out of a window. Here are typical examples of intrusive obsessive thoughts: “Killing someone. The content of intrusive obsessive thoughts almost always focus on sexual or violent images. These thoughts seem to come from out of nowhere, arrive with a distressing whoosh, and cause a great deal of anxiety. However, there is another class of intrusive thoughts that I call intrusive obsessive thoughts. You are already in the altered state of consciousness that I call anxious thinking, and your thoughts feel likely to happen. So, for example, you might think, “what if I have a heart attack?” in the midst of an anxiety attack. The intrusive thoughts keep the anxiety going, and maintain the fear-producing spiral. In these types of intrusive thoughts, it feels like the thoughts come about as a result of the anxiety, and they function to add more fear to the anxiety you are already experiencing. They seem to come from outside of your control, and their content feels alien and threatening.įor some people, intrusive thoughts are part and parcel of panic or intense anxiety. Intrusive thoughts are frightening thoughts about what might happen to you or someone you care about, or what you might do to yourself or another person. Every highly anxious person has to cope with intrusive thoughts.
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