Why intrusive thoughts appear. How to get rid of anxiety and obsessive thoughts: advice from psychologists. Why and where does the obsessive syndrome occur - the causes of the disease

Intrusive thoughts are disturbing images and ideas that are difficult to control. They cause a painful feeling in a person, in which he makes obsessive actions. Obsessive thoughts affect the psychological and mental state, cause a feeling of fear. Very often they are the result of negative emotions deposited in the subconscious.

Manifestation of intrusive thoughts

Obsessive thoughts arise against the will of a person. They do not go out of the head, the person ceases to notice what is happening around. Usually their occurrence is associated with fears, resentment or doubts. The basis of obsessive thoughts is emotions.

For example, a person took out a loan, but there is no money to repay it. An ordinary person would be looking for ideas for a part-time job, and suffering from obsessive thoughts, he will think about the problem at any time of the day, without solving it.

Another example: a person has set himself the goal of improving his home or changing his job. Thinking about it never leaves him. While doing something, he thinks about the goal. Tired, he wants to rest and switch to something else, but he does not succeed. He himself, without noticing it, continues to think about the task. On the one hand, such reflections can be useful, not allowing you to stop at the goal. But they can also be harmful to health, because they do not allow you to fully relax. The appearance of obsessive thoughts indicates the occurrence of disorders in the psyche.

No matter how significant the goals are, you still need to allocate time for yourself to relax. Lack of rest can cause the development of chronic fatigue and the appearance of obsession.

Intrusive thoughts that cause anxiety

The appearance of obsessive thoughts can be due to both an objective threat and something far-fetched.

Quite often, people intimidate themselves with excessive concern about their health. Feeling the slightest symptom, a person focuses on it and gets too worried. Although in reality he is not sick, and the symptoms arose due to excessive experiences.
Some people suffer from thoughts of harming themselves or others. Although in reality a person does not want this at all, but the thought of this causes anxiety. A person is frightened by the very fact that he thinks about it, and he does not understand the reason for the occurrence of such thoughts.
Another manifestation of an anxiety disorder is thoughts about everyday things, accompanied by obsession. In such cases, it may constantly seem to a person that he forgot to turn off the stove or iron. These considerations do not give rest, and a person repeatedly double-checks everything.
Some people do not leave the fear of contracting any disease. And they wash their hands very often, wash their clothes, clean everything around, etc.

How to get rid of intrusive thoughts

First of all, it is necessary to comprehend that it is unreasonable to believe all flashed thoughts. Also, do not associate yourself only with them. A person is characterized not only by thoughts, they are just a small part of a person. Many people believe that all the thoughts that have arisen in their head are only theirs. But in reality, many of them arise under the influence of various factors. The incoming thoughts depend not only on the person, regardless of whether he wants it or not. Their formation is influenced by mood, circumstances, past. If a person had not experienced certain events in the past, he might have other thoughts.

To fight obsessive thoughts, you need to realize that you are able not only to contemplate them, but also to judge and ignore them. You need to stop comparing yourself with them and try to look from the outside. If you follow them, you will notice that many of them appear subconsciously, without your desire. Also, many of them are repeated every day, only in other modifications.

No need to think about how to deal with obsessive thoughts, make efforts to get rid of them. When a person tries to forget something, on the contrary, he strengthens his attention on it. If you constantly strive to switch and drive them away, they will only overcome more strongly. Because the resistance gives them an emotional boost, and they get stronger.

The main thing for dealing with obsessive thoughts is not the desire to get rid of them, but a change in attitude towards them. When this happens, then you will be absolutely indifferent to what may come to mind. When the occurrence of obsession is justified, the problem must be eliminated by deed, not by thinking.

How to get rid of obsessive fear

Obsessive fears can occur in almost any person. Their main difference from ordinary fears is the awareness of their fear. People suffering from obsessive fears understand the meaninglessness of their fear, but they continue to be afraid.

Obsessive fears are quite common. There are many types of fears. The most common fears are: fear of communication, fear of space, fear of the dark, fear of animals, fear of disease, fear of death. There are times when a phobia occurs in childhood and disappears over time, and it happens that it haunts even in adulthood.

Before you learn how to get rid of obsessive thoughts and fear, you need to understand the cause of their occurrence.

The reasons

Psychological predisposition

Each person is able to deal with the influence of external factors in different ways. One person can quickly recover from stressful situations, while another will need a long time for this. The formation of stress resistance is influenced by both upbringing and the innate state of the nervous system. People with an unstable nervous system often suffer from fears and obsessive thoughts.

Upbringing

Children who were brought up too strictly and criticized a lot are more likely to have negative thoughts and fears. As adults, they become self-critical and overly fixated on negative events, unable to enjoy life.

Negative direction of thinking

Pessimists are people who see only the negative in everything. Even if there are good things around, they do not notice it. Such people often suffer from fears and obsessive thoughts. Optimists, on the contrary, try not to focus their attention on negative emotions, but to find something good in any situation. Therefore, optimists are characterized as people with a stronger psyche, and they are much less likely to encounter obsessive fears.

When a person keeps all the negative emotions in himself, they begin to accumulate. Over time, they involuntarily come out and can develop into an obsessive fear.

People suffering from a phobia try in every possible way to avoid the circumstances that cause fear. When faced with such situations, they may experience the following symptoms:

cardiopalmus;
increased sweating;
feeling weak or stupor;
shiver;
dizziness;
numbness;
suffocation.

It is very difficult for a person suffering from any phobia. He realizes that in reality nothing threatens him, but he reflexively avoids frightening situations. A phobia is capable of manifesting itself at any inopportune moment, and forcing a person to behave is not logical.

How to get rid

You can get rid of obsessive thoughts and fears using the method of setting aside time for worry. It is necessary to practice the method every day. During the day, you need to allocate twice for ten minutes. This period of time should be consciously set aside for thoughts about the phobia. You need to think only about the negative aspects, you can talk about them out loud. After the time has passed, you need to let go of thoughts and continue to do business.

The main thing in this technique is to bring negative thoughts to the maximum level. To overcome obsessive fear, you need to experience strong emotional discomfort. To do this, during the period of time for anxiety, you should not convince yourself that the experiences are in vain. On the contrary, you need to assure yourself that these worries are not in vain. This state must be maintained for ten minutes.

Over time, the treatment will give a result and the fear will gradually decrease. Two weeks after regular classes, the experience is significantly reduced. When confronted with the source of fear, you will be able to control your emotions by postponing the time of fear. Then control over fear will turn into conscious action.

Ecology of health: The quality of your thoughts also affects brain function. Happy, favorable, positive thoughts improve brain function, and negative ones turn off certain nerve centers. Automatic negative thoughts can torment and torment you until you take concrete action to get rid of them.

The quality of your thoughts also affects how your brain works. Happy, favorable, positive thoughts improve brain function, and negative ones turn off certain nerve centers. Automatic negative thoughts can torment and torment you until you take concrete action to get rid of them.

We'll talk more about the inner critic, but for now, check out the concept of ants. Ant - ant; for "automatic intrusive negative thoughts" the abbreviation "ANTs" (automatic negative thoughts) is used. Or "cockroaches".

They are, as it were, the background of our thoughts. Involuntary negative thoughts come and go spontaneously, like bats fly in and out, bringing with them doubts and frustrations, we hardly notice them in our daily lives.

For example, when you are late for the train, you think to yourself: “What a dumbass I am, I always do everything at the last moment”, or when you try on clothes in the store and look at yourself in the mirror: “Ugh, what a nightmare, it's time to lose weight !

Negative intrusive automatic thoughts is the unceasing voice that sounds in our head 24 hours a day: negative ideas, comments, negative thoughts about ourselves. They are constantly dragging us down, they are like footnotes that undermine our confidence and self-esteem. They are the "second wave" of thoughts that Beck noticed.

First of all, you must pay attention to these thoughts, learn to notice when they appear and when they leave your consciousness. Look at the drawing of the glass: negative thoughts are foam on the surface. It fizzes and dissolves, revealing your thoughts or feelings that you are experiencing at the moment.

They show how important we attach to what is happening around us. They also give us insight into how we perceive the world and where we fit into it. Automatic negative thoughts are a manifestation of what rises from the bottom of the glass, something that floats to the surface from a deeper psychological level.

Automatic negative thoughts severely suppress self-esteem, they are like endless nit-picking; negative in nature, they will constantly make comments about you, causing depression, giving a negative connotation to everything that you are trying to do or what you are trying to achieve.

Being aware of your negative thoughts will help you deal with your deeper emotional problems. Automatic negative thoughts weigh on you drop by drop, distorting your self-confidence and self-esteem.

Automatic intrusive negative thoughts:

they persist in your mind

you just have to start noticing them;

they are conscious

show how you think they lie on the surface, this is not the subconscious;

they oppress

due to the fact that they are inherently "bad", they plunge you into despondency and spoil your mood;

they are regulated

depend on the situation (for example, if you walk down the street at night, you think: “I'm scared, now someone will attack me”);

they “look like the truth” are masks that we put on and believe them (for example: “I’m no good”, “I’m too fat in these jeans”, “I will never get the job done on time”, “I always choose not that/wrong guy/girl”, “No one loves me”);

we have an internal dialogue with them

we can always convince ourselves of something or dissuade ourselves from something: we put on masks and believe them;

they are permanent, especially if your problems have long been embedded in your life, for example, if you have depression. Your HHM continually convinces you that you are worthless, that no one loves you, that you are worthless, that you are helpless and alone.

Did you know that when a thought occurs, the brain releases chemicals? It's amazing. A thought came, substances were released, electrical signals ran through the brain, and you understood what you were thinking. In this sense, thoughts are material and have a direct effect on feelings and behavior.

Anger, dissatisfaction, sadness or annoyance release negative chemicals that activate the limbic system and impair physical well-being. Do you remember how you felt the last time you were angry? Most people tense their muscles, their heart beats faster, their hands begin to sweat.

The body reacts to every negative thought. Mark George, MD, proved this with an elegant brain study at the National Institute of Mental Health. He examined 10 women on a tomograph and asked them to think in turn about something neutral, about something joyful and sad.

With neutral reflections in the work of the brain, nothing changed. Joyful thoughts were accompanied by a calming of the limbic system. With sad thoughts, the limbic system of the subjects became highly active. This is strong proof that your thoughts matter.

Every time you think of something good, joyful, pleasant and kind, you contribute to the release of neurotransmitters in the brain that calm the limbic system and improve physical well-being. Remember how you felt when you were happy. Most people relax, their heart rate slows down, and their hands stay dry. They breathe deeper and calmer. That is, the body reacts to good thoughts.

What is the limbic system? This is the most ancient part of the brain, which is located in its very depths, more precisely in the center to the bottom. What is she responsible for:

sets an emotional tone

filters external and internal experience (distinguishes what we ourselves thought and what actually happens)

marks internal events as important

stores emotional memory

modulates motivation (what we want and do what is required of us)

controls appetite and sleep cycle

makes an emotional connection with other people.

treats odors

regulates libido

If you worry every day, namely, deliberately thinking about what bad things can happen to you and your family in the future, while you have a heredity for anxiety disorders and even have an unfavorable childhood experience, then it is likely that your limbic system is in a very active state. condition.

Interestingly enough, the limbic system is stronger than the cortex, including the frontal, which is aware and in control of everything. So if a charge of activity strikes from the limbic, then the cortex cannot always cope. Moreover, the main blow does not go directly to the bark, but in a roundabout way. An impulse is sent to the hypothalamus, and it instructs the pituitary gland to secrete hormones. And hormones already trigger this or that behavior.

When the limbic is calm (inactive mode), we experience positive emotions, nurture hopes, feel included in society and loved. We have good sleep and a normal appetite. When she is overexcited, then emotions are generally negative. The limbic system is responsible for translating feelings into a physical state of relaxation and tension. If a person did not do what he was asked about, his body will remain relaxed.

I explain that bad thoughts are like an infestation of ants in the head. If you are sad, dreary and anxious, then you were attacked by automatic negative thoughts - "ants". So, you need to call a big, strong inner anteater to get rid of them. Children love this metaphor.

Every time you notice "ants" in your head, crush them before they have time to ruin relationships and undermine self-respect.

One way to deal with such "ants" is to write them out on a piece of paper and discuss them. You should not take every thought that comes to mind as the ultimate truth. You need to decide which "ants" are visiting you, and deal with them before they take away your power. I have identified 9 types of "ants" (automatic negative thoughts) that make situations worse than they really are. By identifying the type of "ant", you will gain power over it. Some of these "ants" I refer to as red, that is, especially harmful.

9 Types of Automatic Negative Thoughts

1. Generalization: are accompanied by the words "always", "never", "no one", "every", "every time", "everyone".

2. Emphasis on the negative: noting only the bad points in each situation.

3. Prediction: in everything, only a negative outcome is seen.

4. Mind Reading: the confidence that you know what the other person is thinking, even when they haven't told you.

5. Mixing thoughts with feelings: in Era in negative sensations without a doubt.

6. Guilt Punishment: accompanied by the notions of "should", "must", "must".

7. Labeling: assigning negative labels to oneself or others.

8. Personalization: taking any neutral events personally.

9. Charges: the tendency to blame others for one's troubles.

Negative Thought Type 1: GENERALIZATION

These "ants" crawl when you operate with words such as "always", "never", "always", "any". For example, if someone in church annoys you, you might think to yourself, “People in church always pick on me,” or “Only hypocrites go to church.”

Although these thoughts are obviously wrong, they have incredible power, for example, they can permanently scare you away from the church. Negative thoughts with generalizations are almost always wrong.

Here is another example: if the child does not obey, an “ant” may crawl into the head: “He always does not obey me and does not do what I ask,” although most of the time the child behaves quite obediently. However, the very thought “He always disobeys me” is so negative that it drives you into anger and grief, activates the limbic system and leads to a negative reaction.

Here are some more examples of "ants"-generalizations:

"She's always gossiping";
“At work, no one gives a damn about me”;
"You never listen to me";
“Everyone is trying to take advantage of me”;
"I'm interrupted all the time";
"I never get to rest."

Negative Thought Type 2: FOCUS ON THE NEGATIVE

In this case, you see only the negative aspect of the situation, although there are positive sides to almost everything. These "ants" detract from positive experiences, good relationships, and work interactions. For example, you want to help your neighbor. You have the capacity to do so, and you know what needs to be done.

But, about to offer help, you suddenly remember how one time a neighbor offended you. And although at other times you were friendly with him, thoughts begin to revolve around an unpleasant incident. Negative thoughts discourage the desire to help someone. Or imagine that you have a wonderful date. Everything is going well, the girl is beautiful, smart, good, but she was 10 minutes late.

If you focus on her being late, you could ruin a potentially great relationship. Or you first came to a new church or synagogue. This is a very important experience. But someone noisy distracts you from the service. If you focus on the hindrance, then the impressions will be spoiled.

Negative Thought Type 3: BAD PREDICTIONS

These "ants" crawl when we foresee something bad in the future. "Ants" predictors suffer anxiety disorders and panic attacks. Predictions of the worst cause an immediate increase in heart rate and breathing. I call these expectations red "ants" because by anticipating the negative, you thereby cause it. For example, you think your day at work is going to be a bad day.

The first hint of failure reinforces this belief, and you are depressed for the rest of the day. Negative predictions disturb peace of mind. Of course, you should plan and prepare for different scenarios, but you can’t focus only on the negative.

Negative Thought Type 4: IMAGINARY THOUGHT READING

This is when it seems to you that you know the thoughts of other people, although they did not tell you about them. This is a common cause of conflicts between people.

Here are examples of such automatic negative thoughts:

"He does not like me...";
"They were talking about me";
"They think I'm good for nothing";
"He got mad at me."

I explain to patients that if someone glared at them, then perhaps this person is just now experiencing pain in the abdomen. You cannot know his true thoughts. Even in intimate relationships, you won't be able to read your partner's mind. When in doubt, speak frankly and refrain from biased mind reading. These "ants" are contagious and sow enmity.

Negative Thought Type 5: MIXING THOUGHTS WITH FEELINGS

These "ants" arise when you begin to trust your feelings without a doubt. Feelings are a very complex phenomenon and are usually based on memories from the past. However, they often lie. Feelings are not necessarily true, they are just feelings. But many believe that their emotions always tell the truth.

The appearance of such "ants" is usually marked by the phrase: "I feel that ...". For example: “I feel like you don’t love me,” “I feel stupid,” “I feel like a failure,” “I feel like no one believes in me.” Having started to “feel” something, double-check if you have evidence? Are there real reasons for such emotions?

Negative Thought Type 6: GUILTY PUNISHMENT

Exaggerated guilt is rarely a useful emotion, especially for the deep limbic system. It usually leads to you making mistakes. Guilt punishment occurs when the words “should”, “must”, “should”, “should” pop up in your head.

Here are some examples:

“I need to spend more time at home”; “I should communicate more with children”; "Need to have sex more often"; "My office should be organized."

Guilt is often exploited by religious organizations: live like this, otherwise something terrible will happen to you. Unfortunately, when people think they should do something (no matter what), they don't feel like doing it. Therefore, all typical phrases that appeal to guilt should be replaced with: “I want to do this and that. This is in line with my life goals.”

For example:

“I want to spend more time at home”;
“I want to communicate more with children”;
“I want to please my spouse by improving our love
life because it is important to me”;
"I intend to organize life in my office."

Sure, there are things you shouldn't do, but feeling guilty isn't always productive.

Negative Thought Type 7: LABELING

Every time you put a negative label on yourself or another, you prevent yourself from seeing the situation clearly. Negative labels are very harmful because when you call someone a jerk, optional, irresponsible, or opinionated, you equate them with every jerk and irresponsible person you've ever met, and you lose the ability to communicate with them productively.

Negative Thought Type 8: PERSONALIZATION

These "ants" make you take any innocent event personally. “The boss didn’t talk to me this morning, he must be angry.” Sometimes it seems to a person that he is responsible for all the troubles. "My son was in a car accident, I should have taken more time to teach him how to drive, it's my fault." There are many explanations for any trouble, but an overactive limbic system chooses only those that concern you. The boss may not talk because he is busy, upset, or in a hurry. You are not free to know why people do what they do. Don't try to take their behavior personally.

Negative Thought Type 9 (The Most Poisonous Red Ants!): Blame

Blaming is very harmful, because by blaming someone for your problems, you become a victim and are not able to do something to change the situation. A huge number of personal relationships collapsed because people blamed partners for all the troubles and did not take responsibility for themselves. If something went wrong at home or at work, they would withdraw themselves and look for someone to blame.

"Ants" accusations usually sound like this:

"It's not my fault that...";
"This wouldn't have happened if you...";
"How could I know";
"It's all your fault that..."

"Ants" - accusations always find the guilty. Every time you blame someone else for your problems, you are actually assuming that you are powerless to change something. This attitude erodes your sense of personal power and will. Refrain from blaming and take responsibility for your life.

For the brain to function properly, you need to manage your thoughts and emotions. When you notice an “ant” crawling into your consciousness, recognize it and write down its essence. By writing down Automatic Negative Thoughts (ANTs), you challenge them and reclaim the power they steal. Kill internal "ants" and feed them to your "anteater".

Your thoughts are extremely important because they calm or inflame the limbic system. Leaving the "ants" unattended, you infect the whole body. Refute automatic negative thoughts every time you notice them.

Automatic negative thoughts rely on irrational logic. When you pull them out into the light and examine them under a microscope, you will see how ridiculous and harmful they are. Take control of your life without leaving your fate to the overactive limbic system.

Sometimes people find it difficult to object to negative thoughts because they feel like they will engage in self-deception. But in order to know what is right and what is not, you need to be aware of your thoughts. Most of the "ants" creep in unnoticed, they are not chosen by you, but by your poorly tuned brain. To find the truth, you need to doubt.

I often ask patients about automatic negative thoughts: are they many, few? To keep the limbic system healthy, you need to keep the "ants" under control.

What to do?

0. Develop mindfulness. Developed mindfulness is the best means of curing and preventing negative thoughts.

1. Observing negative thoughts. Learn to see them. Negative thoughts are part of a vicious circle. The limbic gives a signal - causes bad thoughts - bad thoughts cause the activation of the amygdala (the main guardian of the brain) - the amygdala partially lowers excitation into the limbic - the limbic is activated even more.

2. Think of them as just thoughts - unreal formations. Give them no importance. They should not be actively forced out either. Feed your "anteater". Maintain the habit of finding negative thoughts and revisiting them. Praise yourself for this.

3. Doubt. Sometimes people find it difficult to object to negative thoughts because they feel like they will engage in self-deception. But in order to know what is right and what is not, you need to be aware of your thoughts. Most of the "ants" creep in unnoticed, they are not chosen by you, but by your poorly tuned brain. To find the truth, you need to doubt. I often ask patients about automatic negative thoughts: are they many, few? To keep the limbic system healthy, you need to keep the "ants" under control.

4. Look for outside validation. Attract more people to you who give you positive feedback. Good connections soothe the limbic, it also makes the feeling of gratitude. Focus on the positive, label it. Positive thoughts are not only good for you personally, they also help your brain work better. Every day, write down five things you are grateful for that day.

5. Teach people around you to build strong emotional bonds with you.(express your feelings, show the importance of people around you, refresh relationships, strengthen intimacy, etc.). Reduce stress with the power of oxytocin. I will continue to write about this.

6. Act in spite of fear.

Can positive behavior change the brain? Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles evaluated the relationship between brain function and behavior in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). People with OCD were randomly divided into two groups. One was treated with drugs and the other with behavioral therapy.

The researchers performed PET scans (similar to SPECT) before and after therapy. The drug group treated with an antidepressant showed a calming of activity in the basal ganglia, which are implicated in being stuck on the negative. The behavioral therapy group showed the same results.

Behavioral therapy consisted of placing patients in a stressful situation and demonstrating that nothing bad happened to them. This therapy aims to reduce sensitivity to fear-inducing objects and situations.

This will be of interest to you:

For example, people who had an obsessive fear of "dirty" when they saw it everywhere were asked to touch a potentially "dirty" object (say, a table) and, with the help of a therapist, to refrain from washing their hands immediately.

Gradually, people moved to more and more "terrible" objects. In the end, their fears diminished and disappeared altogether. Behavioral therapy also included other techniques: elimination of intrusive thoughts (people were asked to stop thinking about the bad), distraction (advice to switch to something else). published

I had already prepared this article for a long time, but still could not write it for the reason that I was not sure that I had a complete idea of how to get rid of intrusive thoughts.

Now I have experienced first hand how to deal with such thoughts and am fully prepared to tell you about it.

Perhaps some of my readers think that since I started creating this site, I have completely got rid of all personal problems. Indeed, I have already changed a lot by the time of the first entries in this blog, but my current state cannot be called complete freedom from negative emotions, prejudices and fears.

My position can be described as a struggle with myself, during which the experience and materials for these articles are born. Of course, in this confrontation between my true self and the primitive, instinctive, emotional self, the first gradually wins.

But this struggle continues: two steps back and four steps forward. Self-development stems from the awareness of one's shortcomings and work on them. If there is no struggle, then this does not speak of a final victory, but rather of surrender.

After all, self-development is an endless process. I keep running into some problems and struggling with them. Including intrusive thoughts.

Mind "gum"

These thoughts have always been with me. They could occupy my head and make me nervous, endlessly mentally referring to the same experiences. It was like mental gum.

I constantly chewed the same thoughts in my head, tried to resolve them, to untie some imaginary knot. But from my attempts to weaken it, on the contrary, it tied even more strongly.

I remember how, back in my early childhood, I could not stop thinking about some things that I could not think about at all. The habit of my brain endlessly “processing” some experiences and ideas must have been exacerbated during times of other psychological problems.

Recently, I realized that I learned to work with obsessive thoughts. Moreover, I am ready to formulate a method that allows me to get rid of them. I realized that this article might now finally appear.

Intrusive thoughts are emotions

This is the first thing you must understand. Obsessive thoughts are emotional, unconscious, irrational nature. They are connected with your fears, anxieties and complexes deprived of everything reasonable.

That is why they are obsessive. The emotions that form in you make you constantly think about something. They seem to signal “Problem! Problem! We need to find a solution!"

It's like a notification in Windows or another operating system that appears as an icon and will irritate your eyes until you update some program, remove a virus, or install the right driver.

We can say that obsessive thoughts have a positive function. They remind you of the problems you need to solve. And you can’t just take and turn off these “notifications”. It's hard to starve to death when your brain constantly reminds you to eat.

But, unfortunately, obsessive thoughts do not always tell us about some real problem. The mechanism of the emergence of these thoughts is quite subtle. And if, for some reason, the “standard settings” of this mechanism get lost, then natural human fears and worries can take an extreme form, manifesting themselves in the form of obsessive thoughts, which are very difficult to get rid of.

Everyone knows how normal concern for one's health can turn into hypochondria, how a natural fear of danger threatens to turn into paranoia.

And now you become a regular visitor to medical forums, and thoughts about your health do not leave your head. Maybe you constantly think about danger while you are on the street. Or you can’t get out of your head the thought of what people think of you, although you yourself don’t see any point in thinking about it.

The conclusion I want to draw is that obsessive thoughts are based on emotions. Therefore, they do not have a rational nature. Therefore, they cannot be fought with logic.

This is a very important conclusion. I have watched myself a lot, trying to understand how these thoughts appear and how they disappear, how my mind tries to deceive and confuse me. Earlier, in the evening, when I was very tired, I could not stop some thoughts.

For example, I could start thinking something bad about myself, blaming myself. No matter how skillful the inner lawyer turned out to be, who, using logic and common sense, tried to convince me that everything was not so bad (although of course he did not rule out problems), the blaming side always prevailed, and everything became even more complicated. The more I tried to justify myself and get rid of annoying thoughts with the help of thoughts, the more I became confused and more these thoughts overcame me. This sport with oneself led to the fact that the invisible knot was tightened even more.

The next day, in the morning, with a fresh mind, I didn’t even want to think about this problem. If I started to think about yesterday's "dialogue" with myself, then I understood that the problem was there, but it was greatly inflated and exaggerated by my condition. I realized that the problem needs to be solved, not thought about. There is no point in these thoughts.

After a while, I realized what the deceit and deceit of these thoughts are. If you try to destroy them with logic, they will still prevail, as they are irrational and illogical and make you believe in absurd ideas that common sense is powerless to overcome.

You Can't Eliminate Intrusive Thoughts with Logic

If you are set on self-blame, then you will continue to blame yourself, even if you have nothing to blame yourself for. Because this is your mood and it is from it that these thoughts arise, and not because of some real situation! Even if you suddenly manage to convince yourself for a moment of the groundlessness of these thoughts, then after a while they will return again if you resist them and continue to logically rebuff them.

If you are in such a mood that you think that you are sick, that something bad will happen to your health, then no positive test results will convince you otherwise. “What if the tests turned out to be inaccurate?”, “What if I have something else?” you will think.

And you will not see the end of these thoughts, no matter how absurd from the standpoint of common sense they are.

It is useless to try to refute them. Because it is impossible. They will come back and attack you with new absurd arguments that you will believe in because you are in such an emotional state that gives rise to these thoughts about non-existent problems.

Remember the state when you are worried about something. No matter how you convince yourself that everything will be fine, that there is no reason to worry, your perception, distorted by nervous tension and excitement, draws you a perspective in the darkest colors. Not because everything is really bad, but because you now perceive everything that way. If in this state you begin to think a lot and talk about the future, then your negative perception will attract your thoughts to the “negative” pole and it will be difficult to break out of this attraction.

How to get rid of obsessive thoughts

You will need common sense, but only at the very beginning.

First of all, you need to figure out if your obsessive thoughts are based on some real problem. It happens that mental chewing gum harasses you, exaggerating the problem. But an exaggerated problem does not mean the absence of one.

So think about what are the reasons for these thoughts. Getting rid of thoughts, you should not ignore the problem, if there is one. For example, it seems to you that you have some kind of illness and thoughts about it do not leave your mind.

Maybe these are really not groundless fears, and you have symptoms of some kind of disease. If so, go see a doctor. If you have already done this and you have not found anything - forget it.

Whether there is a problem or not, there is no point in thinking about it all the time! You either try to solve it if it exists, or you forget about everything if it does not exist.

This is the only moment in the fight against obsessive experiences in which you need to apply logic and common sense.

What to do?

Choose a moment in time when you are in the best morale, when you have more optimism and strength than usual. For example, in the morning when you are full of energy, after exercise or after.

Convince yourself that it makes no sense to scroll through the same thoughts thousands of times in your head. That these thoughts are deception or exaggeration, the purpose of which is to confuse you.

Be well aware of the following things

you will not come to a solution to a problem if you constantly think about it
obsessive thoughts have no rational basis, and if they are associated with some kind of problem, then you will solve it, instead of constantly returning thoughts to it
you can’t get rid of mental gum with logical reasoning and thinking

Realize the absurdity of obsessive thoughts

Further, you can once again, with the help of a few logical theses, expose the absurdity of obsessive thoughts. For example: “I have nothing to fear, because the tests showed nothing”, “panic attacks do not die, I have read about this more than once”, “no one is trying to harm me”, “even if there really are things to be afraid of , do not think about them 1000 times a day, this will only lead to nervous exhaustion.

Your argument against obsessive thoughts should be clear and concise. You should not get involved in an argument with yourself. Remember, in a long dispute with obsessive thoughts, you are doomed to failure, in which emotions and fears will prevail over logic and mind, and negative perception itself will “pull” thoughts to the negative pole.

To destroy the force of this attraction, you need to think less. When you think about annoying thoughts, chew them endlessly, you only increase them.

Give yourself permission to ignore intrusive thoughts.

Tell yourself that you will no longer think about what you think about all day and what torments and torments you. Indeed, why constantly chew mental gum when it does not bring any sense?

An obsessive thought is the repetition of the same thought in different ways. You will not get any new and valuable information from it, you will not come to any decision.

Therefore, give yourself the installation not to get carried away by fruitless reflections. After you've said it to yourself, made a promise you won't break, draw an invisible line. After this trait, you no longer pay attention to intrusive thoughts.

Don't wait for thoughts to come back no more

They will return again and again. Tune in like this: "Let them come back, what's the difference, I realized that these thoughts are deception and do not relate to the real problem."

Thoughts will come back, sometimes you will again begin to untie this knot in your head. As soon as you notice that you are again carried away by this, smoothly divert your attention to the side. Do not argue with these thoughts, do not be upset that they have come (and they will come), ignore them, treat them with complete indifference.

If you suddenly need to remind yourself of the absurdity of these thoughts, do not go beyond short formulations: "nothing will happen to me, and that's it." Don't get involved in an argument you can never win. All the endless arguments that again make you afraid or nervous are lies and deceit.

Remember what I said in the article: if you are in a psychological state in which you tend to worry about your health or your future or your loved ones, then your mind will focus on this fear, no matter how absurd this fear is. . Don't turn your mind against yourself.

You must know the puzzle toy, which is like a tube. If you stick the index fingers of different hands into both ends of this tube and try to release them with the help of physical effort, pulling your hands in different directions, then nothing will come of it, the tube will only squeeze your fingers tighter. And if you relax and do not pull, everything will work out.

The same applies to intrusive thoughts. No need to want to get out of them by all means. Relax, "kill", let them be.

Be indifferent!

Your indifference to intrusive thoughts will deprive intrusive thoughts of their emotional content, which fills them with such power that you sometimes cannot control. Over time, you will learn to manage your attention and notice those moments when you again began to think about what you should not.

Then thoughts will leave you forever.

But there is no need to look forward to when this will happen: “when will they leave!”, “I try not to pay attention to them, but they still do not go out of my head!”. Such thoughts are not necessary!

Arm yourself with salutary indifference: thoughts do not bother you - it's good, they returned - that's also normal. No need to turn thoughts about the appearance of obsessive thoughts into obsessive thoughts!

It's no big deal that repetitive thoughts keep coming to you. If you've stripped them of their emotional "charge" and try to ignore them, then they don't get on your nerves like they used to. In this case, they become just an annoying notification window (you may have seen such windows on your computer) that appears in your head from time to time.

And it's not so scary anymore. You can live with this. Thoughts appear occasionally, but they no longer grab your attention or confuse you. They are just short signals in the head that come and go.

When I began to relate to obsessive thoughts in this way, they left my head and I learned to deal with them. BUT fighting intrusive thoughts is not fighting, if we perceive the struggle as a violent resistance. Relax!

Conclusion

I have already said in other articles that mental illnesses: panic attacks, obsessive thoughts can either break you down or make you stronger (as in the statement of a famous philosopher).

Dealing with panic attacks can teach you. Working on getting rid of depression will help you find the source of happiness in yourself. And trying to control obsessive thoughts will teach you to control your attention and control your mind.

Arm yourself with patience and work on yourself, then you will not only get rid of your ailments, but also gain valuable and useful experience as a result of this, which will be useful in your life!

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Obsessive thoughts - a state in which false thoughts, ideas constantly scroll in the head and do not allow a person to live normally.

B пcиxиaтpии иx пoявлeниe oпpeдeляeтcя кaк oбeccивнo-кoмпульcивнoe paccтpoйcтвo (OKP), в нeвpoлoгии тaкoe cocтoяниe нocит нaзвaниe нeвpoз нaвязчивыx cocтoяний, в пcиxoлoгии нaчaльнaя cтaдия тaкoгo paccтpoйcтвa зaшифpoвaнa пoд нaзвaниeм «мыcлeннaя жвaчкa». A person is exhausted by such a state, since the constant thoughts swirling in his head, negative memories, desires or fears, create a painful feeling. It is difficult for him to cope with them alone, so there is a fear that he will never get out of this state. This disorder can occur at any age and with varying intensity.

Risk factors and mechanism of occurrence of the disorder

The emergence of obsessive thoughts can be sudden after a traumatic situation, also a person with his habits-rituals can lead himself to this state. What are the causes of OKP?

1. The habit of building an internal dialogue. We are advised from childhood to fall asleep to count to 100, elephants and so on. This is a habit from kindergartens, when all children were taught to live under the same limits. Some adapted well to them, and some children found it difficult to live according to the “sadik” regime. Therefore, they came up with some characters and communicated with them, counted them. Such a habit leads to constant thinking through problems, discussing issues, counting, and so on. The human brain does not rest, because instead of the proper rest, its mental processes work, remembering something, imagining and analyzing. This habit can carry over into a normal working day, for example, counting passing cars, white windows, and so on.

2. Analysis and scrolling of your attitudes and beliefs. Especially in difficult situations, a person thinks through his answers, principles and values of life, as a result of which even more is affirmed in the correctness of his beliefs. But such a constant repetition exhausts the patient, which leads to anxiety about these thoughts, insomnia, headache and lethargy.

Haвязчивыe мыcли пo пoвoду кaкoй-либo пpoблeмы мoгут пepeйти в пaтoлoгичecкoe cocтoяниe пcиxики, кoгдa oбычнaя зaбoтa o здopoвьe cтaнoвитcя ипoxoндpиeй, a ocтopoжнocть пepeд oпacнoй cитуaциeй пpeвpaщaeтcя в пapaнoйю.

Constant physical or mental stress leads to anxiety, chronic fatigue, lack of sleep and neurosis. Hence the emergence of OKP and other disorders. Even with hard work, it is necessary to give yourself a rest, as there may be emotional and mental malfunctions in work, expressed through obsessive thoughts.

Reason to worry

Obsessive thoughts can arise for various reasons, even the most illogical ones. Different thoughts come to a person, you should not be afraid of this. This is a reflection of our experiences, incoming information through the media and communication. But it is important how we treat these thoughts. When the thought of suicide comes to the patient and he begins to be afraid of it, this is good and does not indicate pathology. In people prone to suicide or murder, such thoughts will not cause fear, negative emotions. Such people think of ways how to do it.

How to get rid of such thoughts in your head, a psychologist or psychiatrist will help. But sometimes you need to help yourself at the right time. Recommendations for such assistance will be described below. Suspicious people believe everything, even illogical thoughts that arise in their head as a result of experiences, analysis of information or events. They begin to believe in their illogical thoughts, taking them for reality. This state also has a physiological and biochemical basis, after a long “reworking” of thoughts, certain processes begin in the brain:

excitation of neurons and the creation of neural connections that lead to the formation of a reflex reflex with constant obsessive thoughts;
production of stresca hormones (cortisol, aldosterone, adrenaline);
OKPпpoявлeниe coмaтичecкиx cимптoмoв пpи пoдключeнии вeгeтaтивнoй нepвнoй cиcтeмы: тoнуc мышц, учaщeниe cepдeчныx coкpaщeний, пoвышeниe AД, пoвышeннoe пoтooтдeлeниe, cуxocть вo pту, cлoжнocти пpи дыxaнии, тpeмop кoнeчнocтeй.

This is a normal reaction of the organism to the emerging alarming state as a result of obsessive thoughts. The brain reacts to both real and imagined threats. To fight obsessive thoughts and fears is real, with the help of a specialist, this process will significantly accelerate.

Manifestations of disorder

Anyone who has experienced an attack of obsessive thoughts knows their influence on human behavior. The patient himself takes little pleasure in a constant thought, not justified by logic. Such a state is accompanied by illogical actions of a person, sometimes he can whisper with himself, constantly loaded in thoughts. It can often be caught at the stage of thinking about something.

Accompanying and physical manifestations of the disorder, typical symptoms of vegetative-vascular dystonia. From such a state, no doubt, you need to get out, since it affects the productivity of human actions. Some are helped by music for sleep from such obsessive thoughts, some constantly distract themselves with something, but this is only work with symptoms. The underlying disorder needs to be treated, sometimes with medication.

Treatment

So, how can you get rid of intrusive thoughts? There is a certain algorithm of actions of specialists, which helps to stop bouts of obsessive thoughts in time, leading to anxiety disorders and panic attacks.

Medical treatment

In some cases, it is necessary to remove obsessive thoughts from the head with the help of medical preparations. Medicines are used for neurosis. This is the usual method for eliminating the physiological symptoms of a mental disorder. But no drugs will replace psychotherapy, a heart-to-heart talk with a specialist. Antidepressants help treat obsessive thoughts for a good sleep or inclusion in the process of life. At the same time, the disorder is drowned out, but not treated. Most patients do not like taking such drugs, as they are constantly drowsy, lethargic and it is difficult for them to concentrate. The intake of drugs is prescribed and corrected by the doctor.

Psychotherapy

How to distract yourself from intrusive thoughts, a psychotherapist or psychologist will tell you at an individual appointment. To overcome such a state, the professionalism of a specialist and knowledge in different psychological schools is required. In a conversation with a patient, the doctor uses different directions.

Cognitive direction

Often a person gets used to observing rituals, for example, before going to bed, count or think over the events of the past day. When working in a cognitive direction, the specialist focuses on the recognition of responsibility for his thoughts. The result of the work should be teaching the patient a constructive response to similar thoughts, ideas that do not lend themselves to logic. Also, a person learns to do important actions without observing the usual rituals.

Direction of family psychotherapy

As a rule, a person with a similar disorder lives in a family or has his own environment. It is a long-known truth that our environment influences us. The work of a psychologist The work of a psychologist should ideally also take place with the patient's family. Obsessive-compulsive disorder in most cases develops due to problems in relationships with loved ones. The task of the psychologist is to understand the family relations of the patient, and help to harmonize them.

Self therapy

When obsessive thoughts are the result of the habit of “grinding” and repeating everything in the brain, at this stage a person can help himself to overcome this on his own. To do this, you need to follow the recommendations.

1. Recognize that not all thoughts are smart, logical and true. Thoughts that arise are not part of the reality around us or ourselves, they can be completely inadequate and illogical. Thoughts are just a reflection of our living conditions, moods, experiences, knowledge, values and circumstances, imaginations and assumptions. The interweaving of all these components in the brain leads to sometimes absurd thoughts.

2. Acceptance. With obsessive thoughts, people try not to think about them, occupy themselves with something to distract themselves. As a rule, such actions aggravate the condition, so accepting the idea will help to get out of the vicious circle. As soon as the thoughts themselves stop bothering you, the feeling of anxiety will decrease - and this is already halfway to the victory of the disease.

4. Create a positive image. A positive experience will help you get rid of negative emotions. Try to imagine a bright, joyful event (maybe fictional) in as much detail as possible.

5. Look for secondary benefits. In some cases, obsessive thoughts are a way to protect against some unresolved problems. Try to understand what they are masking and solve these problems. After that, the neurotic state will disappear. Sometimes the obsessive state becomes an excuse to be unhappy. This is an excuse not to take on difficult cases, look for work, etc.

6. Relaxation. In addition to psychological, there is also physical stress, so relaxation will be an important procedure for overcoming it. You should do a warm-up for 10-15 minutes a day. For example, lie on the floor with your legs straight. Hands along the body, head straight, close your eyes, try to relax every cell of your body and lie still. Breathing should be even and calm.

7. Fighting negative thinking. They call this technique a “knife switch”, because the essence is to present your obsessive fears in the form of a switch as clearly and in detail as possible and just turn it off at the right time. The main thing is to imagine everything in your imagination.

8. Proper breathing. Psychologists say: "Inhale courage, exhale fear." Uniform breaths with a slight delay, and then exhalations, normalize the physical condition during an attack of fear. This will help you calm down.

9. Action response to the alarm. A difficult practice when a person "looks fear in the eye." If the patient is afraid to speak, then you need to put the patient in front of the public. It will be possible to overcome fear due to the “drive”.

10. Play a role. The patient is invited to play the role of a self-confident person. If this state is practiced in the form of a theatrical game, then the brain at some point may respond to it, and the obsessive fear will disappear.

One of the causes of obsessive-compulsive disorder is stress and psychological fatigue. To prevent and treat such a problem, it is necessary to be able to relax, restore the emotional state. Aromatherapy helps with stress or depression. It must be combined with psychotherapy, because aromatherapy is just a way to relieve stress, but not solve the root problem.

Unfortunately, some people, for no apparent reason, begin to show symptoms such as panic, sudden fear, regular lack of sleep. Such a state can bring anyone out of action. In this situation, you can forget about a calm, measured life for a long time. And there is no need to look for the culprits. The person himself turned out to be a hostage of his own uncontrollable emotions, as a result of which he has obsessions and various phobias.

Types of fears

What is fear? This is a painful condition of a person or fear of any real or fictional situations. It can be large-scale, with a denial of future consequences, or it can be justified.

Psychologists believe that fear is a negative process, but, by and large, it is rational, that is, it is based on the self-preservation instinct inherent in almost every one. Here, protective mechanisms in the body often work, which mobilize a person when a dangerous situation arises.

As we have already understood, there is fear justified, but there is self-imposed fear, not based on anything, but only on your own annoying ideas. This is an irrational fear. It is impossible to control it, it causes a constant feeling of panic, anxiety. This condition is often accompanied by a strong heartbeat, trembling, nervousness, anxiety. Dealing with such fear is difficult. It can develop into real neurasthenia, as a result, a person develops a neurosis of obsessive thoughts.

How to control such a process and is it possible to cope with an irrational kind of fear? We will tell about this further.

Symptoms of intrusive thoughts

Before you learn how to get rid of fears and obsessive thoughts, you need to decide on the symptoms. That is, to understand where the fear is actually justified, and where the constant panic has grown into a neurosis.

By the nature of negative thoughts, it is possible to distinguish several types of disorders, or, more simply, phobias.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder has the following symptoms (depending on the type of disorder):

Spatial fears. These include fear of space (open, closed), heights, large crowds of people, fear of just leaving your own home, and others.
Fear of certain objects and the threat that may follow from them. These include black cats, the number 13, clowns, sharp and cutting objects, water, elevators, spiders.
Symptom of communicating with strangers. A person is overcome by panic at the thought that it is necessary to contact someone, even by phone. This is the fear of being ridiculed, condemned, the fear that he will not be approved, but will only be scolded.
Hypochondriacal fear. Here, a person constantly fears for the state of his health. He has a constant fear of getting cancer, catching an incomprehensible virus, an incurable disease. Such people can regularly undergo examinations and take tests.

The psyche begins to fail gradually. First of all, a slight anxiety appears, and subsequently it develops into a pathogenic situation. Here it is already much more difficult to get rid of the obsessive state. Therapeutic measures should be taken immediately, when at least one of the symptoms appears. Any unjustified anxiety, fear should alert, because if you do not start to deal with the problem right away, then obsessions will constantly haunt and develop into a neurosis, a mental disorder.

Causes of obsessions, panic attacks

Stress. How often is a person stressed? Almost anywhere - both at home and at work, on the bus, in the store, on the street - you can get negative emotions. Any difficult situation, depression, fatigue, exhaustion, hypersensitivity causes stress. And when this process is already constant, it is likely that it will develop into a panic attack and emotional exhaustion.
Lifestyle. If a person eats irregularly, abuses fast foods, healthy and fortified foods are not included in his diet, but in excess of alcohol and tobacco, as well as drug-containing substances, this is the right path to neurosis, obsessive thoughts, ideas.
Lack of introspection. A person must carry out mental hygiene with himself, that is, clean his consciousness. Do not put off for later anxieties, fears, stressful situations. They need to be understood, analyzed, understood what caused them, shared with relatives, friends, and specialists. Even a general dissatisfaction with one's appearance and mental abilities can develop into a neurosis.

Unfortunately, not everyone adequately perceives what is happening and starts the problem, it becomes chronic, which negatively affects mental health and the state of the body as a whole.

The question arises: "Is it really a neurosis, obsessive thoughts - this is schizophrenia? And is it possible to avoid the problem?" Neurosis is treated, but it is necessary not to delay the problem, not to wait until it develops into a more serious problem. Yes, intrusive thoughts are schizophrenia. If you do not get rid of them, they can cause this terrible disease. With a competent approach and taking medications, it will be possible to forget about it from time to time, but it is advisable not to bring yourself to such a state.

Obsessive Thought Syndrome (OMS)

It is also called obsessive-compulsive disorder. This is a state when a person imposes monotonous, frightening thoughts on his mind, where he can also begin to perform certain actions or even rituals.

The patient is convinced that their implementation will prevent the occurrence of any negative situation and help to avoid certain events. This is what is meant by the syndrome of obsessive ideas, thoughts.

How to get rid of fears and obsessive thoughts? Why is this condition dangerous? According to research, such processes are also called neurosis. Naturally, it is not recommended to run it. At the first symptoms, you should seek the help of a professional or try to cope with panic attacks on your own. The main thing is to realize the presence of signs of obsessive ideas, thoughts. This is the first step to recovery.

Causes of Obsessive Thought Syndrome

Experts cannot give a definite answer to this question. But still, they identify a number of factors in which panic attacks and obsessive thoughts appear.

Biological reasons:

Having a head injury.
Various complications after infectious diseases.
Pathologies associated with mental disorders.
Sleep disturbance.
Decreased standard of living.
Lack of serotonin or dopamine. Serotonin is a hormone that prevents depression, and is also responsible for the state of the nervous system and the productive work of the brain. Dopamine is a hormone of happiness that allows a person to experience a feeling of joy, pleasure, pleasure.

Nightmares

Surely not everyone is aware that constant nightmares can be a symptom of an unpleasant disease. What? Psychosis and nervous breakdown.

Quite often, a nightmare can appear for no reason, but it can also be the result of obsessions, states. This is already a problem caused by anxiety, some kind of disorder, depression.

The appearance of a negative picture during a night's rest is especially likely, when a person has experienced a trauma or an event has occurred in his life that radically affected his fate. This may be the loss of a loved one, dismissal from work, physical or mental trauma, an operation, an emergency.

It also happens that a person may be genetically predisposed to nightmares, or they are caused by sleep apnea syndrome (another name is restless leg syndrome).

Recurring bad dreams should alert and become a cause for concern, so we offer several options for getting rid of unpleasant experiences.

We cure nightmares

If the nightmare is closely related to obsessive thoughts or panic attacks, it is important to consult a professional, but a number of actions that can get rid of restless sleep will not hurt.

Build to avoid stressful situations. Cleanse your thoughts. It is important to go to bed with a clear mind.
Start meditating, do yoga. As practice shows, this rather effective exercise allows the human body to relax. Practice for a few minutes a day, and then extend the process from 30 minutes to an hour.
Find an activity you enjoy. It can be simple embroidery, knitting, jogging in the morning, reading literature or chatting with friends and relatives. Hobbies help relieve stress.
Before going to bed, take a bath with fragrant foam, salt. Treatments like these are great for relaxation.

Emotional disorders

Most people who feel uncontrollable fear can stop feeling emotions towards the family. That is, they cease to worry about children, parents, husband, wife.

This is the so-called emotional inadequacy caused by a neglected mental state. It is at this point that schizophrenia begins to develop. It manifests itself in the obsession of ideas, weakening of sensitivity or strong aggression towards others, relatives. Unfounded anger and intense irritability appear.

Also a sign of emotional disorder is aimless walking through the streets, at home, apathy, lethargy, lack of hobbies, joy. Further, the patient may stop feeling hungry or even lose interest in food. People become distracted, untidy, constantly looking at one point.

Here you need to start sounding the alarm and seek help from specialists as soon as possible. Because obsessive thoughts develop into a different form of pathology, the name of which is schizophrenia. A person can no longer cope with this on his own.

The first signs on the way to disorders

Obsessions entail a series of uncontrollable actions. For example, a mother who sends a child to school and is sure that something can happen to him, to “distract trouble” can wave his hand five times after him. Or the girl getting on the plane twisted ten times the day before so that the tragedy would not happen. These are obsessive thoughts that border on prejudice, but not at all a reason to consider a person abnormal. And yet these are the first signs on the way to disorders.

Thinking that something bad might happen is a great breeding ground for stress. The mistake lies precisely in the fact that a person confuses the fact, how he would act, with the fact, how he really will act. He jumps to the action itself and fights what hasn't really happened yet. What to do if obsessive thoughts torment you?

How to get rid of fears

So, how to get rid of fears and obsessive thoughts? Heed the following tips:

Tip 1. Write down obsessions, and don't leave everything unattended. Try to think about where the fears came from. Awareness of your problem is already the right way to solve it.
Tip 2. Samurai. To understand the essence, let's remember one proverb. It reads: "In a deadly fight, only the samurai who dies will win." Try to think about the worst possible outcome, analyze your emotions and think about what you need to do in this situation. This technique helps to get rid of anxiety, reduce its level.
Tip 3. Empathy. Let's say you have a panic attack in the middle of the street. Turn your attention to the person passing by and try to imagine his thoughts. Think about what he may be afraid of or dreaming about, what he wants or who he hates. Note that this exercise will be useful. It helps to distract from obsessive thoughts, and also enhances emotionality.
Tip 4. Get ahead. Try daily to evoke unpleasant emotions associated with fears in yourself. This will help control thoughts and try to reason logically.
Tip 5. We refuse to fight. Panic attacks are based on nothing more than anxious thoughts and fear. We try to turn on indifference and stop blaming ourselves for anything. We just relax. To do this, we make the installation: "There are negative thoughts - it's good, they are absent - it's also normal."

Remember. The work ahead is long and difficult, so you should not expect an instant result. Sometimes obsessive thoughts can haunt a lifetime with varying frequency. Learn to shift in and out. Take everything for granted and fight, there is nothing to be afraid of. But if a constant sense of danger interferes with your life, contact the experts.

So, if intrusive thoughts have settled in your head, treatment should be immediate. Let's try to quickly get rid of various kinds of fears:

We close our eyes.
We begin to breathe evenly through the nose, concentrating on the whole process. We begin to think of negative thoughts as something animated. We imagine that they are trying with all their might to make them believe.
Think that the obsessive thought is a liar, and you have seen through his deceit. Don't be afraid to tell him about it. Did you say? Now watch the process from the side.
Now imagine the deceiver disappearing from your mind. He leaves or becomes small, or simply disappears.
Continue to think freely without thinking about the negative.

Now you know how to deal with obsessive thoughts, overcome fear and panic attacks. Always listen to yourself and ask for help in incomprehensible situations, but never be alone with negative thoughts. Fight them and don't let yourself be defeated. There has to be one winner here - you.