How to Deal With Intrusive Thoughts

(It's called THE MIND WORKOUT in the UK and Australia/New Zealand, DAS MIND-WORKOUT in Deutsch, ENTRENA TU MENTE en español)

Connect on any of these:

[palemoonlight]

"Thoughts are not facts, don't believe everything you think"

[BarracudaProd]

"If you stop chasing the stick, your mind will stop throwing them." Mind = Blown

[SableSeraph]

Okay, but the intrusive thoughts I have are really disgusting and wrong and I don't want to just let myself think about it because I don't want to end up *LIKING IT.* It's hell

[akashjacksonchannel]

Who is suffering from anxiety or any mental illness.
I wish you from my ❤ you get well soon.
God bless you.

[frecklesonfleek]

I hate having disturbing thoughts, I don’t think of them, they just pop out of no where. Sometimes the most horrible things you could ever think of, I’m not gonna share them but they are traumatizing

[aluna_planet]

That feeling when you get rid of one intrusive thoughts and the next day it gets replaced with a brand spanken new even more intense one.

[christopherperez]

who is watching this at 2:30 AM due to intrusive thoughts

[vibes_]

This is driving me insane and making me depressed. I have a big fear and obsession with whether I’m intentionally thinking about the thoughts or if it’s actually intrusive. I know deep down it’s intrusive but my mind is convincing me that I’m purposely coming up with these thoughts and I just want to cry.

[jonhoward]

Wish I had seen this 20 years ago. Was scared to death with HORRIBLE panic attacks I was schizophrenic but in reality had a bad case of intrusive thoughts.

[pompomkitty]

"You are not a dog. You don't have to chase every stick your brain throws at you." Thanks Mark!😊

[isaaca.]

Guys it feels so good to know that I'm not the only one struggling with these! Sometimes it feels awful and sometimes I laugh because the whole thing it is irrational. I do believe the more I leave these thoughts in my head and the less I react to them (because they don't represent who I am) the more I'll improve. I'm in a phase where I'm accepting my thoughts because is not up to me to control my mind 24/7, i feel guilt but I will get rid of them as soon as I accept their irrelevance.

[zackjones]

What you need to fix bad thoughts:
1:This Video
2:Prayers

[thunderstrm]

I'm crying so fucking much. It was so fucking simple and I've been struggling for so many years. Thank you <3

[sere]

It's like a mental prison that I just can't get out of. It feels like an unbreakable chain attached to my mind and day by day it gets harder to bare. I'm scared of losing my morals, I'm scared of losing my compassion and I'm scared of eventually ending up as some kind of monster. No matter how often I tell myself that those are just irrational fears, that none of this is real, that none of this is and ever will be me, it still feels terrifiyingly real. I've been to two seperate therapists but I never managed to get rid of it properly. Most of the time I'm not in control, so I feel the need to respond to this demon inside of my head. I end up repeating myself over and over and over again just so I can prove to myself that I haven't forgotten who I am, what I value and the reason for donig so. I'm running in circles and I just can't manage to move forward. It seems like such a simple solution yet I'm incapable of working it out. I wish I was able to just let them come and ignore them but I almost feel obligated to argue, because I fear that otherwise those thoughts will take over and turn me into something I despise. I'm simply scared of ignoring them. I'm way too scared to stop chasing the stick. No matter how hard I try I end up fueling the flame the Intrudor thrives on and it's ruining my life. I can't sleep, I can't focus, I can't motivate myself to do anything and I usually waste my energy fighting my brain anyway. Even typing this took way longer than it should have because it's just so hard to focus.

[nickp]

The scary thing is that I fear that if I don't get rid of them, then they will actually come true and that's the thought that terrifies me the most. My brain even tells me "let me stay and it will happen". Letting the thoughts stay is the ultimate trigger above all triggers.

[Ycomando]

I pray for everyone here to have the best life possible! If it was all in my control I would get rid of all those worries and fears from everyone! Don’t let anything put you down! We are here on earth to live the best lives we possibly can! Start taking control of yourself and stop letting your brain run you! Remember we are the ones in control! Our soul and

[nagol]

The way I look at it is this: The brain is like a computer, it presents every situation possible. Things you would do, things you would never do, things you might do, etc. Then its calculating what you do want to do, do agree with, do enjoy, etc. OCD causes the person to see the information presented of what they don't want to do or disagree with and fear that because the thought is there, that they might secretly want to do it or agree with it, even though they don't. Every thought is not our own. We seem to be antennas for consciousness and so every thought goes through very quickly and we pick out which ones to cater to. One of the best ways to get rid of them, is not sit in the mind too much. Getting physical, lots of exercise, art projects, less stress, eating healthy cause it to go down. My OCD goes up really high if I take benadryl or if I drink coffee. I still drink coffee but I notice every time after I drink coffee I do the OCD rituals. When I don't drink it, I seem to be able to ignore it. We must not allow ourselves to feel bad about thinking a thought because the thought is not our own. We should feel bad if the thought is evil and it is our own and we enjoy the thought. But if the thought is evil and it is nothing we would do nor desire to do, it really isn't our thought, it's a wave of consciousness. We are conscious of it.

[fleite]

So it goes like this:

Brain: "You are going to self harm yourself with that knife" and you see that image in your mind.
(But the brain really means I'M AFRAID YOU ARE GOING TO CUT YOURSELF WITH THAT KNIFE, DON'T DO IT AND PLEASE SOLVE THE PROBLEM!"

But as the thought is very distressful you try to push it away and you get anxious!
And anxiety leeds to more ruminating and running thoughts
The brain repeats the pattern and throws the image at you once again waiting for a solution.

To break the pattern you just accept the tought and let it go, You are not your thoughts!
With time, after your brain shows you that thought, over and over againm and you react with acceptance rather than anxiety your brain stop to see it as a threat and stop throwing the thought at you.

And you get rid of the intrusive thought because it loses its power over you.

Makes sense !

[KookyChums]

I need a new brain that would solve everything

[wsfabi]

I feel guilty for my thoughts. Every time I have them I can't just ignore them. It's automatic, I feel scared and then I start to feel guilty. These thoughts make me believe that I am a bad person and that I would do bad things against other people.