Defining Intrusive Thoughts

Written By Erin Davis

Do you get weird thoughts? Or thoughts that feels so terribly upsetting?

You’re not alone.

In this podcast episode, I talk about how intrusive thoughts are normal as well as how an intrusive thought is experienced differently for an OCD sufferer. An intrusive thought is that combination of thoughts coming into your mind (without you trying to think about it) and it brings stress.

In this episode, licensed clinical mental health counselor and OCD specialist, Erin, explores the nature of intrusive thoughts, emphasizing that they are a normal part of human experience but can significantly impact individuals with OCD. Intrusive thoughts are involuntary and often bring about stress or fear. Erin distinguishes between general intrusive thoughts and those experienced by individuals with OCD, noting that the latter often involve a higher level of stress and a pattern of recurring themes or frequencies that may lead to compulsive behaviors. She underscores the importance of recognizing the irrationality of these thoughts and discusses strategies for managing them, such as mindfulness. Erin also introduces her upcoming private podcast focused on practical mindfulness strategies to help manage intrusive thoughts and reduce anxiety. Additionally, she teases next week's episode on postpartum OCD and encourages listeners seeking help for intrusive thoughts or OCD to consult a therapist.

00:00 Welcome and Introduction to Intrusive Thoughts

00:01 Understanding Intrusive Thoughts and OCD

02:03 The Impact of Intrusive Thoughts on OCD Sufferers

04:41 Examples of Intrusive Thoughts: From Catastrophic to Random

08:21 Embracing Mindfulness to Combat Intrusive Thoughts

08:34 Announcing the 2024 Private Podcast on Mindfulness

11:24 Preview of Next Week's Episode on Postpartum OCD

11:58 Conclusion and Encouragement to Seek Help

Book a Consult with Erin

  • Defining Intrusive Thoughts

    Erin H. Davis: [00:00:00] Happy Friday, y'all. In today's episode, I am going to be defining intrusive thoughts, and intrusive thoughts are normal. These are the thoughts that pop into our head with us. Not trying to think about it.

     Hi, I'm Erin, licensed clinical mental health counselor and OCD specialist. I'm also a Christian, wife, mom to three, and small business owner. Helping those who are overwhelmed by stress to climb out of that valley and enjoy the view. Reheat your coffee. And pop in your AirPods to learn how to boss up to OCD.

    Involuntary thoughts are those images. movie scenes, visuals that pop into our mind without us trying to think about it, and therefore they are involuntary. And what makes [00:01:00] them intrusive, it's kind of like that uninvited guest that shows up unannounced and you're like, oh no, why are you here? And you feel that stress, fear, or That fight or flight is triggered and so that's what makes an intrusive thought.

    It's that combination of a thought coming into your mind without you trying to think about it and it brings stress. With an intrusive thought, considering that almost all of us experience it, we can notice that the intrusive thought happens and we think, oh, that was weird and we let it pass. It comes and it goes and maybe there's no level of stress.

    And often times whenever we have those intrusive thoughts, we can just be like, whatever. Now Most of us, in fact all of us, experience [00:02:00] an intrusive thought, but not all of us has OCD. So what's the difference? Well, with an OCD sufferer, they experience higher levels of stress with their intrusive thought, and normally their intrusive thought has a consistent theme or pattern, or amount of frequency that also brings the urge and compulsion to try to get some sort of remedy. And the OCD sufferer, while they may recognize that this is an intrusive thought, their fear Well, and the feelings of fear that they are experiencing makes them believe that this is real or this may become an actual event.

    For an OCD suffer, sometimes their fears are real, or sometimes their fears are irrational. And irrational means that it's not plausible. We've all [00:03:00] been in those elementary days where it's like you step on the crack and you break your mama's back, and it's irrational in that kind of sense. An OCD suffer recognizes that their fear is rational, but the fear response is still there. And the really challenging part in working with someone who has OCD is when they're intrusive thoughts are plausible. Because it does feel very scary to think about what if my child gets cancer or. What if my significant other breaks up with me? And those obsessions and those intrusive thoughts. I mean, yes, it could come true.

    And so we have to work on. How to not allow those thoughts to create problems in her life, to not intrude any further on the things we love and enjoy.

    And so the [00:04:00] intrusive thought for an OCD sufferer normally that fear is not real, rational, or it's not plausible, or it's not realistic. Even though their worries are not realistic, the fear response is still there. It still feels scary and provokes anxiety in the fight or flight response.

    Okay, and then in comparing that to our general worries, a lot of times our general worries we may experience just a variety of things that may make us nervous, but those worries generally have some sort of plausibility to them, or they are realistic in a sense.

    Let's talk about an example of how intrusive thoughts can show up and how it's can go either way as far as being rational or irrational. Okay. So I've got this example of an intrusive thought where we worry about running [00:05:00] off the road. Okay. Number one. Yes, it could happen. There's no guarantee that we won't get in a car accident or that we won't run off the road. number two, it's not plausible that we would do this on purpose.

    And the other thing about an intrusive thought is we can feel a fear of running off the road, but we have our impulse control and mindset that we're not going to do that. Our value system kind of keeps us in line with how we want to show up in the world. Of course running off the road, having a car accident would be terrible and scary. And just the last thing in the world you probably want to do. And with the intrusive thought. It's going to pop into your brain. Of like, Thoughts of what if I do this? What if [00:06:00] I accidentally run off the road, hurt myself, hurt someone else, or the passengers in the car. And you can imagine how debilitating this fear can be. And I want to give. Empathy out to those who are experiencing intrusive thoughts, because oftentimes they experience these thoughts and they're embarrassed or ashamed to talk about them. Or if they have talked about them, Then their loved ones may say something like, oh, don't worry about that.

    You know, you're not going to do that. So it could be. You know, your family or loved ones that are trying to be helpful and reassuring and supportive, but they're not ultimately helping or addressing the intrusive thoughts and in therapy, that is something that you would definitely learn how to manage, address and overcome, and ultimately boss up to right.

    And with the Intrusive thought, it doesn't have to always be a catastrophic event. Sometimes [00:07:00] they're just very random and that is normal to happen.

    In thinking about a, another example of an intrusive thought, let's look at one that doesn't result in a catastrophic event. Have you ever been in church and you had a random thought of what if I screamed to the top of my lungs or, you know, maybe someone else screams to the top of their lungs site. And then you play out this scenario in your mind. I'm like, oh my gosh, how funny would that be? Or crazy or whatever. And. That's not necessarily a life or death situation, but it's an intrusive thought because you weren't voluntarily thinking about that nor were you planning or premeditating or trying to be vindictive or conniving or anything like that. So it can bring stress in thinking about what if I screamed out in church and this happens. If this type of thing word happened, it would [00:08:00] be incredibly embarrassing.

    And it also could happen if you have a child, who's a student and they have a fear of screaming out during a test or quiet time. Sometimes those quiet moments, they can be just awkward and people desperately want to break the silence. And so it's normal to experience an intrusive thought such as this.

    With all of this being said about intrusive thoughts. One of the most effective ways to handle and boss up to the intrusive thoughts is through the use of mindfulness. And one of the exciting things I have coming out in 2024 will be a private podcast geared towards practical mindfulness strategies. With the mindfulness we're going to be walking through and talking through and experiencing real life situations where you can deal with intrusive thoughts by being less triggered, bothered, et cetera. Because these mindfulness techniques are gonna help [00:09:00] you establish a non-judgemental approach with your thoughts and. This is going to be a new way for you to experience mindfulness.

    And no, I'm not going to be taking this like type of approach where it reminds me of like a Buddha, you know, you're not going to be sitting and meditating with your fingers on top of your knees. Now we are going to be doing real life everyday situations. It's not going to be teaching you deep breathing necessarily.

    Yes. Breathing is a part of mindfulness because we always have our breath and we always want to pay attention to the here and now and be in the present. But it's not going to be your traditional, oh, let's do a five minute breathing exercise. No, we're going to work on things that are practical. You're going to be reducing that rumination, you know, in rumination is that. Cycling and looping back of the reflections. Normally at the end of the day where you're lying in bed and you're like, oh, wish I would've [00:10:00] said this.

    I wish I would've done that. What would happen if I had done this differently, that is what rumination is. And so we're going to be working through those types of scenarios as well. And overall you'll be learning how to practice this kindness. Self-love. And helpful types of self-talk. Oftentimes when I introduced the idea of looking at our self-talk people say, oh, I'm not an optimist positive self-talk is not for me.

    And again, that's not what I am trying to accomplish, I mean, yes, it will be wonderful to have positive self-talk, but let's at least work on healthy, neutral, helpful self-talk. Get your name in the private podcast, waitlist. This is going to be exclusive content that'll consist of about 15 to 20 episodes, potentially more. I would love to hear your thoughts on specific scenarios where you would like to [00:11:00] apply mindfulness or get more help in real life situations.

    For example, one of the things I would like to do is walk through the grocery store and teach you how to use mindfulness in the grocery store. That is the type of practicality that I'm going to be bringing to this private podcast and I've got the link to the wait list in the show notes. So sign up so you can be the first to know when the private podcast is released. Also tune in next week, as I talk about postpartum OCD. With postpartum OCD. It's a unique form of OCD that shows up for ladies. After they've had their baby and it can also show up for dads. I'm thinking about the postpartum. Ladies right now, because a lot of babies were born in September.

    September is the highest birth month of the year. Ladies have taken their maternity leave and they're probably going back to work in the new year. So tune in next week to hear about postpartum OCD, how that's a unique form of OCD and how to boss up to it.

    I hope this episode was [00:12:00] informative and just kind of giving you an overview of what intrusive thoughts are and normalizing it in the way that we all experience an intrusive thought. And just because you have an intrusive thought doesn't mean you have OCD.

    But if you are someone who is struggling, With intrusive thoughts that come up time and time again, or maybe you are thinking of these thoughts more than an hour a day, or it's creating problems in your life, I encourage you to seek help. Don't self diagnose yourself. Go see a therapist that can help you figure out what is going on and how to help you lower your stress and find your freedom from the intrusive thoughts and boss up to the OCD.

    Thank you for listening to today's episode. This information is intended to be helpful and not a substitute for professional counseling. Before you go, kindly leave me a 5 star review and check out the [00:13:00] links in the show notes to see the products that can make your small business dreams happen. Take care and see you next time.

    ​

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Erin Davis

I help women in North Carolina and Virginia break free from the grip of OCD to find lasting peace and balance. As a therapist specializing in obsessive-compulsive disorder, I understand how the distress from unwanted thoughts can spiral into overwhelming anxiety and even panic attacks. My compassionate, personalized approach empowers you to regain control using proven strategies so you feel more confident and in control. Together, we’ll work toward the calm, empowered life you deserve.

https://valuedriventherapy.com
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