The idea that every thought is worth thinking about is simply not true. Other people fall prey to a number of common myths – for example that every thought has a hidden meaning, or that thoughts can force people to act, or that our thoughts are actually under our control (when actually only our attention to them is under our control). They know and accept that a lot of what passes through everyone’s minds is essentially junk – sometimes noisy, sometimes distracting – but without value or meaning. They don’t take the passing jumble of multiple channels of thoughts too seriously they can laugh at absurd thoughts, or stand back and not get involved when socially or personally unacceptable thoughts pop into consciousness. Some people can take their thoughts with an attitude of detached observation. This is basically about your relationship with your own mind. There are other factors which influence whether thoughts get stuck. Avoidance may seem like a way to cope at first, but it actually fans the flames of unwanted intrusive thoughts, undermines one’s sense of well being and mental health and tends to spread or generalize to other scary thoughts or other "safety behaviors."
#COMPULSIVE THOUGHTS MEANING TV#
In the examples above, avoidance might start to occur by asking others to care for or change the baby’s diapers, take your car instead of the train, or start to avoid any books or TV that might mention sudden acts of violence or child abuse. This we call paradoxical effort: In other words, the harder you try, the worse it gets. What we know is that the ordinary passing thoughts that most upset someone, that violate their principles or values, that horrify or disgust them – those are the thoughts that are most likely to get stuck – precisely because of the efforts made to get rid of them, argue with them or neutralize them, either with internal dialogue, ways of attempting to reassure oneself or by developing avoidance behaviors. They are maintained and exacerbated precisely because you do not want them and by the effort you expend to try to stop them. These unwanted thoughts are not fantasies or impulses or urges. In fact, the content of the thoughts are actually meaningless and irrelevant, no matter how compelling.
The presence of unwanted intrusive thoughts does not indicate anything about your character or sanity. They may prompt a sufferer to wonder if there is some dark and dangerous mystery within them: "Am I a psychopath? A child molester? A potential murderer? Am I unconsciously suicidal? Having these thoughts must mean something terrible about who I am!" These unwanted intrusive thoughts become obsessive, demand attention, provoke fear and shame, and often lead to doubts about sanity, control, motives, character and safety. But some people have passing thoughts like these that somehow get stuck and start repeating themselves, forming elaborate chains of internal dialogue in an attempt to counteract the thoughts or prevent what seem like potentially impulsive actions. Have you ever stood on the edge of a train platform, minding your own business, and then, suddenly, out of the blue, for no apparent reason, had the thought “I could jump in front of the train” or “I could push that guy off the platform?” Or have you been taking care of a baby and suddenly had a revolting intrusive thought like "What if I throw the baby down the stairs" or "What if I touch the baby's genitals?" Almost everyone has passing thoughts that are frightening, disgusting, bizarre or just plain ridiculous. Unwanted, Intrusive Thoughts & "Needing to Know for Sure"
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