# Obsessive/intrusive thoughts - What has helped me



## Guest (Jan 27, 2013)

Hey everyone!

So it has been a while since I've recovered, about two months, and I wanted to give out some tips on how to tackle obsessive thoughts. They are very simple and anyone can do them.

My recovery thread is here, if you want to read my take on things: http://www.dpselfhelp.com/forum/index.php?/topic/34731-recovery-is-this-simple/#entry274773

I have had every obsessive/intrusive thought that you could imagine. You know those "Is life a dream" thoughts, etc? I've been there and I've been further. I won't actually mention some of the things I have thought because I know there are a lot of people in fragile mind states who could be reading this and who may subconsciously absorb my intrusive thoughts and later have them themselves. That happened to me, so I stopped reading other people's posts here for a while. That was definitely helpful and what I needed at the time. I didn't need to take on more intrusive thoughts, I was quite preoccupied and troubled enough with my own.

But you needn't be troubled.

Feeling troubled from these thoughts, bringing light to them and wondering why they are there adds fuel to their fire. A LOT of fuel. Questioning them, putting them up here for people to see... You may think you get somewhere by hearing about how other people are experiencing the same thing, but then what?

You're still stuck with them. And you have now absorbed other people's thoughts too. And now you are even more bewildered because they seem like an epidemic that, after hearing how other people are still within their grips, would be hopeless if tried to resolve.

But that's not true. So here's the thing:

Do not add fear to these thoughts. Fear = questioning, wondering, asking, worrying, confiding in others, posting on here about them, forcibly occupying yourself, distracting yourself, running away from them, fighting them, trying to ignore them, trying to think them away... Etc etc. you get the gist.

So what can you do to stop them?

Well nothing really. They stop on their own. It is how you react to them that matters - without that fear response. Without anything from that list above. If you simply observe them, let them be, and carry on with your life, then they will slowly disappear.
This takes a little time, and I must stress that you can't rush it or force your situation to change because they will come down on you like a tonne of bricks. You need to live and let live, knowing that if you act this way, they won't live for very long. Your brain will stop bothering to pester you with them because you show it that you are not interested.
Eventually, when you get the odd intrusive thought, you may notice how quickly you can move on from it, how quickly you can forget it.

And I must add, that you are getting these thoughts because you have an inquisitive, clever brain that is interested in all matter of things and that is something to be proud of. These thoughts may eventually to you just be glimpses of how observant and open-minded you are. It shows you that your mind is a good one and it needs things to think about, it's hungry, it wants to be challenged. That is simply all it is.

Obsessive/intrusive thoughts are not something to be feared - in fact without fear, they are just called thoughts.

I hope this helps someone.


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