How to Stop Intrusive Thoughts That Kill Your Focus & Creativity?
- Mindart
- Jul 3, 2024
- 1 min read
Updated: Jul 10, 2024
"What if my work isn't good enough and I let the team down?", "What if X doesn't like me?", "What if I am making a mistake? "What if the product doesn't do well?"
Intrusive thoughts can attack us all and come when they are least expected. A confident presenter might find themselves plagued by an inexplicable image of freezing up or saying something inappropriate during a major presentation, despite their track record of eloquence. Intrusive thoughts can feel scary and often trigger an emotional storm that throws us off.
What do we need to know to learn to deal with intrusve thoughts effectively?
At Mindart, we get asked this question often, we are here to help with that.
In this article you'll find out:
What's The Deal with Intrusive Thoughts?
Imagine your mind is a serene and beautiful garden.
For the most part, it’s filled with vibrant flowers of impressive scents and colors. However, every now and then, a rogue weed sprouts up, uninvited and persistent, stealing from the nutrients that are needed for the flowers to continue to grow healthy and thrive. These rogue weeds are like intrusive thoughts—unexpected, often unsettling, and difficult to ignore and get rid of.
LIke uninvited guests who barge into a perfectly orchestrated party intrustive thoughts bringing chaos where there was once calm These thoughts may occur in statements, images, sounds, etc. Despite their unsettling nature, they are a common experience, much like the rogue weeds in our gardens, and there are some effective strategies to handle them.
Where Do Intrusive Thoughts Come From
We'll get to the gist of how to handle intrusive thoughts but let's see what are some things that trigger and perpetuate them.
What triggers intrusive thoughts?
Intrusive thoughts are unexpected and can be triggered by a variety of factors in the individual or the environment. Often times, they kick in when stress or anxiety levels rise. They can also pop up temporarily due to biological changes, like shifts in hormones. a woman might notice more intrusive thoughts after giving birth. Mental health conditions like Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression, and other anxiety disorders also have the potential to trigger intrusive thoughts.
At work, intrusive thoughts can occur when there is a huge change, when stress and anxiety levels become very high on operational level, when there is a major unresolved conflict or too many conflicts at the same time.
Sometimes, even minor external events, such as getting cut off in traffic on your way to work can suddenly trigger many intrsuive thoughts.
Before you start worrying, it's important to understand that intrusive thoughts are a normal part of human experience. Almost everyone encounters them at some point. They are simply part of the complex nature of our thoughts. However, when these thoughts become frequent, particularly distressing, or start interfering with daily functioning, they can become a concern. If they persist for a long time, it is recommended that you talk to a health professional to help you cope.
Types of Intrusive Thoughts
Intrustive thoughts can appear about almost every sphere in our lives. Still, some of the most common types of intrusive thoughts are:
Negative self talk.
Worries about performance at work.
Thoughts about making mistakes.
Thoughts related to responsibility or decision-making.
Thoughts related to safety or lack thereof.
Thoughts related to hurt, violence, pain.
Thoughts related to sex.
Thoughts about relationships.
Thoughts about eating disorder.
Thoughts about another unhealthy obssession around cleaning.
Thoughts about carreer, professional development.
Thoughts about unworthyness.
How to Identify Intrusive Thoughts
Kelly Bilodeau, Former Executive Editor at Harvard Women's Health Watch recommends looking for these 3 characteristics of intrusive thoughts:
The thought is unusual for you (and your optimal wellness) in some way. For example, it might feel like the thought is too violent or is over catastrophizing potential outcomes.
The thought is bothersome. It feels like somethig that you want to push out of your mind.
The thought feels hard to control, is repetitive and won't go away. It can feel like it is hard to control the thought, and it is usually sticky and repetitive.
Avoid These Mistakes: What NOT To Do With Intrusive Thoughts
Don't push them away. When we struggle with intrusive thoughts our instinctual reaction is to push them away or employ all kinds of strategies to make them disappear. But when it comes to intrusive thoughts, that's actually the last thing you want to do. Why? Intrusive thoughts are like quicksand. If you get stuck in quicksand, your first instinct might be to struggle and fight to get out. But the more you resist, move and push against the quicksand, the deeper you sink. No matter how hard you struggle, the quicksand only pulls you in further, making it harder to escape. Intrusive thoughts operate in a similar way. The more you fight against them, the more they seem to pull you in, making it difficult to break free and find peace.
Notice any judgements about yourself. Some people can begin to blame, criticize and judge themselves for having intrusive thoughts, thinking it means there’s something deeply wrong with them. This can cause even more anxiety and stress. Intrusive thoughts can trigger various kinds of self-judgements and get us stuck in negative loops, leading to burnout, lower creativity, lack of self strust and destruction of our self image. It is very important that you try to not judge yourself. Since we live in a culture that thrives on judgement, that might be very challenging at first but it is a skill anyone can learn. You can try learning meditation, mindfulness and self-compassion practices to help with that in the long run, and soften your inner judge. What you can do in the short term is practice being aware of when negative self-judgements appear, and instead of trying to reason with them or get taken into their loops, go back to the senses, the breath and the body. Remind yourself that anyone can get overwhelmed or struggle with intrusive thoughts. Know that having strange or difficult intrusive thoughts doesn't mean you are a failure or weak.
What to Do? 7 Coping Strategies for Intrusive Thoughts with Examples and Benefits
1. Acknowledge and Accept the Thoughts:
What to Do: Recognize the thought without judgment and remind yourself that it’s just a thought.
Example: If you think, "What if I mess up this presentation?" acknowledge it by saying, "I notice I'm having a worry about the presentation," and then move on.
Why It Helps: Acceptance reduces the power of the thoughts and prevents them from escalating into anxiety or distress. 2. Practice Mindfulness and Meditation:
What to Do: Practice meditation or mindfulness daily can have incredible benefits for intrusive thoughts. Focus on the present moment and observe your thoughts without getting involved in them.
Example: While feeling anxious, take a few minutes to focus on your breath. Notice each inhale and exhale without trying to change your breathing.
Why It Helps: Mindfulness helps you observe thoughts without getting caught up in them, reducing their impact on your emotions and behavior. 3. Cognitive Behavioral Techniques:
What to Do: Identify and challenge irrational thoughts, replacing them with more balanced ones.
Example: If you think, "I'm going to fail this project," challenge it by asking, "What evidence do I have for this?" and then remind yourself of past successes.
Why It Helps: This technique helps reframe negative thinking patterns and reduces the emotional distress associated with intrusive thoughts. 4. Engage in Positive Activities:
What to Do: Do something you enjoy and that fully engages your mind.
Example: If an intrusive thought arises, go for a jog, listen to your favorite music, or work on a hobby like painting or gardening.
Why It Helps: Engaging in positive activities shifts your focus away from intrusive thoughts and improves your overall mood. 5. Use Grounding Techniques:
What to Do: Bring your focus back to the present moment by engaging your senses.
Example: When intrusive thoughts occur, try the 5-4-3-2-1 technique: name 5 things you can see, 4 you can touch, 3 you can hear, 2 you can smell, and 1 you can taste.
Why It Helps: Grounding techniques anchor you in the present, reducing the intensity and frequency of intrusive thoughts. 6. Write Down Your Thoughts:
What to Do: Journal your thoughts to get them out of your mind and onto paper.
Example: When a troubling thought comes up, write it down in a notebook, then write a rational response to it, and close the notebook.
Why It Helps: Writing down thoughts can help process and understand them, reducing their emotional charge. 7. Seek Professional Help:
What to Do: Consult a mental health professional for tailored strategies and support.
Example: If intrusive thoughts are persistent and distressing, schedule an appointment with a therapist who can provide techniques like cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) or exposure and response prevention (ERP).
Why It Helps: Professional guidance can offer effective, evidence-based approaches to managing intrusive thoughts and improving mental health.
Intrusive thoughts can be challenging to deal with, so remember to be patient and kind to yourself in the process. With time, dedication, practice and the right support and teachers. your brain will learn to cope with them more effectively.
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