How To Control Intrusive Thoughts

Intrusive thoughts can range anywhere from unimportant to emotionally hurtful or devastating. They can cause overthinking, emotional pain, worry or sadness.

Sometimes, an intrusive thought is the beginning of a cycle of thinking that causes emotional distress.

If you suffer from intrusive thoughts, they might be mentally burdening you. But their impact on your life can be mitigated with the right techniques.

What are intrusive thoughts?

Intrusive thoughts are thoughts that enter the mind without conscious choice. They’re usually unwanted.

They don’t necessarily have to be utterly horrific – at times they can be neutral. Still, other times intrusive thoughts can be disturbing and cause mental distress.

The interesting thing about them is they are very common. A lot of people get intrusive thoughts once in a while.

When they’re unimportant (i.e. they aren’t disturbing in any way), dismissing them and moving on is typically enough.

But when intrusive thoughts are frequent and/or they cause you more mental distress than you’re willing to tolerate, you might need a little extra effort to overcome them.

How to deal with intrusive thoughts

Here are some ways to control intrusive thoughts which can help decrease their impact on your life and mental health.

1. Sleep well

The brain works best when it has gotten an optimal amount of good quality sleep.

Two key points there: “optimal amount” and “good quality.” Make sure you sleep enough (go for a minimum of 8 hours). And make sure you sleep well – in the dark, sleep comfortably, etc.

Sleep is key for mental performance, which can translate into a better ability to control your thoughts. While sleeping enough may not always eliminate intrusive thoughts altogether, it sure can be a great help.

This is a way to give your mind the tools it needs to be able to combat intrusive thoughts, and maintain emotional neutrality when experiencing them.

2. Realize your thoughts don’t define you

One big problem with intrusive thoughts is if they’re bad, some people think they themselves are bad. This is a generalization that a lot of people incorrectly make.

For example, if someone has an intrusive thought about causing harm to another person, they might think that they’re immoral for thinking this.

While bad people can get intrusive thoughts, most people who get them are actually very decent.

Many people may view their thoughts as a reflection of who they are. But in reality, their intrusive thoughts are unrelated to their nature as a person.

You are not a criminal if you had an unwanted thought come into your mind where you commited a crime. Don’t let intrusive thoughts define you.

By making it clear to yourself that you are not a bad person just because you have bad thoughts, you might be able to find relief from the pain that these thoughts can cause.

To be a bad person, you need to commit a bad action or willfully think bad thoughts.

This isn’t to say intrusive thoughts don’t need to be addressed, they simply don’t need to define you.

3. Ignore them

Intrusive thoughts can be bad enough on their own. But what can make them worse is willfully adding on to them. This happens not only by giving them attention but by willingly ruminating about them – by giving them more time than they deserve.

You don’t need to think deeply about intrusive thoughts. You don’t need to think about how they make you feel.

If they pop up in your mind, simply accept that the thought came and allow it to leave. Don’t give it any attention. Don’t add your own conscious thinking. Let the thought run its course and leave your mind.

Don’t overthink the intrusive thought or about the subject it’s related to. If you do this, you give it value and could make it worse than it needs to be.

4. Let them flow

Let the intrusive thoughts enter your mind without resisting them or resisting the emotions they cause.

This doesn’t mean you have to consciously bring them to mind. Just let them be.

Don’t take any action. If the thoughts enter your mind, okay. And if they don’t, they don’t.

Resisting them might end up making them stronger. But being passive about them is a way of dismissing them and not giving them importance.

Don’t resist the thoughts. Don’t think about them. Just let them flow. Live your life and if the intrusive thoughts enter your mind, let them be.

5. Focus on more important things

One effective way to control intrusive thoughts is to redirect your attention to something more important. The idea here is not to focus on the intrusive thought nor even give it an opportunity to arise.

Healthy distraction helps put mental energy to use for more important things. This doesn’t mean that the intrusive thoughts will completely stop.

They may still come up, but this technique can help decrease their frequency and intensity.

Mental energy is limited, and dividing it makes it more likely that one thing will get less attention than the other.

This is a main reason why multitasking is considered a bad idea; it increases the likelihood of mistakes when attention is divided.

The key here is to make the mental distraction a healthy one. Don’t distract yourself in ways that could end up more harmful to your mental or physical health.

Learn a new skill, read a book, practice your math skills, solve a puzzle, knit – activities like this help challenge your mind and are healthy distractions.

If, while you’re distracting yourself, you notice that the intrusive thoughts keep coming, let them be and keep focusing on your task.

Conclusion

While intrusive thoughts may be an annoyance and even be emotionally disturbing, they can be eased with the right approach.

Controlling intrusive thoughts isn’t going to be an easy fix for everyone. Some people may need more time than others and the possibility of intrusive thoughts striking is always possible.

They may not ever completely go away. And, to be fair, a lot of people do get intrusive thoughts. But efforts put in to control them and ease their intensity can be a massive help when it comes to finding some relief.