Hey everybody!
Today's topic is intrusive thoughts.
What are they? Why do they happen?
And then what do we do about them?
So stay tuned.
[music]
So like I said, today's topic
is intrusive thoughts.
And those are . . . exactly what they
sound like. They're almost like
thoughts that just pop up in our head,
and we don't know where they come from,
and we don't know how to get rid of them,
and we worry about them,
and they get worse,
and they keep coming back.
And usually, intrusive thoughts are a
component of an anxiety disorder, such
as, um, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder,
or OCD. A lot of times
people that struggle with that
will have these intrusive thoughts.
And the three things that we need
to remember about intrusive thoughts
are that: Number One: everybody,
with or without anxiety disorders,
has disgusting or embarrassing or
icky thoughts from time to time.
The second thing to remember is that
thoughts do not equal reality. M'kay?
Otherwise I could just think of
a million dollars, and then I'd go
take it out of my bank.
But that doesn't' work, right?
So thoughts don't equal reality.
And then the third thing to remember
is that thought suppression
doesn't work.
When people say, "Oh, snap that
rubber band on your wrist when those
'bad' thoughts come back, it'll make
it go away."
That's just not the truth.
So--what do we do then? Right?
Maybe we have these intrusive thoughts,
and they come all the time,
and they're ruining our days,
and it'll happen out of the blue,
we're like sitting enjoying dinner
with some friends and--poof!--
that "bad thought" or those
"disgusting thoughts" come into our
head, and we can't get rid of 'em.
Now why is that?
Now, the most important thing
about getting rid of them--like I said,
thought suppression doesn't work . . .
And it's not actually the thoughts,
it's our . . . how we think about the
thoughts, and how we process the thoughts.
Instead of, um, someone who maybe
doesn't have an anxiety disorder or have
the compulsion to--to ruminate on it
and think about it--
those bad thoughts'll come into
our mind and we just let them go.
Like, for instance, sometimes I'll be
walking on the street and I'll think,
"Oh my gosh, that'd be terrible if that
biker got out of his bike lane, got hit
by a car." "That's a horrible thought!
How embarrassing!
Why am I thinking that?"
But instead of even having that thought
process, like, "Oh, why do I have that?
That's terrible! I'm a terrible person."
I don't go through that process,
instead I just think, "Well that, well
let's hope that doesn't happen."
And then I just let it go.
Now that's the difference.
So it's not actually the thought that's
keeping and holding us hostage.
It's the fact that we ruminate on it.
Now all the research, I've looked on
many, um, research studies as well as
even just like "Psychology Today" and
any articles that have come out recently
about this topic. And what they
state is that cognitive therapy
works best. And if you haven't
watched my CBT video, click here to
open it up because it's really great--
it'll open in a new window, you're not
gonna lose this video--but, I talk about
what CBT therapy is and how it can
be really beneficial.
And the reason that it works with
intrusive thoughts is because it's not
the thought itself, it's the thoughts we
have about those thoughts.
So instead of letting ourselves ruminate,
CBT therapy helps us acknowledge
the thought and come out it,
versus ruminating. And we can actually
even ask our questions about that thought.
So I'm having this thought.
That doesn't make me a bad person.
Right, we can talk ourselves out of it,
instead of getting deeper and deeper
into it.
Is that making sense?
So for any of you who are struggling
with this, know that these are very
common and that every person in the
entire world has these "bad" or
"embarrassing" thoughts from time to time.
But the one thing we have to do
is stop thinking about the thoughts.
Let them come and go!
It doesn't mean that what you think
is reality! Okay?
It just means that you're a normal
person, you have these thoughts.
So I would encourage you to seek
out a CBT therapist, or a therapist,
even if they just do talk therapy,
you can tell them, "I'd like our, um, to
structure our sessions so that
they're more cognitive-based
because what my biggest concern
right now is, is my intrusive thoughts."
And any therapist worth their salt
will do some research for you and
find out that they have to find new
ways to get you out of the thoughts.
Okay? So if any of you
are struggling, pull out your journal
and start writing down those intrusive
thoughts. And then I want you to
write back, "This--these do not mean
that I'm a bad person. This is not
gonna happen because I thought of it."
And we need to stop them that way.
And I promise you it will help.
I know it's hard, I know it's--
it's really confusing, and it seems
overwhelming, but one thing at a time.
Right, one thought at a time.
And notice how long you're spending
just thinking about these
intrusive thoughts. Because that's
what keeps us in this cycle.
Okay?
So if have questions, or if you even
have tips, if you've worked in
cognitive therapy to get out of this
cycle of intrusive thoughts, leave your
comments below--
let us know.
But remember, remember those
three most important things:
Everybody has them.
Thoughts don't equal reality.
And thought suppression doesn't work.
So you can stop snapping that rubber
band, you can stop saying,
I'm not gonna think about this!
I'm not gonna think about this!"
'Cause that doesn't work.
We have to remind ourselves
that thoughts aren't reality,
and we have to start trying to
let them go. [music fades in]
And CBT therapy
will help the most.
Okay? I hope you found this helpful!
I know that when we talk
about cognitive distortions, and, um,
cognitive-behavioral things it can be
a little difficult. Um, so let me know
if you want more clarification, okay?
And don't forget to subscribe to my
channel because I put out these
topic videos every Monday,
and I wouldn't want you to miss one.
And thank you for checking back,
and we'll keep working together
towards a healthy mind
and a healthy body.
Subtitles by the Amara.org community