Contents
What are intrusive thoughts and how to manage them?
Psychology
These types of thoughts are unpredictable and often have a negative connotation.
If someone tells us that “we are usually in the clouds”, it is possible that they are referring to something cheerful and even innocent, since we associate this expression with “getting lost” between bucolic thoughts and waking dreams. But, what we “go in the head” is not always a good thing, and it is not even always under our control. We speak then of the so-called “Intrusive thoughts”: those images, words or sensations that arouse emotions that distract us from the present.
The psychologist Sheila Estévez explains that these thoughts can be, at first, accidental, but with the passage of time, if they are repeated, «they are usually thoughts that invade us, with which they can generate stress and anxiety, the result of fear , rage,
guilt, shame or several of these emotions at the same time, or what is the same discomfort ». Also, note that they are thoughts that, if kept in intensity, “Activate rumination”, what we call “looping.” “If this discomfort persists, they become toxic thoughts since they undermine our self-esteem, security and confidence,” explains Estévez.
Do we all have intrusive thoughts?
Intrusive thoughts are common and most people have had them at some point in their life. Dr. Ángeles Esteban, from Alcea Psicología y Psicoterapia explains that, however, “there are people in whom these thoughts are so frequent or their content is so shocking, that cause serious difficulties in life and enjoyment». Also, the doctor talks about the difficulty of qualifying an intrusive thought as positive, because if the thought that comes to mind we like, “having this pleasant character for the person, they would not be unpleasant, unless its intensity or frequency reached to be too extreme. For her part, Sheila Estévez talks about how, if they don’t completely distract us, sudden thoughts can generate well-being: «A clear example is when we meet someone we like and it comes to mind every two by three; it is an intrusive thought that makes us feel good.
This type of thinking can cover many different topics: we talk about them if what comes to our mind is something from the past “that torments us”, it can be the idea of smoking or eating something that we should not, or concerns for the future. «In general, they are usually thoughts linked to emotions that make us feel that we are not acting as we would like, or as “we believe” that others expect us to do “, specifies Sheila Estévez.
If we don’t fix this problem, this may lead to others. The psychologist explains that we can get trapped in a feeling of not moving forward and discomfort, «of thoughts that go from being intrusive to being ruminant and from being ruminants to being toxic ”, which will mean that the person who is trapped in the present is going to accumulate situations that will add to their discomfort.
How to control intrusive thoughts
If we talk about how we can control these thoughts, Dr. Esteban has a clear guideline: «To manage obsessive thoughts we have to give them the real importance they have, focus on the present, the here and now and work with the need to be in control of situations that we may not be able to control ».
If we want to go to the more specific, Sheila Estévez’s recommendation is to use tactics such as meditation. “Active meditation is a skill that trains the ability to get out of intrusive or passing thoughts before they crystallize, in order to ‘have control’ over them and decide when to give them space in the present so that they do not overwhelm us” , Explain. and continues: “Active meditation consists of being connected to the here and nowa, in what is being done with all the senses put into it: cutting the vegetables from the food and paying attention to the colors and smells, taking a shower and feeling the touch of the sponge, in work tasks follow the objectives set for the day with all the attention on it… ».
In this way, we can achieve the goal that will allow us to get rid of these uncomfortable thoughts. “In this way we can gain control over ourselves while avoiding possible mistakes in the present by actually being in it,” Estévez concludes.