Theory on intrusive thoughts

[The OCDJ]

After suffering intrusive thoughts for ages I wonder if anybody else thinks the same theory as me. I know that when we get scared of an intrusive thought we place importance on it. When the intrusive thoughts get really bad and you try to think of something else the intrusive thoughts seem to become stronger and I have felt it would be a relief to just think the intrusive thought. I panicked about this but after giving it some thought I thought by your brain pushing the intrusive thoughts into your head is it the brains way of exposing you to your fear and trying to make you not scared of it? That could be why I felt it would be a relief to let the intrusive thoughts in. I like this theory as it means your brains acting for you rather than against you. What does anybody else think? X

[Guest Growlingtiger]

Interesting theory

The nature of my intrusive thoughts are my set of worst fears ... I think OCD prays on the things we fear the most..... Doing or becoming the person we would find the most distressing.

I think these fears sit in our subconscious and poke through into our conscious mind as intrusive thoughts (or for non OCD people just thoughts:)

Is it a relief for you because you've been fighting to suppress it and it's temporarily given you a feeling of safety to let the thought in ?

Personally I don't fight the thought so much , the key part is what now ?

Disrgard it or enable it ?

Disregarding it takes time for me to master , and my anxiety goes up...it's the harder path to travel but the most rewarding one.

I know however if I engage it and go into a worry cycle that I need to perform a compulsion to clear (feel safe) , all I did was strengthen the original fear in my subconscious.

back to your original theory , I discussed a similar point in CBT and it was put forward maybe we have carried this over from a time when humans did need to be hyper conscious and alert all the time .... We no longer generally need that same hyper ready to go type planning.

[Guest yinyang]

I think it's important to remember that every single person on the planet experiences intrusive thoughts.

So why do we experience recurring intrusive thoughts?

Because they induce anxiety.

The purpose of anxiety is to warn us of an immediate threat and prime us ready to 'fight or flight'.

The problem with our disorder is that we see each or some intrusive thoughts as 'immediate danger'.

So naturally our brains lock on to these thoughts for self preservation.

Our brain's are acting for us but overreacting

Edited November 25, 2015 by yinyang

[snowbear]

Hi OCDJ,

Wouldn't that be something if the brain was naturally trying to do 'exposure therapy' and cure itself?

Your theory starts from a logical base and you're right that the brain keeps the thought around in an attempt to deal with it.

However we think of 'dealing with it' in a context of making it safe or non-threatening.

But the brain by itself doesn't purposefully relax and overcome the fear associated with the thought it's keeping around does it? So that's where your theory is perhaps flawed, because it's doing 'exposure' without the all-important part of not stressing about it.

Brains are expert problem solvers and are designed not to give up until they've got the answer. So the brain keeps the 'problem' around while it tries to decide what the problem is and what action to take.

That's where CBT comes in. It teaches the brain 'there is no problem to solve, it was just a passing idea'. CBT also tells the brain what to do: relax and ignore it.

Make sense?

[Guest ashipinharbor]

On 11/25/2015 at 02:57, The OCDJ said:

the intrusive thoughts seem to become stronger and I have felt it would be a relief to just think the intrusive thought.

Why/how does OCD do this?

[The OCDJ]

I think because the content of the thoughts are not important and deep down u know this so u dont take it seriously and are sick to death of putting up resistance in a way ur brain is tired x

Edited February 21, 2017 by The OCDJ
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