Why do we get intrusive urges?

[Summer9173]

I’m intrigued because it’s something I get quite badly, how can ocd create false intrusive urges and thoughts? I was learning about the amygdala but I still don’t understand it x 

[Handy]

Amygdala is our primitive brain it reacts to fear based stimulus by creating intrusive thoughts, usually false alarms.

We get a new brain at age 25 (So you don't have one yet, sorry).  Neocortex, it's logic & reason based. I think this could be one reason CBT, which is based on logic & reason, doesn't have as much effect till age 25 but I'd need to research it. 

[snowbear]

19 hours ago, Handy said:

We get a new brain at age 25 (So you don't have one yet, sorry).

  Handy, next time you write this piece of nonsense I'm just going to delete it. You've been told a thousand times that how you've interptreted the information you've read about the development of the neocortex is incorrect.

[Summer9173]

19 hours ago, Handy said:

So you don't have one yet, sorry)

Well I’ve never been told by someone I don’t have a brain that’s a new one

[Handy]

On 30/12/2022 at 12:32, snowbear said:

  Handy, next time you write this piece of nonsense I'm just going to delete it. You've been told a thousand times that how you've interptreted the information you've read about the development of the neocortex is incorrect.

From Duke university:

"Content: Brain Maturation is Complete at About 24 Years of Age

The major reason that adolescents have different sensitivities to alcohol compared to adults is that their brains are still maturing. Although it was once thought that the brain is fully mature around birth this hypothesis has been disproven; now there is clear evidence that the brain does not mature fully until about age 24. One of the areas of the brain that matures late is the prefrontal cortex the area important in impulse control risk-taking behavior and judgment."

"Neocortex (Front Brain): Our centers of “rational thought” and reasoning develop last. This is the part of your brain that isn’t’ fully mature until you’re 25 or 26. If your reptilian brain reacts to a stimulus and your limbic brain tells you how to feel about it, your neocortex helps you make sense of what just happened"

 

What do you disagree with? This is common knowledge in USA.

Edited January 1, 2023 by Handy
Word

[Summer9173]

Is this true? 

[northpaul]

Summer, I have just done a basic search in my browser using this phrase: 'amygdala nhs'

It brings up reliable NHS sites with various levels of understanding on the issue.

I always recommend people to look on safe and reliable sites.

[snowbear]

16 hours ago, Handy said:

What do you disagree with? This is common knowledge in USA.

I don't disagree with any of the text you quoted from Duke university. It's long been known that the human brain doesn't fully mature until around the age of 25.

What I disagree with is your interpretation that you 'get a new brain' at 25. Or that the neocortex suddenly appears at 25 and that we aren't capable of logic and reasoning until then.

The neocortex starts forming around the age of 11 or 12 when abstract thinking becomes possible, and it goes on developing through the teenage years up until the age of around 25.

Logical and reason-based thinking isn't something that we're incapable of in youth. 

Nor does the amygdala 'rule' the brain until the neocortex is fully formed.

It's these two interpretations you've made based on what you read that I have issue with.

[Summer9173]

57 minutes ago, northpaul said:

Summer, I have just done a basic search in my browser using this phrase: 'amygdala nhs'

It brings up reliable NHS sites with various levels of understanding on the issue.

I always recommend people to look on safe and reliable sites.

Thank you @northpaul, I’ll have a look  

[PolarBear]

Summer, look at this:

An obsession is an intrusive thought, image, urge, impulse, feeling or sensation that causes distress.

So, you can have an intrusive urge just like an intrusive thought. 

Lots of sufferers get intrusive urges. They're just another obsession.

[PolarBear]

On 01/01/2023 at 11:07, snowbear said:

I don't disagree with any of the text you quoted from Duke university. It's long been known that the human brain doesn't fully mature until around the age of 25.

What I disagree with is your interpretation that you 'get a new brain' at 25. Or that the neocortex suddenly appears at 25 and that we aren't capable of logic and reasoning until then.

The neocortex starts forming around the age of 11 or 12 when abstract thinking becomes possible, and it goes on developing through the teenage years up until the age of around 25.

Logical and reason-based thinking isn't something that we're incapable of in youth. 

Nor does the amygdala 'rule' the brain until the neocortex is fully formed.

It's these two interpretations you've made based on what you read that I have issue with.

I concur. 

[Summer9173]

29 minutes ago, PolarBear said:

Summer, look at this:

An obsession is an intrusive thought, image, urge, impulse, feeling or sensation that causes distress.

So, you can have an intrusive urge just like an intrusive thought. 

Lots of sufferers get intrusive urges. They're just another obsession.

Thank you @PolarBear, I’ve been reading brain lock and overcoming unwanted intrusive thoughts by Sally Winston too and they both say the feeling is an illusion, all anxiety based. It’s helpful to learn what causes it, I.e the Amygdala etc too. 

[JackieAM]

15 hours ago, Summer9173 said:

Thank you @PolarBear, I’ve been reading brain lock and overcoming unwanted intrusive thoughts by Sally Winston too and they both say the feeling is an illusion, all anxiety based. It’s helpful to learn what causes it, I.e the Amygdala etc too. 

Hello

 I’ve read those two books also and find them very helpful

[njb]

Agree. I'm not on here so often but I'm always surprised at how much a certain someone spouts utter rubbish on numerous topics. I'd go so far to say some of it is alarmist. Certainly not delivered with care.