Intrusive Thoughts

get me out of my head

intrusive thoughts

That voice you hear talking to you in your head LIES. Your subconscious has an uncanny ability to store information that you’ve collected your entire life, even while in utero. Scents, places, sounds, excerpts from movies, others ridiculing you and berating you, abuse of all kinds, and traumatic experiences all get stored in your brain and play a role in what that voice says to you.

You can learn to take control of these thoughts and retrain this voice to be kinder, more patient and loving towards yourself. The hard part is remembering that this takes time to develop. Much like learning anything new is it takes practice. And more practice until you master it. If there is one thing to take away from this is to remember YOU DO NOT HAVE TO LISTEN TO THIS VOICE.

An exercise that has been useful for many people is to learn to separate out your thoughts from your feelings. If you visualize where your head and your heart are and begin to notice that your thoughts are in your mind and your emotions are in your heart/stomach area you slowly bring your attention down from you thoughts into your heart center. It is in this space that you are able to better take ahold of your thoughts and get a better sense of the present tense. Often when our thoughts are wandering it’s either reliving things in the past which can play a role in depressive states and/or planning and contemplating the outcome of all that has yet to come to better prepare our mind for what it may feel like if those things that “might” happen (and often do not) which can play a role in our anxiousness. In both scenarios, it’s because we have wandered too far from the current tense where we have the most control over our situation. Of course, a moderate amount of reflecting back into the past and goal planning/dreaming into the future are healthy and natural ways we process information. These things are mentioned to help you better gauge where you are on the timeline with your thoughts.

When we are struggling to get control over our thoughts sometimes our brains are seeking to find any way out of this emotional pain we are in. We may begin thinking about suicide and the idea of what it would feel like to not actually be dealing with this sense of overwhelm. We may turn to self-harm to intentionally inflict pain onto ourselves because we want to feel anything other than the stressors that are upon us. For some, the cut offers a release of opioid and that enhances our mood from feeling despair to getting a jolt of adrenaline that refocuses our thoughts. Please note that self-harming behaviors are not alway connected to suicidality.

Distractions help us especially when we are feeling overwhelmed in racing, anxious thoughts and more importantly when we are in a mental health crisis. It is super important to understand that we want to redirect our thoughts as soon as we are able to recognize these warning signs. This can be a good technique to try even when we may not be in crisis but are being controlled by those anxious/depressive thoughts.

We have a blog article on Disassociation and list some distraction techniques there. If you are curious to learn how to safety plan in the event that you are having or have had suicidal ideations in the past a great resource is mysafetyplan.org. If you are in urgent need of support EMS/911 requesting support for a mental health crisis is the fast option to gain access to support. And if you’re wanting support navigating these intrusive thoughts you can reach 988 by calling, texting or chatting with a crisis counselor, as they are a 24/7 support line. We are here advocating to the shame out of asking for help. When we lean into our coping mechanisms and various support systems we are empowered to advocate for our needs. You are worthy AND loved.

We see you showing up for yourself. We know days can be hard and others can be even harder. You are not alone. We are here for you to find community. Take some time to acknowledge how your thoughts and feelings matter, you deserve to validate your story. We believe you when you say today has been hard. Take some time to rest afterwards, this can be draining. And if you’re in need of additional support in this time we have a list of resources for you to explore.