As someone who suffers from OCD and GAD, I always thought intrusive thoughts were exclusive to me; that I was a horrible person. I remember my first therapy session where I was actually honest about my thoughts and the relief I felt when my therapist validated my thoughts and assured me there was hope. I am so thankful that I have tools to not be so rigid in my expectations and welcome uncertainty...no matter how hard that is.
You are not a horrible person. You are kind in sharing your truth even though it makes you vulnerable. This means you are strong and that you care abt others. THAT is an admirable trait to have.
I've had the same thing happen to me I've had horrible blasphemous thoughts and it has been comforting to know I'm not alone that others experience this..
I have intrusive thoughts many times a day, particularly relating to violence/aggression. Ex: when I was holding my puppy the other day I suddenly had an intrusive thought of throwing her against the wall. I was, of course, beyond horrified my mind could think of such things. My therapist told me to think of those kinds of thoughts as your mind giving you tutorials on what not to do. That actually made sense, as I have GAD and my mind always thinks of what to do, what not to do, what would happen if I did something etc.
@@bengalboypaco3140 exactly!! i just view that thought as my anxiety-riddled brain going “hey do NOT do this, this pup is a super delicate creature and that would be bad!”
You are TESTING yourself. Testing your strength. Testing your resolve. No one, absolutely no one person is perfect, innocent, etc...everyone IS capable of being completely evil, it's your resolve against it, that defines you
You are just running the gamut of all possible things, but you must know that you would never do this. It’s just a thought. It’s not you. Face the thought and accept it and float with it. By realizing its fallacy, it will pass and your nervous system will resolve.
I was 12 years old and it was the first time I was picking up my baby brother in the hospital. It occurred to me that I could easily drop him out the 4th story window. I remember thinking to myself “what the f is wrong with me??”. Thought I was a horrible person for years until I later realized I’m not the only one who experiences this.
@@westsidesagittarius3103 -- I like your way of handling the terrifying thoughts that pop into your head, I will try that method... What I do is to try to think and realize it's just another dump brain cell that control thoughts going bonkers, it'll pass..
Dr. Tracey, you are a godsend. I'm serious. No one on CZcams speaks to my feelings the way that you do. I hide my feelings from my partner and children because I don't want to put them in a state of distress, but you make me feel like I'm not alone in my thoughts and feelings. I've been struggling mentally and emotionally since the death of my children's grandmother, and I try to ward off intrusive thoughts by keeping myself busy and taking care of my family. I can't deny that I struggle the most when my children and partner are sound asleep, and I am left alone with my thoughts and memories of her late at night. I can't describe the feeling. It just feels like a piece of me is missing, and no one cares or understands because of the age that she was when she passed away. I feel so broken, and I don't want to stress my family out with how I am feeling, but I feel so...lost. I can't explain it . Please keep me in y'all's thoughts and have hope that I can overcome this overwhelming feeling of grief because I can't stop myself from feeling so heartbroken as the days go on. It's been close to three months, and the heartache just won't let up. I don't even feel like myself.
@@AgentK200 I really hope she gets better. I really do. People underestimate the impact that our elders have on us. My biological Mama passed away years ago, and I feel that she allowed my children's grandmother and I to cross paths for a reason. My children's grandmother saved my soul and healed my heart. I'm so lost without her. All I can do is cry. I'd give anything to hear one last encouraging word, to sing with her, to feel the comfort from her embrace, and to hear her say that I'm beautiful and the perfect mother for her grandchildren. I feel guilty for abandoning her in her last days to chase things that seemed important at the time. Please pray for me, and help me keep hope that the pain will subside. I'm hurting so much, and I just want to be okay for my family. Thank you for your kindness.
@@AgentK200 Feel free to reach out if you need someone to listen or even care at all. Life is not meant to be lived or experienced alone. I hope with all of my heart that your Grandma is healed and feels the undying love that you have for her. Take care of yourself, and keep in mind that it's okay to feel. Your feelings are valid.
@@thetaureanmisanthrope I just lost my father. I lost my mother when I was young. It is so hard. I have cried openly in front of my children. I tell them I think it would be weird if I wasn’t sad. If you truly love someone and they pass on - who wouldn’t be floored with grief? What has helped me cope is to remember that they are not lost, they have just changed form from physical to spiritual. If you listen you might still be able to hear her. Your relationship can become a spiritual one. If you don’t believe in the spiritual, remember that she lives in you and the grandchildren. Her words are in mind, your neurons. Sending you much love ❤️
@@divorceblackhawk7744 Thank you so much. Your words truly uplifted me today. I know her presence is all around me. I just wish we could talk to each other again, you know. She was my rock, and I didn't know being without her would be so darn hard. But thank you for your kindness. It truly helps.❤
I have OCD, Bipolar and ADHD. Before treatment I was tortured by my intrusive thoughts and I began to believe I was a bad person or a threat to society. After a lot of work and understanding I was able to finally be free from them. They still come and go but it is no where as bad as it use to be
@@EmmaDeFazio5938 OCD. I would love to be bipolar.... Crazy sex drive managable mood swings and medicines that work while with OCD, no medicines work your thoughts torment you violently AND I mean violently! I have to physically shake my head to try to get rid of thoughts....its like your mind has a mind of its own and wont shut up about things you dont want to think. Like think of something that you shouldnt think and that thought repeats over and over again. Im religious so its 100000 times worse when it comes to sins I shouldn't think it makes me think all of them. Its hell in itself
I’m sorry to hear that. You should talk to a therapist about what you’re going through. Medication could also help with limiting/dealing with these thoughts. As far as sleep goes, taking valerian root or melatonin would help with your sleep.
Reading these comments makes me feel definitely better. Makes me feel like there's other people going through the same shit. Thanks for sharing your situation, everyone! Pretty sure others feel the same.
I just want to tell u that it will get better. A few years ago this thoughts almost led me to develop a serious depression. I didn’t even know this problem existed so I actually thought I was the next big psychopath. I cried to my sleep about the possibility of harming other people and at the same time I fully believed I could do it. As soon as I discovered what were intrusive thoughts it got easier since I now did know I wasn’t a monster. Battle ur thoughts. Not in a way of shaming, but acknowledge them and simply tell them they’re not real, and they’re not you. That helped at least, this internal monologue eventually became so convincing the thoughts started appearing less and less often.
I literally developed sever OCD Intrusive thoughts, depression, and anxiety out of the blue 6 weeks after recovering from covid. Intrusive thoughts are with out a doubt the worst thing in this world. I wouldn't wish them on my worst enemy.
Dude..no one understood when i said i was sick with covid but in a different way in that it made me severely depressed and hopeless. My mental health has steadily been declining ever since..
I'm sorry that happened but it's fascinating to think that the virus affects so much more than just our body. This is what scares me so much about COVID and illness in general.
Learning to ignore intrusive thoughts is the trick. This is where meditation really helps. Any and all thought stopping/rituals just reinforce the intrusive thoughts. I personally suffer from GAD, OCD, intrusive thoughts so I understand the pain. I might add it is also possible for sexuality to get wrapped up in these types of thoughts too; the short story is that intrusive thoughts pick the topic that will bother you the most; and for me that varies depending on whatever is going on in my life.
I've been having intrusive thoughts for months now. Recently i started having doubts about whether if i had acted according to my intrusive thoughts. I know i didn't but my mind keeps saying otherwise. When it happens, i wish i could just press the replay button and check it. I can't talk about it to others because even i know i'm being ridiculous. My day starts and ends with me fighting against these thoughts and frightening myself with "what if"s. Sometimes, the line between my imagination and reality gets blurry. I don't how to trust myself. I just get really scared that i might do something harmful to the people whom i love most. All of my intrusive thoughts are based on my biggest fears. Sometimes, it is really exhausting being alive . I just tell myself giving up doesn't solve any problems. So it's either to try to get better or to keep drowning in my own fears. I saw your video about mind wandering and decided to dedicate myself to meditate on daily basis. Thank you for sharing your knowledge. It really helps. 🙏
Hi I can relate as well, it's been difficult for me with 'what if's' as well and learning to trust myself and it still is hard at times, and for me it was exhausting with driving and learning to trust myself with all the what ifs and things that could be possible. know you are not alone in these struggles.
I suffered from this exact same problem a few years ago. It will get better if u confront them, acknowledge them, and rationally understand why they DO NOT define u. And if it doesn’t get better seek professional help, there’s tones of professionals out there who would be able to help u and make ur life easier ❤️🩹I know how hard it is to be a prisioner of ur own mind, how difficult it is to keep a normal life and yet be battling endless wars in ur head at every single moment. U’ll get trough it, and most importantly just know U ARE NOT defined by those thoughts.
I have OCPD and experience intrusive thoughts. What I do that helps me is when I get one, before i start giving too much attention to the thought, I tell myself in my head “hey no that’s an intrusive thought and you don’t mean it” that has helped when it comes to the guilt and anxiety when they come up. Just something to try if you’re struggling with those.
I’ve been having these lately! It’s so weird. I’m not a violent person and I’ll be sitting there, anxious and talking to someone and suddenly a thought to hit or punch them appears in my mind and it makes me upset.
Yes one time in my psychology class I was annoyed at how slow the teacher was talking I had a thought to throw my pencil right at her face then I caught myself and was questioning my own control omg what if I actually do it but I didn’t mean it
I feel this. I even get thoughts of bullying people or disrespecting boundaries and what not but the thing I’ve been told is that you’re mind will take your worst fears (mine is hurting others physically, emotionally, spiritually etc.) and it will run with that to show you what not to do but then the anxiety takes that thought and makes you think that it’s a reflection of who you are as a person when in reality it is quite literally the opposite of who you actually are as a person. I hope this helps because it’s begun to help me.
Every single point was spot on, oh my god, even down to the examples you described. I was diagnosed with OCD in 2020 (my therapist described it as “pure OCD” or scrupulosity, where I tried to fight for control over my thoughts). It’s still bad at times, but I do know that my thoughts aren’t always concrete representations of my morals or who I am as a person
i had a problem with religious intrusive thoughts (I didn't know such thoughts were a thing at the time). IT seriously ruined my 20s for me. I prayed to God, and just waited on him. Praise God it got better, then I was able to get help with other mental illness things. I'm glad videos like these exist that could possibly point people towards the help they need, by putting a name and definition to the experience.
What did you pray for? I am currently in my early 20s and I have so many intrusive thoughts telling me things like I "truly don't believe in God" and have to fight it every single day. I am so sick of it. Any advice to help?
@@maggiecameron2577 not believing in God makes it worse .one should believe in God and try to live your normal life leave the rest on God .God is the one who has the ultimate control over everything.
I've had anxiety for years now, and I've struggled with intrusive thoughts for nearly as long. They got significantly worse in 2018-2021, but now in 2022 I've been able to reduce them by visually confronting the thoughts through art. Since then, I've been doing a little better mentally :)
I started having intrusive thoughts about 2 to 3 years ago. Back then, I didn't know anything about anxiety and psychology in general, so if let's say I had an intrusive thought of stabbing someone, I just hid all knives I saw to not harm someone. Now, 3 years later I had one intrusive self harm thought. At first I panicked but then I realised that it's the same thought I used to have when I was younger. Basically, what I'm trying to say is that you shouldn't run away from these thoughts. Just face them, maybe expose yourself to them and pretend to agree with them Good luck 💜
edit: Thanks for sharing y'all! :) I have a topic suggestion, if you don't have a video on that already: Is talking to oneself healthy / unhealthy and why? How much is too much? What steps would you recommend to tone it down? I've always talked to myself in my head, or whispered when writing something, or doing maths, or making some kind of plan in my head, or trying to figure something out. In the last year it became almost a constant whispered feed of my inner monologue. Since the last few months, I catch myself speaking out loudly. It can be me talking to cereal on a shelf in a shop ("I'm not picking you, you're not healthy. I'm picking you instead!"), or me on my way home describing to myself what I'm gonna cook when I get home, or me replaying some situation in my head and giving commentary to that replay, the commentary being largely internal but singular sentences come out vocal. It can be me cursing ("ffs why is this laptop so slow!"). I wonder why it's getting more vocal and if it's healthy. It's probably socially not appropriate, but generally I don't mind being a weirdo, so long as it's not unhealthy. However, I'm returning from home office to work soon, and there I don't want to be a distraction to others. So I'm looking for ways to control it a little better.
i second this suggestion ^ i’ve done that literally my whole life and i could never figure out if there was something wrong with me or if it was okay or why i was even doing it in the first place! i’d also love to see a video on that
I thought my family and I were the only ones that did this. I’ve done this since childhood and people tease me for it. I can’t tell if this is normal or not
this but i also have full blown conversations out loud. they aren’t conversations where i’m replying back, it’s just more like word vomiting a lot at once. like i can embarrassingly talk to myself out loud for 40 mins. it’s so weird because i don’t fully realize until i’ve been talking too much. recently i catch myself and i slowly fade out of it because i’m embarrassed. i don’t know where it stems from tbh i’ve always talked a lot in my head even as a kid i would take hours to fall asleep. don’t know if that’s what you meant but i also do say sentences out loud like my inner monologue just comes out while i’m doing random tasks
I’ve always been curious about this too, but although for me it’s completely internal. I have back and forth full blown arguments with myself like it’s two voices and it’s such a downer and frustrating. If I am drunk though, all of those internal conversations and arguments show externally 😓. I’ve even texted myself arguing with me on a group chat drunk. Idk if it’s intrusive thoughts still or what 😔, but it’s always like talking to another person that just so happens to live inside my head. Usually when I’m going through my depressive episodes where my stress is a constant, but hardly a thing otherwise~
I frequently use it (talking to myself) as a means of sorting out my thoughts or organizing them... It can help with writing out stuff, from dissertations to full-blown novels... visualizing before I sketch out a set of plans for some project I'm building... OR even rehearsing for in-game functions as various NPC's and monsters need be employed to engage my Players and their Characters as an Acting Game-Master. AND from time to time, I engage vocalizing internal monologues and dialogues to remind myself of things or rather like trying to be my own coach... It kind of depends on what I'm doing, particularly... BUT I DO talk myself through a lot of things... Frankly, I see very little "unhealthy" about the practice... or habit... There might be points where it's embarrassing or where people are likely to act negatively about you doing it... AND there might be techniques to catch yourself and avoid it in public... If I had to propose a theory, I'd suggest that a lot of the increased tendencies to talk to yourself (ourselves?) recently has to do with isolation and the pandemic over the last TWO YEARS... It's quite likely that getting more regular conversations with other people will help diminish most of the habitual side of this kind of thing on its own. Maybe you can invite a co-worker to "spit-ball ideas" or "as a sounding board" for a little thought-organizing or some similar brain-storming session between the two of you, rather than look peculiar or "nutty" in your cubicle carrying on "solio"... ;o)
OCD and ADHD here! My goodness, this explains intrusive thoughts so well. For me, my intrusive thoughts often revolve around religious topics, as I myself am a Christian. As a teenager I went on a 5-month long tangent questioning things like salvation and eternity. It was terrifying, but thankfully got through that time with counseling and support. How I wish I knew how to deal with such thoughts earlier! I still struggle with intrusive thoughts on various subjects, but I've learned how to cope with them and how to fight back! Thank you for your videos!
I’ve been handling OCD and intrusive thoughts for about 10 years but sometimes watching stuff like this is a useful reminder of the basics that are easy to forget
I get the same intrusive thought of causing serious harm or even death to someone very important to me, I won’t say who. And I’ll often think about this scenario for like a good five minutes before I snap out of it. I’m not sure what causes me to think of this violent and aggressive behavior and why it’s always the same person. I just wish I could have more positive thoughts and work toward something that will help the both of us. Thank you for the video and thank you to everyone that commented, I don’t feel as bad knowing other people experience similar things.
@@bisous101 Hi. Just read this. I didn't want to initially, but I ended up speaking to the person about it. What an uncomfortable conversation it was. However, once we spoke about it, I noticed I don't ever get those thoughts anymore. Hope this helps.
@@ATC0001this is exactly what is happening to me right now with my wife. For 9 years not once did I ever have a single harmful thought about her. A week ago a random angry scenario played out in my head and it's been driving me insane. I just can't live with myself thinking awful things about the most precious thing in the world to me. I've begun to recognize that it's just OCD and the more time I spend around her, the less I ruminate on those thoughts, but I just don't understand why it happened in the first place! I'm wracked with guilt and I am suffering in silence.
this was such a good video, i feel like the really disturbing persistent intrusive thoughts are so hard to describe to people who don't have them, because sometimes you don't want to get that specific ya know, so having the examples in this video be on that level is nice
Dr, you just described me, down to a T! I've done therapy, but it's so, so, so, so reassuring still to hear you describe and normalise the nightmare that is living with intrusive thoughts...I really needed this video today. Thank you.
You were created by God just for these purposes in our lives. I've been praying on answers for these issues for a long time now, years. And he's FINALLY answered my prayers 🙏🙏🙏!! I've found so many answers from your videos so far and this is the first time I've heard about you, TODAY! I pray that God continues to work in you and through you to keep affecting the lives of people like us. Thank You!!
I have intrusive thoughts, most of them are violent, aggressive, and maybe sexual😔. Theses thoughts started when I was in kindergarten. I never knew what these thoughts mean, and I was to ashamed to tell anyone. My mind is like a dirty machine, and it can cause urges and fear that these thoughts might become actions. I’m scared to have close relationships, I feel like I’m constantly daydreaming, zoning out, and dissociating. These thoughts triggers urges and behaviors, like it’s a time machine. Listening to music help express these emotions and helps me zone out so, instead of having the urges to do that action, I have zone out or daydream in my second world or something. But if it’s too strong, I need to sleep. Another thing that triggers intrusive thought are things that people say, do, and show. Then it triggers emotions. So I’ve been struggling with this for years, it even makes me struggle in school, I’m worried about driving and getting a job. 😔
When I was really in the depths of my depression my intrusive thoughts were so bad. I thought I was the only one, that I was completely insane and I didn’t know how to deal with it. I’m so glad people started to become more comfortable with sharing their struggle with this because if they hadn’t, I don’t know where I’d be right now. The thoughts have gotten so much better but they’re still there of course. My depression and anxiety have gotten much better as well but at the same time I think I may just be ignoring it for the sake of being better :/
Everyone is different and copes differently, I don’t have ocd but I do have adhd and rumination can be a pain. I can watch something or be told something and I’d play it out in my head for weeks and with adhd it’s hard to stop thinking, sometimes I can shut it off and sometimes I can’t. But I found that music and watching marvel movies helped me with rumination and just being in the moment. Our mind can play so much tricks on us and make us feel as though we are in a bubble. The fact that you feel something towards these thoughts means you’re human and have morality. It means you’re uncomfortable with them and that’s okay. Our mind races everyday and we get about 1000 different thought spirals throughout it. You’re doing a great job taking the first step and learning how to overcome them. Seeking help is the best thing to do
OMG. Sometimes when driving to work I'll create a whole scenario in my head of a family member dying and I'll cry all the way to work tell myself and force myself to cheer up and tell myself it's not real so I'm not crying at work and this video really helps me understanding these thoughts more. Thank you so much.
I am an introvert, and whenever I start working on the lawn or become 'idle,' where I do not need to use my mind, my thoughts start coming and it usually has to do with people who have hurt me, people who I do not like and my confronting them in my mind, or creating scenarios where I hurt the person because he/she tried to hurt me, my mother, or my spouse. But when my mind is busy, I never have to deal with any of them.
You bring comfort within me Dr. Tracey. This information goes unspoken/undiscussed otherwise. With all the shame, embarrassment and fear revolving around this. Thanks to the internet. Thank you for choosing do this. Lots of love to you. ❤
It's interesting that this video came up in my recommendations, as I've recently come to the conclusion that the frequency of my intrusive thoughts is a problem that I need to address with a therapist. Thank you for sharing this video! I finally feel seen and understood.
ive suffered from intrusive thoughts for 14 years, exposure therapy helps me the most. it is indeed scary, but the ideal of never getting better was scarier
Thank you for sharing Doctor, wish you with a healthy and happy life. I wish also for everyone with problematic intrusive thoughts to be happy and heal as soon as possible.
I have both bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder and intrusive thoughts is something I get a lot. I have this one thought I call the Monster, because I've been struggling with it for almost 22 years now. Listening to this and what my therapist said makes sense and helps me cope a lot. I have these monster thoughts less now, because of it and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy. I love to watch your videos and learn new things. Thank you for helping people with their challenging lives.
I've had my mind on the nature of intrusive thoughts and I think this video did a great job of laying dome framework to understand it, thank you very much!
This is remarkable information that I think few people want to talk about for fear of being judged. So they stuff it away and this makes it feel worse. It is actually normal to have intrusive thoughts. The problem is how we interpret these thoughts. Anxiety keeps us holding on to a thought and over analyzing it. I think this is so important to discuss and if more people saw this video they would find peace and perspective in this. I like this lady and the way she explains things. It's matter of fact and no judgement . This could save a lot of unnecessary pain in so many people's lives . Education is everything!
I have had intrusive thoughts about pushing my mom when she gets me upset ,lord knows I’ll never harm my mother 😞 I love her so much and having those thoughts get me so emotional .
I was absolutely horrified when I once had a fleeting thought of dropping a pan of boiling water onto my elderly dog. Knowing that others are going through the same kind of intrusive thoughts - knowing that these kinds of thoughts are not unique to me and how to combat them is a huge weight off my mind. Thank you.
I read somewhere that the intrusive thoughts are caused by the brain accidentally flagging a certain thought as important when it shouldn’t have. Also that say part of your brain asks for example “Is the door locked?”. Another part of the brain either remembers yes it is or doesn’t remember so checks the door and it is locked. It then sends a signal to the other part of the brain to say “The door is locked so switch off the signal/question”. I read that this return signal is the or part of the cause of intrusive thoughts because the part of the brain asking or sending the signal in the first place doesn’t get the return signal. It gets lost or stuck on its way because of lack of neurotransmitters. Since this part of the brain doesn’t get the message that the door is locked it just repeatedly sends the signal(intrusive thought) over and over. Apparently this is why OCD is so distressing because one part of the brain is repeatedly asking a question or sending a thought that another part of the brain has already dealt with or fixed or decided is not important. The person is aware of both of these and that the issue/thoughts has been dealt with but the other part keeps asking or sending signals despite this. I have simplified the process that I read because it was just easier to write on here. Can you please clarify how much of this is true and/or accurate?
Dr. Marks, this is what I deal with all the time. I never knew what or how or why it was happening. I appreciate you so much! I have never been able to get these thoughts to come into words and I feel like that is what is holding me back from being my greater Self. Thank you thank you so much! You were so blatant and I also chew on my words and sugar coat a lot. This is helping me to shake this hold on me. Peace and Blessings!
This reminded me of a cartoon song that helped me finally stop when I was unable to stop having obsessive thoughts after a year- knowledge is so powerful- and for someone to tell you it's okay. The song was "Here Comes a Thought" from Steven Universe. Content like that and this video helps people so much. I have more ideas now on how to better relax my perfectionistic mindset.
Thank you for these words of wisdom, I've never actually heard anyone talk about this, but I've had this issue with intrusive thoughts for a really long time, and it has affected my life quite massively.. I'm fairly certain I have OCD and anxiety too. The intrusive thoughts that bother me the most are the sexual ones.. whenever I tried to get intimate with my ex, I'd always have these thoughts of my parents and what they'd think of me if they saw me there and then, and I'd be turned off instantly. Or having sexual thoughts with family members, it just turns me off and I feel so ashamed and disgusted, I don't know what to do to stop it, I'm scared I'll never have a romantic life again
I really appreciate her describing a harsher form of harm OCD. Like OCD and Anxiety’s great but his worse one is tripping a kid. I get that it’s playing to YT’s algorithm, but it helps to hear the worst of people’s thoughts and it gives hope to us who have similar thoughts.
So glad I found your page Dr. I chuckled at some of these because I’ve had some thoughts similar and thought I was sick SOB. I now know it’s normal and see that they are happening less. Thank you for your help. ❤
I used to be friends with a guy back in high school who would have been able to check every single one of these boxes! Every difference you mentioned between ordinary thoughts and intrusive thoughts would have applied to him back then. He used to torture himself over these thoughts because he didn't mean them, but they still kept coming. I wonder if he had GAD and/or OCD? We haven't been in touch in years, but I hope the poor guy got the help he seemed to need. I have random thoughts sometimes such as the desire to yell "Fire!" in a crowded building, but I know that they are just thoughts, I can ignore them, I don't even really want to do it, and it doesn't say anything about me that I have those thoughts. I actually do have anxiety, just not about this particular issue.
Dr Tracey Marks thanks for your excellent content and highlighting this misunderstood condition! I've had intrusive/obsessive thoughts for over 20 years and unfortunately The mental health professionals involved with me were terrible! Fortunately I have a brilliant wife & mum to talk with and I read a very good self help book. I get intrusive/obsessive thoughts a lot less now and my relationship with my thoughs has completely changed. I know thought doesn't reflect on my morals or my beliefs. I'm not in charge of thoughts- they just come, so I'm not judgemental about them! If you're suffering with intrusive thoughts, education and understanding is key. Please don't suffer in silence reach out for help,you deserve it!
Thank you Dr. Marks. Whenever I thought of OCD I thought about someone with rituals (i.e. counting windows on a high rise, constantly washing your hands). I saw a short talk about intrusive thoughts and quickly ran to you. I'll be 42 next week. Watching this video was an early bday present. 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾
Ever since I was a child my brain has always been the same. I thought everything was normal, until 2 weeks ago when I was prescribed some medication. First time I've ever had a quiet brain in my life. I'm 40 now and I've always had unwanted thoughts since I was a child. I had no idea that your brain isn't supposed to be loud all the time. Unfortunately I had some bad side effects with the meds physically. So if you're going through this, get help right away. I really want a quiet and peaceful mind, which I experienced only for a brief moment.
@@elieose1568 sorry it took me a while to see this as I use multiple CZcams accounts. But I used Risperdal/Risperidone, my brain completely just got quiet and I had no intrusive and suicidal thoughts. I'm on abilify now, it's kinda the same but not as good. I can't complain though because I don't have constipation, body ache and other side effects. I'm also not as agitated and aggressive like before. I brush off alot of stuff that bothered me before.
@@elieose1568 ah gotcha, yeah abilify is keeping me calm but I'm not sleeping. On the bright side, I'm getting alot of stuff done lol I wish you the best and hopefully you don't get any side effects like I did.
I’m Autistic with OCD, ADHD, bipolar and the OCD is the hardest struggle I’ve ever faced. People often say.. “wow, you are so strong.. how do you do so well while experiencing X?” Because the vast majority of trauma life throws at me is nothing compared to what my intrusive thoughts tortured me with. Then the spiral of bipolar and OCD is a special kind of hell. It’s like.. here some horrific thoughts .. now have some major mood swings too and some psychosis 🤷♀️ But I’ve never heard of this type of OCD before but I definitely experienced it. It was really made worse for me by the fact I had legitimate doubts and questions the church couldn’t answer. My mental health improved sooo much once I accepted those doubts and became atheist. I honestly couldn’t shake my doubts and they tormented me. But I do find whenever I slip into any religious thinking, the intrusive thoughts soon follow. So I find atheism as a way to keep me mentally sane. Thank you for giving a word for this. I do have other types of OCD thoughts, but they are not near as intense and consuming as the religious OCD thoughts. My regular OCD thoughts, I can usually just push out of my mind without too much problem unless I’m really struggling in some other way, like an autistic meltdown, or bipolar episode .. ohh the joys of comorbidity. Anyway. Thank you Dr Tracy
i have HOCD and its slowly made its way into anxiety… its gotten out of hand but your video has really helped, thank you very much you have earned a new subscriber 😌
I've adhd and got those intrusive/compulsive thoughts during a time where my brother started having several psychosis (my age was 16-19). But somehow i came up with rules, related to this presented model, to conquer the thoughts and i've won. The best rule was, that my thoughts will remain private until i talk about them. Then i could think 24/7 about rape, murder, suicide and stuff in such a way that i would randomly loose control, without any judgement from anyone else but myself, because others can't see what and why i'm thinking this stuff. The next step was to tone down my self-criticism (and to raise empathy) and to use techniques to redirect those impulsions that would lead me to say way too private or things (which was in fact an issue). Also i did came up with better ways to determine what has to be private. The sexual aggressive, commenting and worrysome thoughts have stopped altogether. But not long after this i've developed other compulsions like compulsive writing (when i'm afraid of loosing any relationship) and hyperreflection (when i have to tell what's wrong with me) and "just stucking" (wherein i'm suddenly disconnected from my body in such a way, that "active thoughts" won't lead to actions anymore, similar to what deep meditation is like). I'm not sure, if the original problem has just shifted or that the increase in the need of executive functions have lead to new problems (and higher stress). Ultimately i would say it's about perseverating in total though.
Considering I'm always in dreamland I experience this consistently, it's easier to stay inside my head, my neighbor is a trigger, he is one of the worst, kidnapping, rape and murder of a little girl, I was a little girl when I was abused and he has females screaming help me as they run from his place and the cops won't do anything, my thoughts are really bad about him. Not to mention that I have been threatened with a gun on multiple occasions and the cops still won't do anything.
I’m so glad you mentioned the gold standard treatment of ERP later in the video, Dr. Marks. That was what I was treated with in the late 80s and early 90s as a child and adolescent. It would be great if you’d consider doing a video, in the spirit of the late Dr. Wolpe, on how individuals can use a hierarchy of exposure scenarios rated on the SUDS scale to address the primary anxiety disorders treated by ERP - OCD, Agoraphobia, Specific Phobias, etc. In this video there was an emphasis on exposure, but I think it would be enormously helpful to spend some time examining the importance of response prevention in the execution of this treatment modality. Thanks again for the wonderful channel!
Thank you Doctor for all you do. Sometimes I have conversations with my thoughts; and at times the conversations becomes an argument. I find myself yelling out loud when I'm at home alone.
As someone who has struggled with OCD and anxiety I would say the one thing that has helped me the most has been practicing mindfulness meditation every morning for 20-30 minutes. I've been doing it for 4 years every day and it really helps. I wish I had started it sooner
for me, it usually either involves harm to my eyes, or something awful I could shout out in public. I think I feel distressed that it's so easy to screw things up permanantly, in one way or another.
I suffer from anxiety and I have a lot of intrusive violent thoughts. This video really spoke to me, I wish I had it sooner. I used to have really bad thoughts around my partner in the kitchen. It actually led me to breaking up with her because I was so scared I was going to hurt her, which in turn emotionally hurt her and now I'm in a deep state of depression. I didn't know how to explain any of this to her without sounding like a psychopath. Now the thoughts are just violence against myself.
Dr, honestly this video helped me feel a little less anxious yet very anxious because it is bad. However, i feel people would never understand and that's ok. I will do my best to recuperate from this trauma. God bless you always and may you keep helping people
I have ocd, and gad and have gone through therapy as a younger person for intrusive thoughts. I don't remember much from the time and this really felt comfortable to listen to to reassure myself
You ma'am are an angel. I have been having intrusive thoughts lately, and just recently I remember an intrusive thought that has been haunting me. "[Eating processed food] does affect your thinking." I remember eating chocolate the night before I had that thought and that must have been it. Thank you so much.
Today I came across this channel and since then, I look and listen and I'm speechless. I have OCD, intrusive thoughts, anxiety (and social anxiety or anything that include anxiety), being a perfectionist, and sometimes depression moments when I just lay down or at night when I cry until morning. I always had them, some my whole life, and some were "developing" like intrusive thoughts, but I just thought it was me and never think they were a real thing or a disorder.
Thank you so much! 😢❤ this video means a lot to me!!!! I’ve been feeling alone and afraid. Like I don’t even know who I am anymore. But this video brought me calm.
I suffer terrible from OCD and your videos are by a lot better than all the videos I ever saw thank you so much for helping us out, just know that you are doing great work, these videos really help me out
You explained this so well. When I had therapy my therapist tended to guess why I was so scared of these thoughts. You explained it well. This over inflated sense of responsibility.
With the rise of my anxiety I started having intrusive thoughts. Especially in panic mode, I think all kinds of weird things, become very obsessive and depersonalize and derealize.
Wow, you nailed it with the 'over importance bias' in my case. Having grown up playing a lot of sports, and working in the public safety field, you are always taught to play different 'what if' scenarios in your mind, and/or visualize scenarios. Being taught that if you visualize things, it gives you the best chance of succeeding. Well, I think that has spilled over into intrusive thoughts. "Gee, if I 'saw' this thought play out in my head, that must mean I'll do it someday."
You're amazing, the way you explain all this, is exactly the way I feel when I have these thoughts, and I really felt relieved after listening at you. In my worst days I used to think that I may need medication or to be locked down in some mental health center. So thank you again
I absolutely love watching your videos. Not only are they educational and interesting, they are also well done. You are very engaging to watch! Super work Dr. Tracey Marks!
Are intrusive memories a thing? I’m always having flashbacks at work or when I’m trying to just live normally and I become hot and nervous and feel shame. Dark moments from my past, things I don’t wish to revisit and I’ll just get Vivid imagery randomly and all the negative thinking all at once I sometimes physically shake my head to “get them out”
Cutting gluten and dairy from my diet removed my ruminating thoughts and suicidal ideations in 30 days. Thank you for this video, never seen them being explained in so much detail!
I find that my intrusive thoughts will be so vivid in my mind that I feel like it's actually happening to me in the moment, or that I'm witnessing it. Usually it's something horrific happening to someone or something I care about and not my own actions causing it. It'll usually cause me to have some sort of twitch where my hands face and neck will tense up quite a bit. I know when it's not real, but for the 4-5 seconds that it's going on, it can be so clear I cant not be immersed in the scenario. Is this a separate condition or just a form of intrusive thought? Not sure where to start looking into this.
I have the same thing. I don't know what to do. I dissociate a lot, so my imagination is really vivid, when my intrusive thoughts started it took me a while to control them. But my dissociation got worse, and now I can't control and when I "figure" a way to control it, I forget right after. So my intrusive thought show up, I overthink it in a vivid way like it was always true what it said, and it's always the opposite of what I believe. So I'm living in my own personal hell everyday, and it doesn't stop. It goes through ALL DAY like this, I can't even sleep and now I can't even dream because if I'm not at peace I will dream about it, and when I wake up I will think that what I dreamt is true because it's too fresh and real in my mind. I'm too sleep deprived to do something and my headache is killing me. The worst thing is that NO ONE knows what I'm talking about, no one I live with has the knowledge of what intrusive thoughts are. They don't know it's not that simple, I spend weeks fighting with myself, trying to stay alive and sane in silence because I know it will be worse if I say something. Sometimes I spend months like this, and it saddens me when people treat me like nothings happening when I don't demonstrate. When it gets really really bad and I have a panic attack people act like I'm overreacting. I just want to go back to reality, it feels like there's a invisible and heavy layer keeping me away from the moment and from what is true. Sometimes I get a glimpse of reality but it lasts literally seconds. I know how terrible it can be, I hope you get the support and treatment you deserve.
I go through these moments too and I almost start to label myself crazy. But that's not true. You stay strong against these thoughts because THEY ARE NOT YOU. Focus on your surroundings and li e in the moment. Enjoy life, laugh at something.
“Honey, why are you holding that wine bottle?” “No reason…” 😆 Seriously though, great video and explanations. I’d love a video on “intrusive memories” (I just made up that term.) distressing memories of the past that pop up out of now where, but not like PTSD, I can get out of it. But sometimes I can have like 30 in a day, like when I’m in PMDD time. Some are very traumatic and some are silly, embarrassing things I’ve done. Maybe it’s a serotonin thing?
Hey Sea. Let me look into that and see if there’s something about that experience and hat is different from general intrusive thoughts that are not based on memories
Me too. My serotonin level was tested and was so low they couldn't read it. Also, constant ear worms of songs. It especially bugs me when it's a song I don't even like and it starts the second I wake up.
@@meagiesmuse2334 Oh wow! The songs happen to my husband also. I had no idea you could get your serotonin checked. Where can you get that test? And my heart goes out to you. ♥️
@@Soaring_Seajay - The first time my Rheumatologist ran it because research had just shown that people with fibromyalgia had low serotonin and he wanted to see if mine was low. The second time my primary doctor ran the test because he suspected I had a rare type of cancer. I didn't have cancer, thank God, but my serotonin was below normal the first time, and too low to read the second time many years later. I think most Naturopathic doctors would also run that test if you asked, and some of the labs they use will write off the costs of any tests ins. won't pay for.
Lloré de lo difícil que es recordar el período en el que ésto era dolorosamente habitual. Tuve largos períodos de ansiedad con fuertes pensamientos intrusivos que me generaron hormigueos en los brazos, taquicardia, acidez nerviosa, impaciencia, hipersensibilidad a los olores, etc. Entre los 17 y los 24 años, principalmente. Gracias, Dra., por traer paz a la mente. Espero que ésta información llegué a tiempo a gente que, como yo en aquel entonces, pueda necesitarla desesperadamente. Un fuerte abrazo. 🤗
I'm not religious but I'm reminded of the psychology astute "serenity prayer" here: Grant me the serenity to accept the things I can not change, courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.
Thank you Dr Marks! I have been worrying terribly about two of the apartments in my building becoming available to new tenants. I was very close to one of the neighbors who is moving out and I am concerned (using the term lightly!) that somebody harmful or loud and abrasive is going to take her apartment upstairs from me. I feel that there is some validity to these apprehensions but I don't want these thoughts to keep ruining my day or keeping me up at night. Acceptance/Commitment Therapy sounds like a good option. You are so appreciated Dr Marks!
Really vivid nightmares always triggers intrusive thoughts to the point that I have physical symptoms, such as losing hair. I isolate, I stay away from anything that was involved in the dream. It takes months to finally have a handle on them.
Between therapy and mindfulness meditation practice and medication management my intrusive thoughts have become less of a burden. Having an intolerance of uncertainty is where i'm struggling the most. I'm constantly trying to reassure myself I can plan ahead enough so I can prevent anything from happening in the future. I will say that i'm starting to improve with it and I recognize these things take time.
As someone who suffers from OCD and GAD, I always thought intrusive thoughts were exclusive to me; that I was a horrible person. I remember my first therapy session where I was actually honest about my thoughts and the relief I felt when my therapist validated my thoughts and assured me there was hope. I am so thankful that I have tools to not be so rigid in my expectations and welcome uncertainty...no matter how hard that is.
I’m so glad you got that insight and see how you are so not alone 😊
Uncertainty is hard. I find my ocd gets worse the more stress I have in my life. Do you take meds?
You are not a horrible person. You are kind in sharing your truth even though it makes you vulnerable. This means you are strong and that you care abt others. THAT is an admirable trait to have.
@@DrTraceyMarks do you do therapy one on one ?
I've had the same thing happen to me I've had horrible blasphemous thoughts and it has been comforting to know I'm not alone that others experience this..
I have intrusive thoughts many times a day, particularly relating to violence/aggression. Ex: when I was holding my puppy the other day I suddenly had an intrusive thought of throwing her against the wall. I was, of course, beyond horrified my mind could think of such things. My therapist told me to think of those kinds of thoughts as your mind giving you tutorials on what not to do. That actually made sense, as I have GAD and my mind always thinks of what to do, what not to do, what would happen if I did something etc.
I can relate to you anna we both know we would never hurt our precious animals
@@bengalboypaco3140 exactly!! i just view that thought as my anxiety-riddled brain going “hey do NOT do this, this pup is a super delicate creature and that would be bad!”
You are TESTING yourself. Testing your strength. Testing your resolve. No one, absolutely no one person is perfect, innocent, etc...everyone IS capable of being completely evil, it's your resolve against it, that defines you
Does this happen everytime you hold them or what is the ratio as to this happens. Coz i feel the same sometimes. But it's very very rare.
You are just running the gamut of all possible things, but you must know that you would never do this. It’s just a thought. It’s not you. Face the thought and accept it and float with it. By realizing its fallacy, it will pass and your nervous system will resolve.
I was 12 years old and it was the first time I was picking up my baby brother in the hospital. It occurred to me that I could easily drop him out the 4th story window. I remember thinking to myself “what the f is wrong with me??”. Thought I was a horrible person for years until I later realized I’m not the only one who experiences this.
Same thing happend to me when I hold my niece for the first time. My god I am not the only one here!
Honestly that's kind of a funny thought I just laugh at them in order to keep from actually doing them
@@westsidesagittarius3103 -- I like your way of handling the terrifying thoughts that pop into your head, I will try that method... What I do is to try to think and realize it's just another dump brain cell that control thoughts going bonkers, it'll pass..
physco@@westsidesagittarius3103
sick
Dr. Tracey, you are a godsend. I'm serious. No one on CZcams speaks to my feelings the way that you do. I hide my feelings from my partner and children because I don't want to put them in a state of distress, but you make me feel like I'm not alone in my thoughts and feelings. I've been struggling mentally and emotionally since the death of my children's grandmother, and I try to ward off intrusive thoughts by keeping myself busy and taking care of my family. I can't deny that I struggle the most when my children and partner are sound asleep, and I am left alone with my thoughts and memories of her late at night. I can't describe the feeling. It just feels like a piece of me is missing, and no one cares or understands because of the age that she was when she passed away. I feel so broken, and I don't want to stress my family out with how I am feeling, but I feel so...lost. I can't explain it . Please keep me in y'all's thoughts and have hope that I can overcome this overwhelming feeling of grief because I can't stop myself from feeling so heartbroken as the days go on. It's been close to three months, and the heartache just won't let up. I don't even feel like myself.
I’m sorry to hear that, Tauren. And condolences.
I can relate to what you’re a saying, my grandmother’s in the hospital right now.
@@AgentK200 I really hope she gets better. I really do. People underestimate the impact that our elders have on us. My biological Mama passed away years ago, and I feel that she allowed my children's grandmother and I to cross paths for a reason. My children's grandmother saved my soul and healed my heart. I'm so lost without her. All I can do is cry. I'd give anything to hear one last encouraging word, to sing with her, to feel the comfort from her embrace, and to hear her say that I'm beautiful and the perfect mother for her grandchildren. I feel guilty for abandoning her in her last days to chase things that seemed important at the time. Please pray for me, and help me keep hope that the pain will subside. I'm hurting so much, and I just want to be okay for my family. Thank you for your kindness.
@@AgentK200 Feel free to reach out if you need someone to listen or even care at all. Life is not meant to be lived or experienced alone. I hope with all of my heart that your Grandma is healed and feels the undying love that you have for her. Take care of yourself, and keep in mind that it's okay to feel. Your feelings are valid.
@@thetaureanmisanthrope I just lost my father. I lost my mother when I was young. It is so hard. I have cried openly in front of my children. I tell them I think it would be weird if I wasn’t sad. If you truly love someone and they pass on - who wouldn’t be floored with grief? What has helped me cope is to remember that they are not lost, they have just changed form from physical to spiritual. If you listen you might still be able to hear her. Your relationship can become a spiritual one. If you don’t believe in the spiritual, remember that she lives in you and the grandchildren. Her words are in mind, your neurons. Sending you much love ❤️
@@divorceblackhawk7744 Thank you so much. Your words truly uplifted me today. I know her presence is all around me. I just wish we could talk to each other again, you know. She was my rock, and I didn't know being without her would be so darn hard. But thank you for your kindness. It truly helps.❤
I have OCD, Bipolar and ADHD. Before treatment I was tortured by my intrusive thoughts and I began to believe I was a bad person or a threat to society. After a lot of work and understanding I was able to finally be free from them. They still come and go but it is no where as bad as it use to be
Yep
Soo grateful
What is worse ocd or bipolar?
@@EmmaDeFazio5938 OCD. I would love to be bipolar.... Crazy sex drive managable mood swings and medicines that work while with OCD, no medicines work your thoughts torment you violently AND I mean violently! I have to physically shake my head to try to get rid of thoughts....its like your mind has a mind of its own and wont shut up about things you dont want to think. Like think of something that you shouldnt think and that thought repeats over and over again. Im religious so its 100000 times worse when it comes to sins I shouldn't think it makes me think all of them. Its hell in itself
@@goodbye2876 Oh I was thinking bipolar cause you have mdd and do risky things with mania i guess they are both bad
these thoughts have DESTROYED my mental health, it's become hard to sleep and my mind feels totally charged. I can not take it anymore
I’m sorry to hear that. You should talk to a therapist about what you’re going through. Medication could also help with limiting/dealing with these thoughts. As far as sleep goes, taking valerian root or melatonin would help with your sleep.
That you cannot take it anymore is just another thought and disproven by your continued existence.
Reading these comments makes me feel definitely better. Makes me feel like there's other people going through the same shit. Thanks for sharing your situation, everyone! Pretty sure others feel the same.
Yeah I've been going threw it lately man been getting to me
I just want to tell u that it will get better. A few years ago this thoughts almost led me to develop a serious depression. I didn’t even know this problem existed so I actually thought I was the next big psychopath. I cried to my sleep about the possibility of harming other people and at the same time I fully believed I could do it.
As soon as I discovered what were intrusive thoughts it got easier since I now did know I wasn’t a monster. Battle ur thoughts. Not in a way of shaming, but acknowledge them and simply tell them they’re not real, and they’re not you. That helped at least, this internal monologue eventually became so convincing the thoughts started appearing less and less often.
I literally developed sever OCD Intrusive thoughts, depression, and anxiety out of the blue 6 weeks after recovering from covid. Intrusive thoughts are with out a doubt the worst thing in this world. I wouldn't wish them on my worst enemy.
I went through the same thing after recovering from covid. I am now on meds and they have provided so much relief.
Dude..no one understood when i said i was sick with covid but in a different way in that it made me severely depressed and hopeless. My mental health has steadily been declining ever since..
@@moonie2687 I'm so sorry to hear that. 😥
Truly they are the worst Thing in the world! God bless you friend💓
I'm sorry that happened but it's fascinating to think that the virus affects so much more than just our body. This is what scares me so much about COVID and illness in general.
I’m not religious or anything but once I started praying it really started to make me feel better and minimize those thoughts
Learning to ignore intrusive thoughts is the trick. This is where meditation really helps. Any and all thought stopping/rituals just reinforce the intrusive thoughts. I personally suffer from GAD, OCD, intrusive thoughts so I understand the pain. I might add it is also possible for sexuality to get wrapped up in these types of thoughts too; the short story is that intrusive thoughts pick the topic that will bother you the most; and for me that varies depending on whatever is going on in my life.
I've been having intrusive thoughts for months now. Recently i started having doubts about whether if i had acted according to my intrusive thoughts. I know i didn't but my mind keeps saying otherwise. When it happens, i wish i could just press the replay button and check it. I can't talk about it to others because even i know i'm being ridiculous. My day starts and ends with me fighting against these thoughts and frightening myself with "what if"s. Sometimes, the line between my imagination and reality gets blurry. I don't how to trust myself. I just get really scared that i might do something harmful to the people whom i love most. All of my intrusive thoughts are based on my biggest fears. Sometimes, it is really exhausting being alive . I just tell myself giving up doesn't solve any problems. So it's either to try to get better or to keep drowning in my own fears. I saw your video about mind wandering and decided to dedicate myself to meditate on daily basis. Thank you for sharing your knowledge. It really helps. 🙏
Hi I can relate as well, it's been difficult for me with 'what if's' as well and learning to trust myself and it still is hard at times, and for me it was exhausting with driving and learning to trust myself with all the what ifs and things that could be possible. know you are not alone in these struggles.
I suffered from this exact same problem a few years ago. It will get better if u confront them, acknowledge them, and rationally understand why they DO NOT define u. And if it doesn’t get better seek professional help, there’s tones of professionals out there who would be able to help u and make ur life easier ❤️🩹I know how hard it is to be a prisioner of ur own mind, how difficult it is to keep a normal life and yet be battling endless wars in ur head at every single moment. U’ll get trough it, and most importantly just know U ARE NOT defined by those thoughts.
I have OCPD and experience intrusive thoughts. What I do that helps me is when I get one, before i start giving too much attention to the thought, I tell myself in my head “hey no that’s an intrusive thought and you don’t mean it” that has helped when it comes to the guilt and anxiety when they come up. Just something to try if you’re struggling with those.
I use the same technique and it works
I’ve been having these lately! It’s so weird. I’m not a violent person and I’ll be sitting there, anxious and talking to someone and suddenly a thought to hit or punch them appears in my mind and it makes me upset.
Yes one time in my psychology class I was annoyed at how slow the teacher was talking I had a thought to throw my pencil right at her face then I caught myself and was questioning my own control omg what if I actually do it but I didn’t mean it
happens all the time interacting with difficult people
I feel this. I even get thoughts of bullying people or disrespecting boundaries and what not but the thing I’ve been told is that you’re mind will take your worst fears (mine is hurting others physically, emotionally, spiritually etc.) and it will run with that to show you what not to do but then the anxiety takes that thought and makes you think that it’s a reflection of who you are as a person when in reality it is quite literally the opposite of who you actually are as a person. I hope this helps because it’s begun to help me.
Every single point was spot on, oh my god, even down to the examples you described. I was diagnosed with OCD in 2020 (my therapist described it as “pure OCD” or scrupulosity, where I tried to fight for control over my thoughts). It’s still bad at times, but I do know that my thoughts aren’t always concrete representations of my morals or who I am as a person
Careful how you say his name dude
I have pure OCD, as well
i had a problem with religious intrusive thoughts (I didn't know such thoughts were a thing at the time). IT seriously ruined my 20s for me. I prayed to God, and just waited on him. Praise God it got better, then I was able to get help with other mental illness things. I'm glad videos like these exist that could possibly point people towards the help they need, by putting a name and definition to the experience.
What did you pray for? I am currently in my early 20s and I have so many intrusive thoughts telling me things like I "truly don't believe in God" and have to fight it every single day. I am so sick of it. Any advice to help?
@@maggiecameron2577 not believing in God makes it worse .one should believe in God and try to live your normal life leave the rest on God .God is the one who has the ultimate control over everything.
@@pleasebekindandcompassiona5836❤
As a therapist, it's just good to know we're saying the same things. I'll be sharing this video with clients for sure!
I've had anxiety for years now, and I've struggled with intrusive thoughts for nearly as long. They got significantly worse in 2018-2021, but now in 2022 I've been able to reduce them by visually confronting the thoughts through art. Since then, I've been doing a little better mentally :)
I started having intrusive thoughts about 2 to 3 years ago. Back then, I didn't know anything about anxiety and psychology in general, so if let's say I had an intrusive thought of stabbing someone, I just hid all knives I saw to not harm someone. Now, 3 years later I had one intrusive self harm thought. At first I panicked but then I realised that it's the same thought I used to have when I was younger.
Basically, what I'm trying to say is that you shouldn't run away from these thoughts. Just face them, maybe expose yourself to them and pretend to agree with them
Good luck 💜
edit: Thanks for sharing y'all! :)
I have a topic suggestion, if you don't have a video on that already:
Is talking to oneself healthy / unhealthy and why? How much is too much? What steps would you recommend to tone it down?
I've always talked to myself in my head, or whispered when writing something, or doing maths, or making some kind of plan in my head, or trying to figure something out.
In the last year it became almost a constant whispered feed of my inner monologue.
Since the last few months, I catch myself speaking out loudly. It can be me talking to cereal on a shelf in a shop ("I'm not picking you, you're not healthy. I'm picking you instead!"), or me on my way home describing to myself what I'm gonna cook when I get home, or me replaying some situation in my head and giving commentary to that replay, the commentary being largely internal but singular sentences come out vocal. It can be me cursing ("ffs why is this laptop so slow!").
I wonder why it's getting more vocal and if it's healthy. It's probably socially not appropriate, but generally I don't mind being a weirdo, so long as it's not unhealthy. However, I'm returning from home office to work soon, and there I don't want to be a distraction to others. So I'm looking for ways to control it a little better.
i second this suggestion ^ i’ve done that literally my whole life and i could never figure out if there was something wrong with me or if it was okay or why i was even doing it in the first place! i’d also love to see a video on that
I thought my family and I were the only ones that did this. I’ve done this since childhood and people tease me for it. I can’t tell if this is normal or not
this but i also have full blown conversations out loud. they aren’t conversations where i’m replying back, it’s just more like word vomiting a lot at once. like i can embarrassingly talk to myself out loud for 40 mins. it’s so weird because i don’t fully realize until i’ve been talking too much. recently i catch myself and i slowly fade out of it because i’m embarrassed. i don’t know where it stems from tbh i’ve always talked a lot in my head even as a kid i would take hours to fall asleep. don’t know if that’s what you meant but i also do say sentences out loud like my inner monologue just comes out while i’m doing random tasks
I’ve always been curious about this too, but although for me it’s completely internal. I have back and forth full blown arguments with myself like it’s two voices and it’s such a downer and frustrating. If I am drunk though, all of those internal conversations and arguments show externally 😓. I’ve even texted myself arguing with me on a group chat drunk. Idk if it’s intrusive thoughts still or what 😔, but it’s always like talking to another person that just so happens to live inside my head. Usually when I’m going through my depressive episodes where my stress is a constant, but hardly a thing otherwise~
I frequently use it (talking to myself) as a means of sorting out my thoughts or organizing them... It can help with writing out stuff, from dissertations to full-blown novels... visualizing before I sketch out a set of plans for some project I'm building... OR even rehearsing for in-game functions as various NPC's and monsters need be employed to engage my Players and their Characters as an Acting Game-Master.
AND from time to time, I engage vocalizing internal monologues and dialogues to remind myself of things or rather like trying to be my own coach... It kind of depends on what I'm doing, particularly... BUT I DO talk myself through a lot of things...
Frankly, I see very little "unhealthy" about the practice... or habit... There might be points where it's embarrassing or where people are likely to act negatively about you doing it... AND there might be techniques to catch yourself and avoid it in public...
If I had to propose a theory, I'd suggest that a lot of the increased tendencies to talk to yourself (ourselves?) recently has to do with isolation and the pandemic over the last TWO YEARS... It's quite likely that getting more regular conversations with other people will help diminish most of the habitual side of this kind of thing on its own. Maybe you can invite a co-worker to "spit-ball ideas" or "as a sounding board" for a little thought-organizing or some similar brain-storming session between the two of you, rather than look peculiar or "nutty" in your cubicle carrying on "solio"... ;o)
OCD and ADHD here! My goodness, this explains intrusive thoughts so well. For me, my intrusive thoughts often revolve around religious topics, as I myself am a Christian. As a teenager I went on a 5-month long tangent questioning things like salvation and eternity. It was terrifying, but thankfully got through that time with counseling and support. How I wish I knew how to deal with such thoughts earlier! I still struggle with intrusive thoughts on various subjects, but I've learned how to cope with them and how to fight back! Thank you for your videos!
I’ve been handling OCD and intrusive thoughts for about 10 years but sometimes watching stuff like this is a useful reminder of the basics that are easy to forget
I get the same intrusive thought of causing serious harm or even death to someone very important to me, I won’t say who. And I’ll often think about this scenario for like a good five minutes before I snap out of it. I’m not sure what causes me to think of this violent and aggressive behavior and why it’s always the same person. I just wish I could have more positive thoughts and work toward something that will help the both of us.
Thank you for the video and thank you to everyone that commented, I don’t feel as bad knowing other people experience similar things.
@@bisous101 Hi. Just read this. I didn't want to initially, but I ended up speaking to the person about it. What an uncomfortable conversation it was. However, once we spoke about it, I noticed I don't ever get those thoughts anymore. Hope this helps.
@@ATC0001this is exactly what is happening to me right now with my wife. For 9 years not once did I ever have a single harmful thought about her. A week ago a random angry scenario played out in my head and it's been driving me insane. I just can't live with myself thinking awful things about the most precious thing in the world to me. I've begun to recognize that it's just OCD and the more time I spend around her, the less I ruminate on those thoughts, but I just don't understand why it happened in the first place! I'm wracked with guilt and I am suffering in silence.
this was such a good video, i feel like the really disturbing persistent intrusive thoughts are so hard to describe to people who don't have them, because sometimes you don't want to get that specific ya know, so having the examples in this video be on that level is nice
Dr, you just described me, down to a T! I've done therapy, but it's so, so, so, so reassuring still to hear you describe and normalise the nightmare that is living with intrusive thoughts...I really needed this video today. Thank you.
You were created by God just for these purposes in our lives. I've been praying on answers for these issues for a long time now, years. And he's FINALLY answered my prayers 🙏🙏🙏!! I've found so many answers from your videos so far and this is the first time I've heard about you, TODAY! I pray that God continues to work in you and through you to keep affecting the lives of people like us. Thank You!!
I have intrusive thoughts, most of them are violent, aggressive, and maybe sexual😔. Theses thoughts started when I was in kindergarten. I never knew what these thoughts mean, and I was to ashamed to tell anyone. My mind is like a dirty machine, and it can cause urges and fear that these thoughts might become actions. I’m scared to have close relationships, I feel like I’m constantly daydreaming, zoning out, and dissociating. These thoughts triggers urges and behaviors, like it’s a time machine. Listening to music help express these emotions and helps me zone out so, instead of having the urges to do that action, I have zone out or daydream in my second world or something. But if it’s too strong, I need to sleep. Another thing that triggers intrusive thought are things that people say, do, and show. Then it triggers emotions. So I’ve been struggling with this for years, it even makes me struggle in school, I’m worried about driving and getting a job. 😔
Are you seeing a therapist or taking medication? I heard Zoloft is good for intrusive thoughts
When I was really in the depths of my depression my intrusive thoughts were so bad. I thought I was the only one, that I was completely insane and I didn’t know how to deal with it. I’m so glad people started to become more comfortable with sharing their struggle with this because if they hadn’t, I don’t know where I’d be right now.
The thoughts have gotten so much better but they’re still there of course. My depression and anxiety have gotten much better as well but at the same time I think I may just be ignoring it for the sake of being better :/
Everyone is different and copes differently, I don’t have ocd but I do have adhd and rumination can be a pain. I can watch something or be told something and I’d play it out in my head for weeks and with adhd it’s hard to stop thinking, sometimes I can shut it off and sometimes I can’t. But I found that music and watching marvel movies helped me with rumination and just being in the moment. Our mind can play so much tricks on us and make us feel as though we are in a bubble. The fact that you feel something towards these thoughts means you’re human and have morality. It means you’re uncomfortable with them and that’s okay. Our mind races everyday and we get about 1000 different thought spirals throughout it. You’re doing a great job taking the first step and learning how to overcome them. Seeking help is the best thing to do
OMG. Sometimes when driving to work I'll create a whole scenario in my head of a family member dying and I'll cry all the way to work tell myself and force myself to cheer up and tell myself it's not real so I'm not crying at work and this video really helps me understanding these thoughts more. Thank you so much.
I am an introvert, and whenever I start working on the lawn or become 'idle,' where I do not need to use my mind, my thoughts start coming and it usually has to do with people who have hurt me, people who I do not like and my confronting them in my mind, or creating scenarios where I hurt the person because he/she tried to hurt me, my mother, or my spouse.
But when my mind is busy, I never have to deal with any of them.
You bring comfort within me Dr. Tracey. This information goes unspoken/undiscussed otherwise. With all the shame, embarrassment and fear revolving around this.
Thanks to the internet.
Thank you for choosing do this.
Lots of love to you. ❤
It's interesting that this video came up in my recommendations, as I've recently come to the conclusion that the frequency of my intrusive thoughts is a problem that I need to address with a therapist. Thank you for sharing this video! I finally feel seen and understood.
ive suffered from intrusive thoughts for 14 years, exposure therapy helps me the most. it is indeed scary, but the ideal of never getting better was scarier
Thank you for sharing Doctor, wish you with a healthy and happy life. I wish also for everyone with problematic intrusive thoughts to be happy and heal as soon as possible.
I have both bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder and intrusive thoughts is something I get a lot. I have this one thought I call the Monster, because I've been struggling with it for almost 22 years now. Listening to this and what my therapist said makes sense and helps me cope a lot. I have these monster thoughts less now, because of it and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy. I love to watch your videos and learn new things. Thank you for helping people with their challenging lives.
i’m really glad videos like this exist bc i feel like maybe i’m not the horrible person my brain tells me i am
This is literally every second of my life. Thank you ADHD, GAD, Depression, and BPD
Intrusive thoughts brought me to the brink at times before I began my therapy journey. Thanks for making yet another great video!
I've had my mind on the nature of intrusive thoughts and I think this video did a great job of laying dome framework to understand it, thank you very much!
You’re welcome and thank you!
I'm so glad I'm not the only one with those random thoughts. My imagination creates wild scenarios that quickly pass.
This is remarkable information that I think few people want to talk about for fear of being judged. So they stuff it away and this makes it feel worse. It is actually normal to have intrusive thoughts. The problem is how we interpret these thoughts. Anxiety keeps us holding on to a thought and over analyzing it. I think this is so important to discuss and if more people saw this video they would find peace and perspective in this. I like this lady and the way she explains things. It's matter of fact and no judgement . This could save a lot of unnecessary pain in so many people's lives . Education is everything!
I have had intrusive thoughts about pushing my mom when she gets me upset ,lord knows I’ll never harm my mother 😞 I love her so much and having those thoughts get me so emotional .
There are days where i can't control my thoughts and i feel like i can't focus on anything my Queen
I was absolutely horrified when I once had a fleeting thought of dropping a pan of boiling water onto my elderly dog. Knowing that others are going through the same kind of intrusive thoughts - knowing that these kinds of thoughts are not unique to me and how to combat them is a huge weight off my mind. Thank you.
I read somewhere that the intrusive thoughts are caused by the brain accidentally flagging a certain thought as important when it shouldn’t have. Also that say part of your brain asks for example “Is the door locked?”. Another part of the brain either remembers yes it is or doesn’t remember so checks the door and it is locked. It then sends a signal to the other part of the brain to say “The door is locked so switch off the signal/question”. I read that this return signal is the or part of the cause of intrusive thoughts because the part of the brain asking or sending the signal in the first place doesn’t get the return signal. It gets lost or stuck on its way because of lack of neurotransmitters. Since this part of the brain doesn’t get the message that the door is locked it just repeatedly sends the signal(intrusive thought) over and over. Apparently this is why OCD is so distressing because one part of the brain is repeatedly asking a question or sending a thought that another part of the brain has already dealt with or fixed or decided is not important. The person is aware of both of these and that the issue/thoughts has been dealt with but the other part keeps asking or sending signals despite this. I have simplified the process that I read because it was just easier to write on here. Can you please clarify how much of this is true and/or accurate?
The fact that this comment possessed me to get up and check that my door was locked...
Wow if this true it’s a really good explanation 👍
Dr. Marks, this is what I deal with all the time. I never knew what or how or why it was happening. I appreciate you so much! I have never been able to get these thoughts to come into words and I feel like that is what is holding me back from being my greater Self. Thank you thank you so much! You were so blatant and I also chew on my words and sugar coat a lot. This is helping me to shake this hold on me. Peace and Blessings!
I love your channel so much. Thank you for sharing this literally life-saving techniques with us, Dr. Tracey!!
Thank you so much Dr. Brady Gilkey! ❤️
This reminded me of a cartoon song that helped me finally stop when I was unable to stop having obsessive thoughts after a year- knowledge is so powerful- and for someone to tell you it's okay.
The song was "Here Comes a Thought" from Steven Universe.
Content like that and this video helps people so much. I have more ideas now on how to better relax my perfectionistic mindset.
I always try to think of that song whenever I’m going through something my head to calm myself down
Thank you for these words of wisdom, I've never actually heard anyone talk about this, but I've had this issue with intrusive thoughts for a really long time, and it has affected my life quite massively.. I'm fairly certain I have OCD and anxiety too. The intrusive thoughts that bother me the most are the sexual ones.. whenever I tried to get intimate with my ex, I'd always have these thoughts of my parents and what they'd think of me if they saw me there and then, and I'd be turned off instantly. Or having sexual thoughts with family members, it just turns me off and I feel so ashamed and disgusted, I don't know what to do to stop it, I'm scared I'll never have a romantic life again
I really appreciate her describing a harsher form of harm OCD.
Like OCD and Anxiety’s great but his worse one is tripping a kid.
I get that it’s playing to YT’s algorithm, but it helps to hear the worst of people’s thoughts and it gives hope to us who have similar thoughts.
So glad I found your page Dr.
I chuckled at some of these because I’ve had some thoughts similar and thought I was sick
SOB. I now know it’s normal and see that they are happening less.
Thank you for your help. ❤
I used to be friends with a guy back in high school who would have been able to check every single one of these boxes! Every difference you mentioned between ordinary thoughts and intrusive thoughts would have applied to him back then. He used to torture himself over these thoughts because he didn't mean them, but they still kept coming.
I wonder if he had GAD and/or OCD? We haven't been in touch in years, but I hope the poor guy got the help he seemed to need.
I have random thoughts sometimes such as the desire to yell "Fire!" in a crowded building, but I know that they are just thoughts, I can ignore them, I don't even really want to do it, and it doesn't say anything about me that I have those thoughts. I actually do have anxiety, just not about this particular issue.
Dr Tracey Marks thanks for your excellent content and highlighting this misunderstood condition!
I've had intrusive/obsessive thoughts for over 20 years and unfortunately The mental health professionals involved with me were terrible! Fortunately I have a brilliant wife & mum to talk with and I read a very good self help book. I get intrusive/obsessive thoughts a lot less now and my relationship with my thoughs has completely changed. I know thought doesn't reflect on my morals or my beliefs. I'm not in charge of thoughts- they just come, so I'm not judgemental about them!
If you're suffering with intrusive thoughts, education and understanding is key. Please don't suffer in silence reach out for help,you deserve it!
Thank you Dr. Marks. Whenever I thought of OCD I thought about someone with rituals (i.e. counting windows on a high rise, constantly washing your hands). I saw a short talk about intrusive thoughts and quickly ran to you. I'll be 42 next week. Watching this video was an early bday present. 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾
Ever since I was a child my brain has always been the same. I thought everything was normal, until 2 weeks ago when I was prescribed some medication. First time I've ever had a quiet brain in my life. I'm 40 now and I've always had unwanted thoughts since I was a child. I had no idea that your brain isn't supposed to be loud all the time. Unfortunately I had some bad side effects with the meds physically. So if you're going through this, get help right away. I really want a quiet and peaceful mind, which I experienced only for a brief moment.
What medication was you prescribed I would like to try it
@@elieose1568 sorry it took me a while to see this as I use multiple CZcams accounts. But I used Risperdal/Risperidone, my brain completely just got quiet and I had no intrusive and suicidal thoughts. I'm on abilify now, it's kinda the same but not as good. I can't complain though because I don't have constipation, body ache and other side effects. I'm also not as agitated and aggressive like before. I brush off alot of stuff that bothered me before.
@@jecky82 thank you so much!!!! I'll have to talk to my doctor about it she has me on abillify it just don't do the trick for me
@@elieose1568 ah gotcha, yeah abilify is keeping me calm but I'm not sleeping. On the bright side, I'm getting alot of stuff done lol I wish you the best and hopefully you don't get any side effects like I did.
@@jecky82 thanks my brother .... I wish u the best also
I’m Autistic with OCD, ADHD, bipolar and the OCD is the hardest struggle I’ve ever faced. People often say.. “wow, you are so strong.. how do you do so well while experiencing X?”
Because the vast majority of trauma life throws at me is nothing compared to what my intrusive thoughts tortured me with. Then the spiral of bipolar and OCD is a special kind of hell.
It’s like.. here some horrific thoughts .. now have some major mood swings too and some psychosis 🤷♀️
But I’ve never heard of this type of OCD before but I definitely experienced it. It was really made worse for me by the fact I had legitimate doubts and questions the church couldn’t answer. My mental health improved sooo much once I accepted those doubts and became atheist. I honestly couldn’t shake my doubts and they tormented me.
But I do find whenever I slip into any religious thinking, the intrusive thoughts soon follow.
So I find atheism as a way to keep me mentally sane.
Thank you for giving a word for this.
I do have other types of OCD thoughts, but they are not near as intense and consuming as the religious OCD thoughts.
My regular OCD thoughts, I can usually just push out of my mind without too much problem unless I’m really struggling in some other way, like an autistic meltdown, or bipolar episode .. ohh the joys of comorbidity.
Anyway. Thank you Dr Tracy
i have HOCD and its slowly made its way into anxiety… its gotten out of hand but your video has really helped, thank you very much you have earned a new subscriber 😌
I've adhd and got those intrusive/compulsive thoughts during a time where my brother started having several psychosis (my age was 16-19). But somehow i came up with rules, related to this presented model, to conquer the thoughts and i've won.
The best rule was, that my thoughts will remain private until i talk about them. Then i could think 24/7 about rape, murder, suicide and stuff in such a way that i would randomly loose control, without any judgement from anyone else but myself, because others can't see what and why i'm thinking this stuff. The next step was to tone down my self-criticism (and to raise empathy) and to use techniques to redirect those impulsions that would lead me to say way too private or things (which was in fact an issue). Also i did came up with better ways to determine what has to be private.
The sexual aggressive, commenting and worrysome thoughts have stopped altogether. But not long after this i've developed other compulsions like compulsive writing (when i'm afraid of loosing any relationship) and hyperreflection (when i have to tell what's wrong with me) and "just stucking" (wherein i'm suddenly disconnected from my body in such a way, that "active thoughts" won't lead to actions anymore, similar to what deep meditation is like).
I'm not sure, if the original problem has just shifted or that the increase in the need of executive functions have lead to new problems (and higher stress).
Ultimately i would say it's about perseverating in total though.
Considering I'm always in dreamland I experience this consistently, it's easier to stay inside my head, my neighbor is a trigger, he is one of the worst, kidnapping, rape and murder of a little girl, I was a little girl when I was abused and he has females screaming help me as they run from his place and the cops won't do anything, my thoughts are really bad about him. Not to mention that I have been threatened with a gun on multiple occasions and the cops still won't do anything.
I’m so glad you mentioned the gold standard treatment of ERP later in the video, Dr. Marks. That was what I was treated with in the late 80s and early 90s as a child and adolescent. It would be great if you’d consider doing a video, in the spirit of the late Dr. Wolpe, on how individuals can use a hierarchy of exposure scenarios rated on the SUDS scale to address the primary anxiety disorders treated by ERP - OCD, Agoraphobia, Specific Phobias, etc. In this video there was an emphasis on exposure, but I think it would be enormously helpful to spend some time examining the importance of response prevention in the execution of this treatment modality. Thanks again for the wonderful channel!
Thank you Doctor for all you do. Sometimes I have conversations with my thoughts; and at times the conversations becomes an argument. I find myself yelling out loud when I'm at home alone.
As someone who has struggled with OCD and anxiety I would say the one thing that has helped me the most has been practicing mindfulness meditation every morning for 20-30 minutes. I've been doing it for 4 years every day and it really helps. I wish I had started it sooner
for me, it usually either involves harm to my eyes, or something awful I could shout out in public. I think I feel distressed that it's so easy to screw things up permanantly, in one way or another.
Scripture empowers me over intrude unwanted thoughts.
I suffer from anxiety and I have a lot of intrusive violent thoughts. This video really spoke to me, I wish I had it sooner. I used to have really bad thoughts around my partner in the kitchen. It actually led me to breaking up with her because I was so scared I was going to hurt her, which in turn emotionally hurt her and now I'm in a deep state of depression. I didn't know how to explain any of this to her without sounding like a psychopath. Now the thoughts are just violence against myself.
Its all in the breath. Try exhale fully and hold for 15 seconds
Dr, honestly this video helped me feel a little less anxious yet very anxious because it is bad. However, i feel people would never understand and that's ok. I will do my best to recuperate from this trauma. God bless you always and may you keep helping people
I have ocd, and gad and have gone through therapy as a younger person for intrusive thoughts. I don't remember much from the time and this really felt comfortable to listen to to reassure myself
You just posted this at the right time for me.
Edit: my intrusive thoughts are something that i cant even say
THANK YOU and thanks to my coworker who told me I am having intrusive thoughts! I quickly came to CZcams to learn more about intrusive thoughts.
Dr. Tracy, you're so enlightening. I want you to know how much a lot of your videos shed light on the state of my mental health.
You ma'am are an angel. I have been having intrusive thoughts lately, and just recently I remember an intrusive thought that has been haunting me. "[Eating processed food] does affect your thinking." I remember eating chocolate the night before I had that thought and that must have been it. Thank you so much.
Today I came across this channel and since then, I look and listen and I'm speechless. I have OCD, intrusive thoughts, anxiety (and social anxiety or anything that include anxiety), being a perfectionist, and sometimes depression moments when I just lay down or at night when I cry until morning. I always had them, some my whole life, and some were "developing" like intrusive thoughts, but I just thought it was me and never think they were a real thing or a disorder.
Thank you so much! 😢❤ this video means a lot to me!!!! I’ve been feeling alone and afraid. Like I don’t even know who I am anymore. But this video brought me calm.
I suffer terrible from OCD and your videos are by a lot better than all the videos I ever saw
thank you so much for helping us out, just know that you are doing great work, these videos really help me out
You explained this so well. When I had therapy my therapist tended to guess why I was so scared of these thoughts. You explained it well. This over inflated sense of responsibility.
I love Dr. Tracy she is unbelievable makes so much sense all the time thank you I look forward to Wednesday’s
Even though i don't have depression anymore, i still have intrussive toughts, and i think i'll always have them
With the rise of my anxiety I started having intrusive thoughts. Especially in panic mode, I think all kinds of weird things, become very obsessive and depersonalize and derealize.
Wow, you nailed it with the 'over importance bias' in my case. Having grown up playing a lot of sports, and working in the public safety field, you are always taught to play different 'what if' scenarios in your mind, and/or visualize scenarios. Being taught that if you visualize things, it gives you the best chance of succeeding. Well, I think that has spilled over into intrusive thoughts. "Gee, if I 'saw' this thought play out in my head, that must mean I'll do it someday."
You're amazing, the way you explain all this, is exactly the way I feel when I have these thoughts, and I really felt relieved after listening at you.
In my worst days I used to think that I may need medication or to be locked down in some mental health center.
So thank you again
I absolutely love watching your videos. Not only are they educational and interesting, they are also well done. You are very engaging to watch! Super work Dr. Tracey Marks!
Actions are preceded by thoughts. If those thoughts are bad, then immediately dismiss them & dwell on something else. For me, pray works best.
Very thankful this actually is ONE issue I don’t have and never have had. Have enough ADHD and anxiety don’t need anything.. else
Yes you just work with those other issues and leave this one alone 😊
I love this so much , this really reassured me. I’ve had such bad intrusive thoughts , it’s depressing sometimes .
Oh my god, it's like this video was made for me! It hits every single things about me. Thank you so much, Dr. Marks!
Are intrusive memories a thing? I’m always having flashbacks at work or when I’m trying to just live normally and I become hot and nervous and feel shame. Dark moments from my past, things I don’t wish to revisit and I’ll just get Vivid imagery randomly and all the negative thinking all at once I sometimes physically shake my head to “get them out”
I believe I have these. I feel like they eat me alive.
I’m struggling with this to.
That's perfectly normal.
Instead of shaking your head try to feel the sensations arising with the memory more clearly.
I honestly never thought about how much of an issue this has been for me
I have a lot to think/talk with my therapist about next week
Cutting gluten and dairy from my diet removed my ruminating thoughts and suicidal ideations in 30 days. Thank you for this video, never seen them being explained in so much detail!
I find that my intrusive thoughts will be so vivid in my mind that I feel like it's actually happening to me in the moment, or that I'm witnessing it. Usually it's something horrific happening to someone or something I care about and not my own actions causing it. It'll usually cause me to have some sort of twitch where my hands face and neck will tense up quite a bit. I know when it's not real, but for the 4-5 seconds that it's going on, it can be so clear I cant not be immersed in the scenario. Is this a separate condition or just a form of intrusive thought? Not sure where to start looking into this.
I have the same thing. I don't know what to do. I dissociate a lot, so my imagination is really vivid, when my intrusive thoughts started it took me a while to control them. But my dissociation got worse, and now I can't control and when I "figure" a way to control it, I forget right after. So my intrusive thought show up, I overthink it in a vivid way like it was always true what it said, and it's always the opposite of what I believe. So I'm living in my own personal hell everyday, and it doesn't stop. It goes through ALL DAY like this, I can't even sleep and now I can't even dream because if I'm not at peace I will dream about it, and when I wake up I will think that what I dreamt is true because it's too fresh and real in my mind. I'm too sleep deprived to do something and my headache is killing me. The worst thing is that NO ONE knows what I'm talking about, no one I live with has the knowledge of what intrusive thoughts are. They don't know it's not that simple, I spend weeks fighting with myself, trying to stay alive and sane in silence because I know it will be worse if I say something. Sometimes I spend months like this, and it saddens me when people treat me like nothings happening when I don't demonstrate. When it gets really really bad and I have a panic attack people act like I'm overreacting.
I just want to go back to reality, it feels like there's a invisible and heavy layer keeping me away from the moment and from what is true. Sometimes I get a glimpse of reality but it lasts literally seconds.
I know how terrible it can be, I hope you get the support and treatment you deserve.
I go through these moments too and I almost start to label myself crazy. But that's not true. You stay strong against these thoughts because THEY ARE NOT YOU. Focus on your surroundings and li e in the moment. Enjoy life, laugh at something.
Practice a neutral thought instead of distressing thought. Try kara lowenthiel pod cast!
@@brie6438 you’re not alone, I’m going through the same thing and it’s hell
Thank you so much Dr. Marks. You are helping many.
“Honey, why are you holding that wine bottle?”
“No reason…” 😆
Seriously though, great video and explanations. I’d love a video on “intrusive memories” (I just made up that term.) distressing memories of the past that pop up out of now where, but not like PTSD, I can get out of it. But sometimes I can have like 30 in a day, like when I’m in PMDD time. Some are very traumatic and some are silly, embarrassing things I’ve done. Maybe it’s a serotonin thing?
Hey Sea. Let me look into that and see if there’s something about that experience and hat is different from general intrusive thoughts that are not based on memories
@@DrTraceyMarks Thank you ♥️
Me too. My serotonin level was tested and was so low they couldn't read it. Also, constant ear worms of songs. It especially bugs me when it's a song I don't even like and it starts the second I wake up.
@@meagiesmuse2334 Oh wow! The songs happen to my husband also.
I had no idea you could get your serotonin checked. Where can you get that test? And my heart goes out to you. ♥️
@@Soaring_Seajay - The first time my Rheumatologist ran it because research had just shown that people with fibromyalgia had low serotonin and he wanted to see if mine was low. The second time my primary doctor ran the test because he suspected I had a rare type of cancer. I didn't have cancer, thank God, but my serotonin was below normal the first time, and too low to read the second time many years later. I think most Naturopathic doctors would also run that test if you asked, and some of the labs they use will write off the costs of any tests ins. won't pay for.
Lloré de lo difícil que es recordar el período en el que ésto era dolorosamente habitual.
Tuve largos períodos de ansiedad con fuertes pensamientos intrusivos que me generaron hormigueos en los brazos, taquicardia, acidez nerviosa, impaciencia, hipersensibilidad a los olores, etc. Entre los 17 y los 24 años, principalmente.
Gracias, Dra., por traer paz a la mente.
Espero que ésta información llegué a tiempo a gente que, como yo en aquel entonces, pueda necesitarla desesperadamente.
Un fuerte abrazo. 🤗
This is a world full of spirits. It’s ultimately what we choose to do that defines us
After watching this it made me realize how much of a lasting impact growing up in a fanatical religious church affected my thought processes
Been struggling with this since 2020, thank you!!
You’re welcome. I hope you can get a handle on it. Even if it’s just a little bit at a time. A little bit it’s still progress.
@@DrTraceyMarks hi dr Tracey,do you recommend mindfulness meditation for lessen the intrusive thoughts?
I'm not religious but I'm reminded of the psychology astute "serenity prayer" here: Grant me the serenity to accept the things I can not change, courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.
Thank you Dr Marks! I have been worrying terribly about two of the apartments in my building becoming available to new tenants. I was very close to one of the neighbors who is moving out and I am concerned (using the term lightly!) that somebody harmful or loud and abrasive is going to take her apartment upstairs from me. I feel that there is some validity to these apprehensions but I don't want these thoughts to keep ruining my day or keeping me up at night. Acceptance/Commitment Therapy sounds like a good option. You are so appreciated Dr Marks!
Thank you Dr Marks. I have these intrusion thoughts too many times. It's scary but now I know that I'm not alone.
Really vivid nightmares always triggers intrusive thoughts to the point that I have physical symptoms, such as losing hair. I isolate, I stay away from anything that was involved in the dream. It takes months to finally have a handle on them.
I had intrusive thoughts too, related to many years of targeting by jerks and bullies..
I am trying to overcome
Between therapy and mindfulness meditation practice and medication management my intrusive thoughts have become less of a burden. Having an intolerance of uncertainty is where i'm struggling the most. I'm constantly trying to reassure myself I can plan ahead enough so I can prevent anything from happening in the future. I will say that i'm starting to improve with it and I recognize these things take time.