You're Not Crazy

Disclaimer: My intention for writing this article is to open the conversation around intrusive thoughts, let you know that you’re not alone, and share some helpful resources and tips that have helped me. It’s absolutely important that you know some of the content in this article may come with trigger warnings and it may not be in your best interest to read it. Please seek professional help and contact the National Suicide Line in immediate circumstances at 800-273-8255. The information in this article does not replace professional advice, it is the individual's responsibility to seek it.

Okay, I’m going to be very honest with you.

I have been hesitating on writing this article. This idea came to mind for many months now but it wasn’t until I spoke to a dear friend of mine that I realized the conversation needs to be started.

“Intrusive thoughts are unwanted thoughts that can pop into our heads without warning, at any time.”

I, like so many other people in the world, have been dealing with intrusive thoughts for a bit of over a decade in my life. I’ve felt alone. I felt like I was too crazy to talk about this topic with anyone, and for many years have had constant tears and fear plague my life because of it.

No more.

I write this article as a tribute to my friend, who I dearly love and has encouraged me to write about the topic; for the simple fact that “it’s not about me, and what I share can truly help or change someone’s life.”

That is my intention - to help

I will only speak on the subject as it relates to my experience and knowledge. I encourage you to do your own research and seek professional help during this process.

Understanding Where They Came From

Intrusive thoughts link to some probable fact that we have unresolved trauma that needs to be cleared.

Think back to the time where you first noticed them?

What time period in your life did this happen?

Who were the individuals surrounding you?

What emotions were you experiencing during this time?

How did you choose to deal with these experiences?

I realize that when we purposely decide to avoid or ignore our feelings; it is when it truly wreaks havoc on our mental state and body.

Instead of releasing our emotions through crying, emotional release sessions (think, tantrums), and any form of emotional expression, we choose to keep it to ourselves to uphold a societal belief that we need to be strong.

Except that this is where society gets it wrong. Strength is not in your inability to express emotions, it’s in your ability to process emotions healthily.

So when we choose to not do this, we choose to trap our emotions and let it fester - which can have the potential to cause illness, disease, and a sickening mental state.

You Attract More of What You Give Your Attention To

There is a second caveat to this. When we hold back our emotions, we continue to hold on to low vibrational energies in our minds and bodies. Here’s a list of the energy levels of every emotion.

Because we hold on to these low vibrational energies, we attract more of them. Henceforth, you can attract intrusive thoughts, negative energies/spirits/entities, and events/people in your life that no longer serve you. Isn’t it no wonder that when you have intrusive thoughts, you’re in a constant state of fear battling in your head whether you’ll act on them. I can safely say that the fact that you’re consciously aware of these battles is a good thing - it makes you realize what you actually don’t want to do.

Changing Perspectives

It can often feel like you’re the only one in this world going through what you’re going through, but I promise you, you are not alone. I also want to take this time to share with you some mindset/perspective shifts that have helped me heal through this.

What resists, persists

Likewise, when you choose to not deal with your emotions, they fester in the mind and body; when you choose not to address the intrusive thoughts in your mind, they fester.

Resisting only causes more suffering.

Think of your mind as a constant flow of traffic. Let’s imagine a highway for example.

You have cars (your thoughts) consistently going through the highway - you can have as much as 50-60,000 cars go across this highway every day.

Now, imagine that you get a few cars that decide to cause a bit of ruckus on that highway (intrusive thoughts), they’re not doing anything wrong and they’re meant to head towards the exit (out of your mind) - but you decide to stop them (bring your attention to them).

You’re the police officer that realizes that they’re not supposed to be there, and you become frustrated that they’re not leaving, you also realize that this one particular car (thought) is backing up a lot of traffic behind it (your attention is only focused on that one thought) - which only leaves you more frustrated.

Except, you forgot to realize that you’re the one stopping the flow of traffic because you placed your attention on it and never let go.

Now you may think, well, it’s a bad thought?

Yes, that may be true, but I encourage you to think of your thoughts a different way. Instead of looking at them as something that is not in your control, and instead of something that is against you - ask yourself the question as to how these thoughts are actually serving you?

Stay with me here.

There inherently is no such thing as good thoughts or bad thoughts. But, when those intrusive thoughts do come to mind, they serve as a reminder of the things you don’t want to do. Look at them as reminders of “hey, I could do that, but I actually choose not to because I DON’T WANT TO”.

Choose to give yourself back that power, back that control.

At the end of the day thoughts are thoughts, but you’re the one that decides whether or not they become actions. YOU get to decide. And when you consciously tell yourself that YOU CHOOSE to not care about the intrusive thoughts anymore, that’s when you start to take back control.

Actionable Tips That Can Help You Get Back Control

I’m going to share with you 3 tips that have drastically changed the way I think about things and I believe would be beneficial for you.

When your imagination goes a little haywire

I’m not going to relish on all the details and images that may surface when it comes to having intrusive thoughts. But I want you to consider this, the same way that you consciously take the time to create scenes in your mind of the intrusive thoughts in action - you can also reverse and change the images.

Remember when we had video tapes and you would press the playback button?

You would see actions go backwards, steps taken back, and scenes not happen.

Take that same approach to the scene you’ve created in your head, press the playback button to where it started.

Instead of repeating the scene, change the scene.

Go back to the beginning of the scene and change any objects or actions into positive things. Actively take control of the scene and control your actions to positive ones instead. When you do this, you can now take the time to realize that you’ve gained back your control.

Write it down and close the notebook

I credit this trick to my therapist, and I think it’s beneficial to share. Sometimes our thoughts get a little haywire and we may become overwhelmed with them. When this happens, or if you choose to prevent this from happening, designate one notebook for all your intrusive thoughts. When it comes to mind, write it down. I purposely don’t even take the time to look at them.

When it’s out of your mind and onto paper, I imagine that the thought has reached its exit onto paper instead of still ruminating in my mind.

From there, I actively do and visualize myself closing the notebook. When the notebook closes, the thoughts cannot escape from the notebook; henceforth, they can no longer run rampant anymore in your mind or life. Also be safeguarded to know that when you come back to the notebook to write another entry they can’t leave the pages either.

Seek Professional + Spiritual Help

I strongly believe that when you heal the spirit and mind at the same time you get extraordinary results. Working with a therapist is not a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of strength. It’s strength in knowing that you need help and it’s okay to ask for help. I encourage you to take the time to interview therapists as not all therapists may be the right fit for you. Therapists, in my opinion, will give you the proper tools and resources to help you work through intrusive thoughts in a positive manner.

When it comes to spiritual help, I encourage you to do work within energy healing. After reading many books and going to professionals on the topic I’ve come to realize that everything is energy. Energy can not be created nor destroyed, but only transferred. So, when you take the time to do energy healing you can transfer low vibrational energies into higher vibrations of energy. There are many modalities of energy healing, but one thing that personally changed my life is Emotion Code. In short, it teaches you how to release trapped emotions without having to relive through those memories.

In summary, it’s important to realize that intrusive thoughts may stem from unresolved emotions or traumas that happened in the past. When you learn how to heal them through positive perspective shifts you can truly take back control of your life and your mental state.