How to handle intrusive thoughts | Tips from a therapist  

Intrusive thoughts are not You. They are the manifestation of your Anxiety. Anxiety latches on to your deepest fears. But here is some instant relief for you, EVERYONE has intrusive thoughts. People without an anxiety disorder are able to quickly dismiss them. But someone with an anxiety disorder (you) it's hard to because your anxiety feeds off of it and will always look for it (OCD). So how do you change that? By thinking rationally and not just reacting with Fear. Look into CBT and DBT (rational mind vs emotional mind). YOU are in charge of your mind. Take control back 💪🏽 Sending healing peaceful vibes to you.

1. Acknowledge it's intrusive thought 2. Say "I am having the thought" before each thought 3. Don't try to push the thought away 4. Reduce the stress in your life

I feel like at this point I don’t really get the bad thoughts or images as much. It’s more the anxiety that they may happen again or the guilt that they have happened. It really feels like a big circle

I literally started crying when watching this. Ive been having these thoughts all my life, but since I started college it’s gotten so much worse. It feels so nice to finally understand why I feel this way and to not feel so lost and afraid. Thank you so much for your help.

Everyone remember, EVERYONE has weird, morbid thoughts. The only difference is that neurotypical people think it and just think "well that was weird" and move on. You can do that, as well, because those thoughts are not you and they are normal. Don't be so hard on yourself. Trust me, everyone is friggin weird af and not one person is perfect and if they seem like they are, ya might wanna run away, because they're usually the most umm "weird".

1 RECOGNISE 2 JUST THOUGHTS 3 ALLOW & ACCEPT 4 FEEL & FLOAT AWAY 5 TIME PASS WITH THEM 6 PROCEED

Thank you so much for this video, the past few days have been difficult with intrusive thoughts that came about all of a sudden and I now realize that I am not the only one who suffers from these thoughts even when they are scary and alarming. The tips you talked about are simple but very helpful, and this is an aspect of mental health that isn’t talked about enough. Anyone going through the intrusive thoughts of OCD, I feel you and know we can get through it ❤️

i keep having intrusive thoughts about hurting people i care about. for example: st@bb1ng my sister, hitting my mom, etc. but just remind yourself that as long as these thoughts are intrusive, you're okay. you are in control. if those thoughts about whatever they might be are intrusive, then that's a good sign because it means you're still a good person. it's just a thought. not an urge. your thoughts do not make up you and your thoughts are not reality.

I watched a very traumatasing movie about violence and it made my intrusive thoughts a living hell. I had thoughts that terrified me and it repeated on and on for days. I could not eat, sleep or do anything normal. Side note- i have extreme anxiety for years and it made it so much worse. It got so intense that I started to believe those thoughts, it felt like feelings not just thoughts. I went to terapy and with right medication slowly became all good. Ur not alone and these thoughts ARE NOT YOU! Stay strong everyone who suffers from this 🤍

Practice meditation and don't fight with thoughts they are all ILLUSION thoughts are non existential let them float in the awareness that you are When you become fully aware of your self existence the true BEING then you can see and break the pattern of those intrusive thoughts process bring some spirituality into life practice yoga established yourself with the root of your true being and pay attention to the life process to your self to this whole existence not to this small thoughts process om shantiii shanti🍀

I used to think I'm just going mad, thinking that I could totally hurt someone or myself Some thoughts are really awful, especially the ones with hurting babies or animals, because I would never hurt them and just thinking about it make me feel bad To this day I'm scared to get a licence because I would probably have a thought about driving off the road and dying

I felt i was alone in this. Now i know im a normal person. Thank you so much.

Thank you so much, this was great. I thought I overcame my intrusive thoughts last year but they made a comeback (I’m under a lot of stress I’m in my last semester of Nursing school) and these thoughts have been making me feel disgusted and ashamed. Your tips are amazing thank you

Step 1 is the hardest tbh. Recognizing it’s an intrusive thought - since oftentimes it feels so real - that is why you start to feel the fear and urge to check or do something

I still struggle with them but what helped me was the Law of paradoxical intent i.e. "What you resist, persists!". So I stopped trying to resist or block the thoughts & acknowledged that they were there. I let them come & reinforced the idea that they were thoughts, nothing more. They lose significance over time as you mentioned.

I’ve been struggling with this since I was 14, I use to think exactly what you said “am I evil?” And “I’m not like this” and it caused me not to be able to eat or sleep, panic attacks left and right. Now it’s not as bad, every now and then it hits me(usually from horrible sleep like you said) but it goes away. Thank you for putting this out there for people and to let people know they’re not alone.

One thing that helps me is to, if I feel comfortable, physically react to my intrusive thoughts, like saying out loud, "I don't like that" or "ugh that's frustrating". It's difficult for me to recognize my thoughts and say to myself I'm having this thought, but getting it out physically makes it easier to remove myself from the scary or uneasy feelings they can bring. Thank you for making mental health content! It's been so helpful reinforcing what I talk about in session with my therapist and making me feel more comfortable talking about and accepting my mental health problems

This really helps :) Finding out, that there are plenty of people who feel the same way I do, understanding that intrusive thoughts do not mean I'm some sort of terrible person (I used to think that there must be some "hiding evil" part of me because of the unwanted thoughts), but that it is a scientifically acknowledged condition that can be dealt with... I already feel like I've lost a huge weight I've been carrying around :)

I think urges are part of the intrusive thought process. You have an intrusive thought, you see it happening in your mind, and then it feels like you're jumping out of your own body and actually doing the intrusive thought. All while standing still. That feeling can be mistaken as an urge. Even though it's the last thing on earth you'd actually want to do. It's a severely scary part of OCD. I got on Luvox and the thoughts gradually went away. And I had them BEFORE they were widely talked about on the internet. I had to go to the library and have the good fortune of stumbling across a book on OCD to know what was wrong with me. Back then they were called Morbid Obsessions. Hope this helps someone struggling with Intrusive Thoughts.

I have been getting some very dark intrusive thoughts, especially over the last two weeks. I was trying to force them out, this just makes them worse and is extremely draining, to the point that my anxiety and stress levels went through the roof. Also I was on a new medication and this, at first, was making me feel worse not better. After seeing an article which spoke about intrusive thoughts I changed how I dealt with the thoughts. I acknowledge the thoughts are there, then just leave them be and carry on with whatever I was doing. It takes hard work but I have found I am a lot less stressed and anxious, and the thoughts have lost most of their power. I hope anyone reading this finds it helpful and that your thoughts stop ruling your life.

Solid clear and practical guidance

Thank you so much! It’s helping me for sure!

Thank you for these tips!

Thank you for this video. ❤️

Thank you from the bottom of my heart

Thanks you so much for posting the video.

What a helpful video. My son struggles with intrusive thoughts. It’s difficult for him. I’m going to have him watch this video.

yes sir !! Thanks for the info !

I've been under a lot of stress lately and definitely feel like they're getting worse. It's weird stuff like harming my partner, myself, and others. I don't really want those things but it's just tough to keep thinking them.

Big thanks for this video! Anxiety is terrible but we can beat it!

Thank you, so glad I found your RU-vid channel. You’re an angel✨

Thank you so much for this video I needed this truly

Thanks so much for this. Love you ❣️

Very well said. Thank you❤🤲

Can’t thank you enough for this video! Thank you for what you do!

Thanks love for your help xx

Thank you so much Micheline ❤️ this was of great help!

bless this video, i thought there was something wrong with me.

Listening to you calmed me ❤️

I've had intrusive thoughts since I was little. I never knew the name for what I was experiencing. The persecuting thoughts, perfectionism thoughts, the 'this doesn't feel right so i'll repetitively think until it feels right' thoughts. Sometimes I can't move sometimes because of the thoughts. My brain attacks everything that i love with thoughts. Now i'm realising that my problems are real and that I don't have to suffer alone! I've spoken to a therapist about these thoughts and I'm on track to not being paralyzed by them! Videos like these are a literal life saver too. I need to be reminded that these are thoughts. They aren't me. They aren't real. Even if they are scary, depressing or horrible.

This woman is brilliant !

Thank you so much for posting this video. You don’t know what it means to me. I only got through half of it and then I said my intrusive thoughts out loud to myself and it led to me unlocking a terrible childhood memory and that’s actually been one of my goals in my therapy that I’ve been in for 8 months, to unlock childhood traumas. So this video means more than you know. Because me not understanding that these truly are common untrusive thoughts and that I’m not terrible or evil led to the truth and that means everything. Thank you so much!

My therapist sent me this and I'm def gonna keep these tips in mind, thank you so much. One of the things i do is vent art. i basically create how i feel internally into a digital piece most of the time. another thing i find really helpful for intrusive thoughts is shutting everything off and sitting in silence, trying to think of nothing while doing nothing, and once ive calmed myself at least a little bit, i try my best to address why the thoughts im having dont define my mental state, because all they are is intrusive and nothing more. hope this helps!

Thank you so much for these videos! I’ve been following you on TikTok for well over a year because so much of your content has helped me tremendously. Thank you for all that you do and utilizing social media this way. The thing I love the most is that you’re one of the very few therapists that ACTUALLY give helpful tips/advice whereas many others don’t really actually give any tools beyond “just breathe.” Thank you! ❤️❤️

thank you so much. i am not exaggerating when i say you are saving my life

I’ve been having intrusive thoughts the last week this video helps me stay calm but I keep acknowledging them and it helps a bit

Your words really mean a lot

Thank you for this video, I am a therapist as well who suffers from OCD!

This is a great summary, BTW.

Thank you sooo much I am a 23 year old guy who has an tbi traumatic brain injury I needed this video

Hi - thank you for doing this video on such an interesting topic. Providing realistic examples of intrusive thoughts is helpful also. Great tips on how to cope and manage them. Thank you

I've been in the hospital for a couple days for a bad UTI and very low blood sodium level, I just got back home yesturday and have been having intrusive thoughts since I've been home, watching this has helped so much, thank you! I have have an anxiety disorder for many years, and am trying to keep it from snowballing out of control like it has in the past. I cried while watching this, it made me realize the stress of being hospitalized has brought this on and it's temporary, Thank you again!

This was quite helpful. Thank you

Thank you so much for your help 😊

Thank you so much for creating this video. I’m not sure how long ago you may have created this, but I have been struggling with intrusive thoughts a lot lately and this really helped me feel seen. ❤

Thank you I rlly appreciate this video I'll try to use the methods you teached

Thank you so much for this❤❤

Adorei essa explicação, ajudou demais

I've had intrusive thoughts of getting my teeth pulled out, and that I am a terrible writer. This video really helped! Thanks so much! Much love to you!

Thank you so much 😢❤️I hope it gets better..

Yes I saw my own spelling mistake 😞 but you’ll get to know that’s how I always am! 😂❤️

Thank you so much! I have had so many intrusive thoughts and I get so anxious and scared. I also thought that I would act if I had too many and I would get so scared because I know that I would never want to hurt anyone. I just wanted to say this helped me so much and I do struggle with anxiety. I am going to start being mindful.

You so much for posting this video. I’ve been very much struggling with some intrusive thoughts, and this has helped me out quite a bit. Thank you.

Great sincere to the point video

Thank you for this. I have a long history or poor mental health and this well presented advice gave me a nice tool to try today. Thanks 😊

My silver lining in this since I am a nerd that once I have separate myself with these thoughts I feel like Two-Face inside my mind. The thoughts feels like the burned side of him telling what to do and the good side is me telling myself I am not my thoughts. 😅 But it is definitely hard to go through this. I'm still working hard with the tips she gave us! Thank you and God bless! 🙏♥️

Thank you so much for helping me with this :( I've had this problem for a while

Hi.. thank you for this wonderful information on intrusive thoughts and ways to handle them.. I have been managing my intrusive thoughts for last 20 yrs. They were not bothering me lot and they used to stay there in my head for some days and then go off.. These intrusive thoughts were coming up in my mind about everything.. like my health, social issues, safety and well-being of my near and dear ones, accidents etc.. But for last one month I got stuck in a very nasty and scarey introsive thought about hurting my family members who are everything for me.. It made me crazy that why I m getting these nasty thoughts about my family who are everything to me.. I was feeling shame, fear, disguised, depressed that why I get these unwanted stuff in my mind.. So, saw many videos on this subject so I got some tips how to handle these unwanted and nasty thoughts.. But, i think your video is one of the best videos on this subject .. I got so much relieved of fear and anxiety caused by these unwanted thoughts.. I have watched thrice this video to make myself fully aware about the tips you have given in the video.. Thank you so much.. may God bless you.

I felt Tip 2 on "I'm having that thought that ...(Intrusive thought here)" reminded me how easy these tips are to understand but difficult to implement consistently.

Thank you 💙

this was so helpful i love it thank you! i missed your youtube videos😭❤️

THANK YOU!

Your explanation is very good

Thank you so much dear 🫂❤️ This video really saved me from going crazy. To all the people who struggling out there, um sending you lots of love and care 🫂❤️ You guys can make it ❤️

Thank you❤ this was realy Helpful😊

I'm so glad your back on RU-vid!! I missed the longer videos. 👉👈 This is always one of the most difficult parts of my mind, I'm so scared that those thoughts will lead to action even if I ✨absolutely 100%✨ don't want too. Thanks for the tips and the comfort to bring it up with my therapist ... just not yet, I'm not yet ready for the out-loud conversation.

Thank you so much 🤍

Thank you.

Hi Micheline!! I just want to say that this video will help me a lot!! But I'm a little nervous about something and I need your help... So a few days ago I started having sexual intrusive thoughts about things that comforted me a lot, and I'm not going to lie but they were on a bit of an extreme level... I'm trying to get over these thoughts!! And I've improved a little, but my biggest fear is that when I'm over I don't like these things like I used to, they helped me when I was sad, but even though I know these thoughts won't change anything about them, I always stay nervous and with an enormous desire to cry. I try to remember the times when these things made me happy but I'm not sure if it will work out very well... But I only started thinking about it 3 days ago so I'm still hopeful. I also felt less hungry today, I don't know if it was because I was getting too excited but I just had dinner now and I'm feeling a little sick. (I forced myself to eat a little bit because since lunch I had no desire to eat, and by that time I was really sick because of my intrusive thoughts.) I'm thinking of talking about this to my school psychologist (the my other psychologist is not available so I want to try to talk to the one at school) as these thoughts made me feel like I couldn't look anyone in the face and was quite afraid to go to school, and I also felt like cutting off contact with most of my friends temporarily as I am afraid of affecting them. I'm afraid I've been traumatized because of this, because the only thing I want is for me to enjoy these things like I used to. Thank you so much for reading this far! Have a great day/afternoon/evening/morning!!

Wow! These are intrusive thoughts. Now I know the true definition

The mention of sleep hygiene in your video reminded my that I have to stop late afternoon teas and coffee if I want to get to bed early.

Thank you!!!

I get intrusive thoughts from time to time, what helps me a lot is to remind myself that thoughts do not mean they are you, I see thoughts as something that appears out of nowhere from the exterior of myself, so I know it's not me, then I naturally get mad at the thought and start mad dogging talking shit at it, saying to myself that ain't me and stuff like that, then I try to think and say outloud 3 things that are true and contradict the thought, then I feel better and stronger. Remember guys, thoughts are not you, only you know who you truly are, remind yourself.

I get certain thought’s that relate to knives, such as the one you listed, I also watched a documentary about a murderer and it got to a part where it mentioned sexual acts with minors and then I thought to myself “when I’m older am I gonna do that?” Or “Could I end up doing that” and it scares me. I don’t know what to do really but I can kinda get rid of them using certain anxiety methods I have but apart from that they stay. The thoughts are sometimes just fine and go away but can also be quite distressing, thank you.

The MOST Bothersome Thing For Me Is Going Along Having A Descent Day & BAM !* Outa Nowhere An Awful Intrusive Thought Comes Outa Nowhere That Has Nothing To Do With My Train Of Thought Wile Going About My Day . I'm Like, "WHY" ? I Get Hung Up On "Where's The Trigger" ?* I Feel Like I Was Attacked !*

thank you!

This video is relaxing I have facing these now 🥺💔

Thank you ❤

Thanks a lot.

Thank you doctor 🥹🥲😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Nice video. One more suggestion. Detox the mind with a simple practice. Your breath is directly related to your mind [brain] causing negative thoughts-anxiety. For a relaxed life sit on a chair, back straight, eyes closed, be as still as possible and observe the sensations of your incoming--outgoing breath at the entrance of the nostrils for around 5-10-15 minutes or more. Don’t fight your thoughts. Slowly the mind will relax. No deep breathing needed. Day or night before sleep sit or lie down and observe your breath. Like me, make this a lifetime daily habit to have a good life. Avoid constipation as it affects the mind instantly. Best wishes Shyaaam Sir. -Counsellor.

Hey Micheline! I really enjoyed watching this video and learning how to manage my intrusive thoughts! When you said that we could be having these thoughts because of trauma more started to make sense for me! Like you said in the video the Thoughts that one could be having like “I’m an evil person” and “I don’t really love my family” for me I would change that with my parents. When I was younger and I would get in trouble and be sent to my room I would have the thought “I don’t really love my parents” and I would cry and rebel and sometimes cry myself to sleep every night. Now that intrusive thought comes up from time to time but it’s more of the fact that I have a lot of resentment towards my parents. As far as the thought “I am an evil person” goes I have that thought when I try to set boundaries it’s my parents because they are defensive and they don’t respect me and gaslight me. Thank you for sharing Micheline! You have helped me so many times with what to talk about in Therapy because you aren’t afraid to talk about the hard things and you make your videos easy to understand! Also you remind me of the things I pushed down for so long!

When you have the intrusive thoughts. My body or mind trys and tricks me that I'm the exception and I'm actually Gona act on this like I have no control over it. How can I overcome this?

Thank you. I have been searching for many videos about intrusive thoughts and this one i could say on point. Thanks for the disclaimer that at first this very very hard... I look forward that someday this will gone too soon. I have already seek for professional help and eventhough it is hard to say my thoughts . I should have courage to open it up

wow i really really needed to hear this. thank you!

Breathing exercises and yoga helps a bit as well...

I've been dealing with these thoughts off and on for probably most of my life (I'm in my early 20s) but it's taken me until recent years to understand that these thoughts are intrusive and nonreflective of what I truly feel. I've been struggling again recently and I can use these tips to help myself feel better. I know what it's like to live with them and be happy but I also slip up sometimes and I let them overtake me. I'm scheduling an appointment today with a therapist because I know I can feel good again and I think I might need some extra help getting back to that.

It's so exhausting! In private I often find myself hitting my head trying to get it to stop or ill start talking to myself and say things like “im stupid” “im sorry” etc impulsively. These thoughts get worse when I'm stressed or when something Uncomfortable or embarrassing happens to me. it will invade my mind for days and even weeks.

I think the root of my intrusive thoughts is from stress and trauma I experienced from my family during my youth and up until now I’m fighting to overcome that trauma from them, the trust, the hurt how they oppress me before. I’m still carrying those “what if” it happened again, I lost all the trust, and it’s hard to pretend that’s it’s alright. I’m fighting to get over those experiences but I couldn’t give a benefit of a doubt because I can still feel the remnants of it. Still there and is actually stressing me out sometimes. It’s hard when the root of your trauma is from the people you thought they are your ally. But only cares for their good, or for what people would say to our family. I don’t know I wanted to cry when I thought they understand me or just pretend they understand me just so they won’t see me doing something against them or against what they want. Like, I moved out away from them without a notice I felt like I was shackled. It’s been decade I only communicated with them through phone. But I am scared to face them, I was emotional and physically hurt. But I admit that I did something that is against their will or want. I just want freedom to do what I want, but they want something else for me which I don’t want. I finished my college degree as I promised to myself and to honor them but I couldn’t let them manipulate me for what they want. Even they offer me choices “I mean wtf” they offer choices based on what they like but said it’s up to me to decide, like I wanted to curse if only I could do that being disrespectful but I tried to holdback. Since they are already old and I don’t want to hurt them more than what I did moving out and did what I want to do even against their will and what their beliefs. And now Im struggling with this kind of intrusive thoughts and trying to reverse my thoughts instead into good one. But thankfully I came cross to your video.

O my god, I have OCD. And I was helping my dad burn sticks. And I had a really, I mean really nasty thought of throwing my little brother into the pile of burning sticks. When that thought was out of my head, all I could feel is shame and regret.