Do you ever get the 'Imp of the perverse'?

[AintNobodyHereButUsChickens]

It's where you suddenly get the urge to do something bad, but would never actually dream of doing it. For example, driving down a busy road and suddenly getting the urge to swerve across into oncoming traffic. Or getting the urge to push someone down the stairs, or mow people down at a crossing etc.

I sometimes get the urge to go over and kick my dog

I love her and would never ever do this

I have found my people!!!

All of these things, frequently.

Everytime I go to slimming world, I feel the urge to walk in and go 'hello, fatties!'

(Even though most of them are slimmer than me.)

Sometimes if someone is talking to me I think 'what would happen if I kissed you/punched you right now?'

Nothing to do with who they are or how I feel about them, it just crosses my mind.

Oh and opening the car door on motorways. That too.

I get these all the time. I call them "big red button moments". My favourite off the top of my head is cycling down a steep hill and getting the urge to let go of the handle bars. That's one I've had since I was a child and lasted until the last time a rode a bike about 10 years ago. I'm learning to drive and the other day driving at 60mph I kept imagining deliberately swerving to hit oncoming traffic

I regularly get the urge to open the car door, on dual carriageways.

Or throw things off high places, or throw my drink over someone.

Do glad it's normal - have heard the name before and love it :)

Up the Blackpool Tower last week with my 2 children - I will leave my thoughts to the imagination.

Yes, but apparently it's common with anxiety.

Jumping out in front of traffic is the most common. Sometimes punching people.

Never have though.

If I ever have to post something through someone’s door and I know they are not in I always think about positing my keys though the letterbox too.

With me it's supermarkets. Done the car keys in drain thing for real (accidentally) so not something my mind strays to!

Things my imp wants:

• to smash the 'break glass in the event of a fire' switch
• to pull the undercounter panic alarm
• to pull the emergency stop handle on a train. Things I want:
• to go unnoticed
• a quiet peaceful life.

Always! If it’s not been said already, the imp of the perverse is a short story/essay by Edgar Allen Poe. I always get the urge to pour tea over my laptop!

My imp's always suggesting that I stab people in the back of the hand with a fork. Or that I stick a fork into a plug socket. I don't know what it has against forks.

Yes.

They absolutely plagued me when I was postpartum and I ended up quite unwell. I have ptsd from a ... difficult... childhood and it manifested as intrusive thoughts when I had DS, that became a kind of obsessive thought pattern.

Was so disturbed by them I’ve been in therapy for 2 years. Ofc I’m not really in therapy for the thoughts, but the childhood that planted such dark stuff in my head in the first place.

Like you lot, I would never ever hurt my son, and it’s just what I call “flotsam of the mind” - but it’s been WORK to accept that ...

I was once told that these are called 'brain burps' They just bubble up out of nowhere and you're like "Excuse ME!"

Didn't one of the Bettany offspring in the Chalet School books have this? I'm sure I remember being fascinated at the time I read it as a child, as I was like this and still am I don't seem to have the ability to conquer it and behave myself like an adult though

The other week I pressed the big red "do not press" button in the sauna. I watched myself doing it, thinking noooooo but it was like my hand belonged to someone else. I said it was an accident and apologised profusely

Other things I regularly can't stop myself from doing:
Press the button at pedestrian crossings when I walk past them even though I have no intention of stopping and crossing
Kick the back of people's chairs in waiting rooms (this is very bad of me but I only do it once not repeatedly. Still bad I know)
Every time my DH or DCs goes outside to put something in the recycling, I lock the front door behind them. Every time. They take their keys with them now
Throw my DCs clean washing out of the window - usually when they don't take their washing up and I look at it and get annoyed and can't stop myself (Luckily they think it's funny and not abusive!)

Every time I tell myself, don't do it but it's literally as though I can't control my limbs with my mind.

I'm going to have to NC aren't I

Gosh that is really embarrassing, reading that back just to reassure people, I don't drive or go on aeroplanes so the general public are pretty safe from my childish stupidity.

*@WeBuiltCisCityOnSexistRoles *
Press the button at pedestrian crossings when I walk past them even though I have no intention of stopping and crossing

you've just reminded me of another one involving people who press the crossing button and don't cross ...

I get random thoughts about what if I kill myself like could be looking out the window and think ooh what if I jump? Another us railings if I see railings my brain conjures up an intrusive thought of me hanging I HATE IT I'm getting slowly better at recognising these aren't my thoughts I don't want them. But they have plagued me for the past 18 months and petrified me because sometimes it gets to the point I think do I want to do that or something? And it sets of Anxiety badly

Some of the above, plus put the passports in the shredder. That one crops up whenever we go on holiday, last time I had to unplug the shredder and hide it behind the sofa.

@WeBuiltCisCityOnSexistRoles that's not the Imp of the Perverse - people don't act on it generally, it's just a bizarre thought of what you could do but in real life would never do!

I want to send inappropriate Christmas presents to people, ie Caneston Thrush to female members of the family and haemorrhoid cream to the men. I’d love to see their little faces when they open their presents.

I Do!. I usually feel like throwing my phone over drains and jumping off high buildings

All the time! The kids get it too. “Perverted imp alert” is often announced in this house

I was only saying the other day that in the presence of my friend’s DP, who is a copper, I have a very hard to control urge to break the law.

There are also a couple of sinfully stupid women at work who I have to avoid like crazy in case I tell them to fuck off. I can feel it rising in me just looking at them.