To wonder if this is normal...

[Pippa12]

For background I have two lovely children 8 and 4. Mild post natal anxiety after first child but recovered well. I’ve had skin cancer which triggered another anxiety episode but again this has passed... I think. Demanding job but part time with a supportive husband.

I’m having an intrusive thought, randomly and unprovoked. Maybe once or twice a day, sometimes more. They come out of no where and make me physically wince, the same thought, same scene... I’ve just done the school pick up, glorious sunshine laughing with both children then all of a sudden same thought, same stomach churning feeling... but it passes in a minute and I push it to the back of my mind. AIBU to think this is essentially normal? Does everybody have these thoughts...

FWIW it’s my youngest falling down the stairs, I don’t see the action, just him lying still on the floor at the bottom, same vision every time, nothing changes. I’ve had them before but not since my youngest was a small baby.

Is this just my mind reminding me of dangers?

I get these intrusive thoughts. They are worse when I'm tired or under a lot of stress. They aren't that unusual. I have learned to ignore them.

Thank you, I’m wondering if they are just one of those things that happen but people don’t talk about them!

I don't think it's normal. I am a bit of a worrier and this does not happen to me. Bad thoughts come into my head sometimes, but not the same one over and over and not unprovoked. ie if someone hasn't come home I worry something has happened to them, but i don't actually picture it and it passes once they are home.

Erm, nope. Not normal.

Totally normal. Happen to me all the time. If you are on Instagram, follow @annamathur who is a psychotherapist (I think!) and talks a lot about intrusive thought in relation to children.

I am also a worrier I had a dream when I was pregnant that my MIL fell down the stairs while holding my baby. It didn’t look good. I kept seeing/thinking of the same random thought/vision which was quite disturbing. I told DH that I never wanted MIL to come downstairs carrying either child as babies as it was dangerous and I was worried it might come true. As MIL was getting on and v rarely baby sat this wasn’t an issue.
But one time as a toddler DS fell down the stairs MIL screamed for DH and DH caught him mid fall.

I get thoughts like this. If I’m tired or stressed. They hardly last a second. I was worried about myself for a long time before I realised what it was. It was always thoughts of self mutilation which was scary

I get these too. When we moved dd1 into q midsleeper bed I repeatedly 'saw' her fall past the patio doors we used to have at the back of our house. I locked the windows until we could install safety catches. Sometimes, I think im just a bit of a morbid pessimist. It worsened after I mc'd at 13 weeks a couple of years ago.

I get these too, more often since my daughter was stillborn earlier this year. It’s mostly about her older brother - him being hit by a truck, bizarrely. The image is crystal clear. I push it to the back of my mind and try to tell myself that I look after him well and there wouldn’t be an opportunity for it to happen.

I have these sometimes, I think they are more common than some people realise. They are not a prediction of things to come but that makes them no less scary .

It is good you can acknowledge it as an intrusive thought and then push it to the back of your mind.

It's common. Sometimes are worries and concerns overflow into our consciousness. It's not necessarily everyone, but you're not unusual for it.

Thanks so much for all your replies and reassurance. It’s been niggling at me why this was happening. Perhaps now I’ve established that it’s not anything to be concerned about it won’t happen as much... I hope so as I look like a wally flinching at fresh air