Do you ever have a random thought of doing something you shouldn't do, that you would never actually do

[SunshineSunshineSunshine]

I have no idea if that makes sense.

But the past 2 nights I have been lying in bed whilst it's rainy, dark and windy and thinking
"I could get out of bed and walk to that 10 minute away creepy lake right now if I wanted to and sit on the tree swing"

I'd never actually do this at night though as it is across a long field and just gives me the creeps.

Yes, I get these - often quite gross or distressing ones. I have no desire to do them, but sometimes they just pop in there. Can't even bring myself to type some of them but I do definitely get that 'what if I just threw my handbag/phone/self/child off this high bridge?' thoughts. It makes me feel a bit swoony sometimes when I'm high up because I can picture it so clearly.

Of course!

I tend to get intrusive thoughts while driving. ‘What if that car veered into me and we crashed?’ Or when my family are in the car and we’re on the motorway or similar and I start thinking about if we had an accident we could all be wiped out. It’s horrible.

Thanks for posting this OP, I honestly thought I was alone in having these thoughts! I’ve never spoken about them to anyone in real life as I was scared people would think I was crazy

Neotraditional
Don't worry, you're not alone, it's actually very common. The frequency people have them too would surprise you.

Intrusive thoughts are supremely common. Almost all people get them and they are typically along the lines of doing something either supremely odd or harmful to yourself or someone else. My own range from kicking a stranger, passively falling from somewhere high, knocking over a child's ice cream etc etc etc. I dont want to do these things but they definitely pop into my mind every so often.

What separates healthy levels of intrusive thoughts from OCD is the level of distress. People with OCD typically feel really distressed about their thoughts, feel highly responsible for the thoughts and feel to blame for anything that does or does not happen.

The jumping from heights thing is SO real. Always. There was a great anecdote about this in an Elizabeth Gilbert book where she told some imam in the desert how she wanted to jump off a mountain, and he basically said most people do at some point.

This is very common. I do think they are related to having other MH problems, but that's purely anecdotal. I have anxiety and OCD (in remission I'd say).I've had the most god awful thoughts about hurting DS, so bad I'm not even going to describe them here. I'm pregnant and also get intrusive thoughts about stillbirth and what to do with the baby. With OCD, intrusive thoughts often focus on "taboo" subjects, hence the thoughts of dead children, suicide and violence. I think intrusions about sex and religion are common too

I do too. Sometimes the feeling I have is wondering whether what I’m doing is actually a very real vivid dream. It tends to happen when I’m driving. It’s weird, strange and a bit scary.

I do things like think 'i could just throw my car keys/phone/bag whatever off this bridge right now' 😂

And definitely the more dark ones like what if I jumped off myself, what if I just veered my car into that tree etc... I'm obviously not going to do any of them but yeah they must be common.

Very interesting thread. Remember the lady who put the cat in the bin so clearly. It was an unsettling news story.

It is quite hard work owning a human brain it seems!

Far too many of them. Dropping a child down the stairs and jumping off the bridge over a busy road are the most frequent ones. Worse ones too sometimes - nothing I want to do, obv! I hate them.

I have lots of horrible intrusive thoughts. I have diagnosed OCD though, so I struggle to deal with them. I’m better than I used to be.

Certainly. Not all the time, but every now and then a thought of jumping from a high place, or more often and a bit less scarily, dropping something valuable or important from a high place or into the river. It's usually if I'm actually passing the high place or the river - it would be unusual for me just to think of it randomly.

I often wanted to open the door of the car whilst I was a passenger ( not driving it !) and fall out of it. No reason at all really. Just a silly fleeting thought , but I'm not sure why as I hate hurting myself and I know I'd die of course! It's weird how your brain can just be so irrational.

I get these, sometimes about losing the children in one way or another, sometimes about hurting myself somehow. I spoke to my GP about it once, he thought it was stress/ anxiety related. I was having a rough time at work at the time.

I have always been tempted when I'm a tube train near someone with plaits to just cut them off. Imagine their surprise!

Interesting to know they have a name /never heard of intrusive thoughts before.
Also remember being in business conferences and thinking in a quiet moment I could loudly announce to the hushed audience that I want to give the speaker a blow job.

I have occasionally wondered about going for a walk in the hills near home in the dark. In fact, last night I found myself thinking a particular footpath in the village would be really creepy to walk down in the middle of the night.

I get these quite often but notice they occur much more frequently when I am stressed.

I suffered from GAD a few years ago and the intrusive thoughts really took over. I was miserable. I had worries about car accidents, causing car accidents, stabbing people, hurting people, stealing etc.

I'd imagine horrible scenarios involving my children. It especially bothered me in romantic moments with my husband as then I'd worry I was some sort of pervert who thought of these terrible things during sex!

My counsellor told me all about intrusive thoughts. She said the fact I find it awful that I'm thinking about them shows that I'm a decent person who wouldn't act on them. That helps me now when I get them.

I've had a lot lately about some health problems so think I'm probably quite anxious right now!!

Yep intrusive thoughts, I had a really bad bout of Pure OCD after my youngest was born where these thoughts constantly bombarded me and I thought I was going crazy.

I used to get really violent random urges that I would never have done but they scared the shit out of me. Eg. Pushing DHs cousin infront of a train..no reason, didn't dislike him even..but it was constant. Working in a bar, urge to push glass into someones face for no reason. Was worrying, but went away randomly and luckily hasnt been back since. Had this when I was 18-22 ish, then just..gone.

When driving down the motorway, in the fast lane, I've often wondered what would happen if I turned the steering to the right and hit the central reservation/barriers. I'd never do it and don't want to do it, but it's a thought that has often crossed my mind!

I think Poe called this your ‘inner imp’ he gave the example of the urge to jump off a ledge