Intrusive thoughts

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I thought this was normal, but now I’m having doubts so wanted to check my sanity. When I see something mildly unsafe, or even normal every day activities, I imagine the worst case outcome. All the time.

So, for example, when my 2yo goes up the (carpeted) stairs, I “see” in my mind’s eye the child falling and rolling down to the tiled floor and smacking their head. A lot of these things involve falling and getting hurt, but my mind jumps to an extreme reaction. Another example - wondering whether I might / should drive somewhere, but then imagining I end up in a horrible crash. I can see these things almost like a movie in my head, sort of superimposed on reality. I don’t just imagine the concept of it, I see it. If I go on the tube, I imagine the person closest to the tunnel jumping in front of the train.

I thought this happened to everyone and it’s taken me literally years to suddenly realise this is probably not normal. It doesn’t impact my actions, eg I would still take that drive, but it makes me very nervy about child safety and what I rationally know are normal everyday activities. I also did myself picturing child abuse cases from the news and this disturbs my mood and sleep excessively (must stop reading the news…).

Am I normal? Sensitive? Or need professional help??

I do this too and as the others say, it's really normal.

Anxiety and OCD run in my family so lots of experience with intrusive thoughts!

CBT can be v helpful, particularly reframing thoughts like 'these intrusive thoughts aren't reality, they are a symptom.'

I have these, they tend to ramp up when I'm stressed or anxious, one technique that helps is to say thank you to my brain for warning me, sounds bonkers but it stops them repeating for me.

That and I try to prioritise what I need in term of rest and mindfulness, I see as an early warning sign that I'm starting to feel my limits.

Intrusive thoughts can be a symptom of anxiety and you don't need to suffer them. Have a chat with your GP.

These were my intrusive thoughts too. I learnt some techniques that seem to work over the years and now they don't take over my life so much.

im So glad you posted this because so get this too. And it’s not something I feel comfortable to talk to everyone about.

i thought it was my anxiety.
Everyone keeps telling me it’s normal to have anxiety especially since becoming a mum but I guess I haven’t really told everyone how bad it is and about all the intrusive thoughts.
but I did reach out to me gp and just started working a psychologist using a CBT approach. I think it will be a lot of work to do but I’ve ignored it for so many years so it will be worth it.

This is not an unusual thing to experience OP. Some SSRIs are very good for this but come with downsides as with most meds.

Excellent post. I'm not a CBT therapist but do have a qualification in CBT and it's just a common thing which isn't indicative of illness unless it causes distress or impairs functioning.

I think it's helpful for me in many ways and has prevented me from making a lot of mistakes or having accidents.

I found CBT to be utterly useless but it was pushed and pushed as a solution and then I ended up in a Psych ward. It's ok for very low level stuff maybe but if you are unwell it is no good.

Also there is a quite a debate running about CBT and where it actually ends up harming patients which is what happened to me.

Thanks everyone. This is sort of helpful… on one hand good to know that I’m not alone! But also doesn’t sound unusual enough to really do anything about. It doesn’t feel bad enough to warrant CBT, or medication, but obviously it’s enough that I’ve bothered posting about it.

I get these thoughts and they were much worse when my children were young, presumably it's the responsibility of your childs life in your hands that ups the pressure. I think it gets easier the more you do stuff, so the first time you child goes in a climbing frame or trampoline you'll be "see" these awful scenarios but then the more they do it the less you worry.

I rarely get trains, but when I do I cant stand people standing anywhere near the edge of the platform as I just "see" them tripping forward. The same happened when I went for a walk with friends on swanage cliff top 🤦‍♀️ that wasn't an enjoyable walk 😂

I get these since getting my cat (no DC). It can be quite extreme at times, particularly when I’m leaving the house. I do a quick ‘safety check’ before going anywhere, basically checking there aren’t any knives left on the side he might step on, toaster and kettle are off at the wall in case he steps on the switch and burns himself or dry boils the kettle until it explodes (!), all windows shut, nothing plugged in to charge (although this is sensible to be fair), camera switched on so I can check on him periodically (!). None of which is so bad in and of itself I guess but it’s the constant worry around it that can be debilitating.

I have OCD (it runs in my family quite strongly) and I think it’s mainly an extension of that. I love him so much so I’m trying to pre-empt and control all the possible scenarios. It’s a heavy weight to carry and the more you give into it the more the anxiety increases. I don’t want children but can only imagine the nervous wreck I’d be if I had them. I’d never want to let them out of my sight.

I’m in my forties and I’ve had this for as long as I can remember - from childhood, for sure. It’s been debilitating at times and I realise now that I definitely exhibit traits of OCD. I always used to think it was the stereotypical clicking lights on and off stuff but I realise now how my obsessive behaviour plays out. I feel absolutely consumed by whatever my brain is fixating on but I just never realised the depth of it all.

There's nothing you've said there that doesn’t seem entirely normal. Almost everyone will do that, they're entirely normal, sensible checks. I don't have a cat but check windows, outlets, things switched off etc. If I had one, I'd add in the additional checks you do.

If you kept going back to check while knowing you'd already done it, had numbers of checks you thought you needed to do or other rituals, I'd think it could be part of OCD but from what you said, no.

I think you’re right actually. I’m comparing myself to friends who don’t worry about any of those things but they are sensible and reasonable checks to make.

The thing I didn’t go into is how my anxiety has increased a lot since I got him (he’s almost two now) and it does have an impact on things like socialising, leaving the house for extended periods of time etc. Fortunately at the moment I don’t have to do this for long periods, and am very introverted so don’t socialise much, but whenever I go out I frequently find myself in a spiral of worry about whether he’s OK and if he’s upset I’m not there (almost certainly not!!). It’s a separation anxiety. My biggest fear is if there was a fire (he’s a house cat) which I have intrusive thoughts about and my heart starts pounding. I have to try to rationalise it, tell myself that I’ve never had a fire, never lived anywhere where there’s been a fire, never known anyone to have a fire etc but it still petrifies me. Then there’s all the intrusive thoughts about his health. I don’t know what to do about it to be honest, it’s every day. I wish I could just be more in the present instead of worrying about all the things it’s not possible for me to control.

This video is good at explaining intrusive thoughts, what they are and what you can do about them;

Omg yes this! I could have written this!

Thanks - I’ll watch that video. Oh gosh yes, awareness of my own mortality… that’s one that occasionally comes to mind but I’ve largely managed to avoid it and push it away so far! It’s good to hear I’m not alone.