Any mums suffer with intrusive thoughts?

[suilaruin]

I have had them since 2010 while pregnant then shortly after giving birth. The thoughts caused me awful anxiety. I probably did have intrusive thoughts before that as I read everybody experiences them but people with anxiety latch onto them and give it meaning.

How do you help yourself?

Bumping for you.

Have you hax any professional support? I've heard CBT can be useful for intrusive thoughts. Your GP can refer you.

I had CBT and it was hugely beneficial. They made me see the thoughts as 'symptoms' like a cough, sore throat etc that tend to be repetitive and along the same lines when general anxiety is high.

They explained that no matter how long you think about an intrusive thought you will never answer your question or feel any better so you learnt to acknowledge it but then 'push' it out of your mind. Takes practice but honestly, now I'm able to think 'oh there it comes again' and not give the thought any gravitas. Hope that helps xx

Yes I do have this , it's awful at times. Triggers for me are feeling tired and overdoing it- when thoughts start I know it's time to rest and thankfully that usually gets it under control. The other thing that helps me is telling people - my mum, best friend and husband all know now and I can tell them if it's happening, which seems to take away some of the power of it. I've been recommended CBT too but haven't had time to try it .
Do you have a good support network that you could talk to about this ?

Hi, yes I have experienced that. It has become less severe the older my children have got though

I'm currently having an NHS CBT for worry (I suffer more with intrusive thoughts, but it was the closest thing). They advise setting aside a specific 30 mins per day to think about 'worries'. If you get thoughts at other times, write them down and do a distracting activity, like sudoku, cooking, exercise. Then concentrate on your worry during the specified half hour. If your worry time is from 7 -7.30, and you get an intrusive thought, write it down for worry time the next day. I'm currently ok as on new meds, but others in the group find the technique useful. Good luck.

I have intrusive thoughts as part of my OCD. I've had therapy which was helpful. I used to feel so alone. Thinking I was awful and horrible for thinking bad/nasty/unkind things. Over the years I have learnt that thoughts mean nothing. Thoughts are only thoughts. They have no power. You could think to yourself I must go and cook dinner but thinking it doesn't get the dinner cooked.
I do know how hard it is though.