Am I having intrusive thoughts?

[sealedwithX]

I can't talk to anyone in RL as feeling quite embarrassed about it.

Can anyone help me?

For at least a couple of years I get negative/sad thoughts pop into my head. Mostly of people/children being hurt or abused in some way. It's very distressing for me and makes me feel very low.
I get these thoughts at least once a day but usually more.

It's never a thought of me hurting anyone only of other people hurting others and me being helpless to help.

Its worse when I'm anxious/ stressed.

Does this sound like intrusive thoughts?

Yes, it does. You can definitely get help - GP is your first port of call

Yes, definitely get to the Gp. I struggle at times, I'm bipolar and can't go to see a dear friend as she lives on a top floor of flats. Everyone I see the balcony by her front door it is like my head is flooded with images of me accidentally dropping a child over the edge or leaving too far and falling. It's really physically distressing and I've no idea what triggers it. Well that's not true, it started the week sheet moved there after that poor child was dropped over the balcony in an art gallery.

I get this too op :( I get horrible thoughts about children/animals being harmed. If I hear a child or baby crying I get really anxious wondering if someone is hurting them 😔 I can't tell anyone in real life as it sounds ridiculous. But if I read anything like a news story about child abuse or an advert about starving children it honestly makes me feel sick for days. It's exhausting. I can't stop the thoughts and it drives me crazy. I will be watching the thread for any support

You are having intrusive thoughts.

It is possible to divert them. I will pm you.

You're not alone!

It's important to understand that no one has any control over their thoughts - there is nothing you can do about what pops into your head.

What you DO have control over is what you do those thoughts. So when an unwanted thought appears you can figure out what to do with it, rather than let it snowball into a sequence of increasingly distressing images.

It would be good to get professional help but, we all know, this can take time so in the short term try writing down the thought as soon as it happens. Once you've got it out, it will lose its power and you might be able to work out what has triggered it.

What happened just before the thought? Is there a pattern? Are you using these thoughts as a distraction from something else that is upsetting you but might be out of your control?

The more you can use rational thinking to accept that your thoughts are random and untrue, the more you can preempt and discard them.

Well I never. I have these and had NO idea they were actually a thing.

I get them when I'm feeling low, usually about physical and sexual abuse. I've never experienced either. I find them extremely disturbing.

Thank you OP for sharing your experiences. I hope you find peace from them.

CBT can really help with intrusive thoughts.

Talk to your gp. It's more common than most people would think.

Thank you all so much for replying. It's hard for me to hear that it is indeed intrusive thoughts I am having.

Sometimes, when it's happening I tell myself I can have 2 minutes to think about it, then I must distract myself and think of something else. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

I'm so embarrassed to tell anyone even the GP.

Thank you for sharing this. I get thiese kind of thoughts too and didn't even realise it was a thing. Usually after hearing the news or reading the paper and then imagining that thing happening to me or my loved ones. Hope you can get some support.

Best thing I ever did to reduce mine was stop watching the news totally. If friends are talking about something C then I may read an article at my leisure about it to learn more but I absolutely do not watch the news or follow news sources. My life is much easier and the intrusive thoughts much less invasive these days.

Just to echo others, yes you are definitely having intrusive thoughts. I remember fighting to find the courage to talk to my DP about it because I felt embarrassed/ashamed.

I considered seeing a GP but in the end I decided to stop fighting against my thoughts. I accepted the thought for exactly that, JUST a thought. I didn't pay any further attention it it. I let it come and then go again. Eventually they stopped haunting me.

I still get them occasionaly but they don't affect me like they did and it certainly doesn't happen as often. I generally get them now if I'm feeling anxious.

However, it would still be a good idea to talk to a GP to help you if you feel you need that support.

Have you tried any sort of mindfulness exercises to help with them? It is about being in the moment, acknowledging those thoughts and letting them go.
Thoughts are not facts.

No I haven't tried any mindfulness but will look into that.
I often worry that I will never be able to be happy as I will always have these thoughts in my head making me feel sad.

Please don’t put too much emphasis on the phrase “intrusive thoughts”, @sealedwithX. It’s not a medical diagnosis, just something that happens to almost everyone. It’s only a problem if they become very frequent and overwhelm what else you’d chose to be doing/thinking about. This might be helpful: www.webmd.com/mental-health/intrusive-thoughts

@Arepeoplereallycoolaboutthis is spot on. They are intrusive thoughts and just that. Possibly a sign of anxiety, so don’t panic that you will act on them, tell yourself it’s just your anxiety and it will go away. It’s amazing how easy it is to simply acknowledge the thought and move on by doing this.

You’re not alone. It’s totally normal.

Having a therapist to help identify patterns might help if you’re feeling overwhelmed. Have a chat with your GP and get a referral. You won’t have to go into any details about the content of these thoughts, because fundamentally it’s not about them, it’s something else that has you on edge.

I agree with pp on the news. Avoid it if you can. Load up your kindle and get off social media for a while, play music instead.