![]() And of course, this immediately gets us thinking of said thought all over again. However, another part of our brain “checks in” every now and then to make sure we’re still avoiding it. He found evidence that when we try not thinking of something one part of our brain does exactly that – it “avoids” the thought. Wegner – the social psychologist leading the study – found something interesting. Despite being told very clearly not to think of a white bear, the study found that all of the participants thought of a white bear at least once per minute.ĭr. In a study carried out by Harvard University, participants were told to think about whatever they wanted to think about, except a “white bear”. Research clearly shows that trying to push away thoughts makes them come back stronger. Why accepting intrusive thoughts paves the way for freedom And so the more that thought creeps back in.Īfter a while, we might even begin to believe that thought. If the thought scares us, we’re probably going to try and ignore it and push it away.īut the more effort we put into avoiding something, the more our brain thinks we’re ignoring something potentially dangerous. If we’re able to recognise that our thought is just that – a thought – then we can simply let it go.īut if we’re prone to anxiety, we might start to worry about that thought – why we’re having it and what it means. When this happens, we might suddenly become aware of the thought. But every now and then, a potential “threat” evokes a strong emotional response e.g. ![]() Most of the time, this happens at a subconscious level. ![]() As we go about our day-to-day lives, our brain is constantly scanning for danger. Our brains have evolved to keep us safe, and away from harm. Worrying about doing something inappropriate e.g.Fears about contracting a deadly disease.Driving and imagining swerving off the road.Imagining something bad happening to someone you love.If you feel like you may harm yourself or someone else, please call 999 or Samaritans immediately). Imagining something violent happening out of the blue (it’s important to note that this is only an intrusive thought provided that there is no intention to cause yourself or another person harm.The main problem is when we start to attach meaning to them. There’s actually nothing wrong with unwanted thoughts (provided, of course, we don’t intend to carry them out). Strange, disturbing thoughts pop into almost everyone’s heads on a daily basis – we just tend not to talk about them.īecause we don’t talk about them, it’s difficult to know what’s “normal” and what’s not. Unwanted thoughts are actually very common. They make us feel anxious, guilty or ashamed. One thing they all have in common is that they instill a sense of fear. Sometimes these thoughts represent real concerns. But no matter how hard we try pushing them out of our mind, they don’t budge. They appear again and again.īecause they’re scary, we might try to push them away. Intrusive thoughts are thoughts – often distressing in nature – that get stuck in the mind. We clock them, think to ourselves “that’s a little odd”, and then continue on with our day.īut for some people, these kinds of thoughts get “stuck”. Many of these are unwanted, and sometimes rather strange.īut most of us recognise that they’re just “thoughts”. We are all flooded by thousands of images and thoughts everyday. Have you ever been stood waiting patiently for your train and out of nowhere you imagine yourself pushing someone off the platform? Or maybe you’ve been sat in a peaceful church service and you suddenly think about running towards the alter, yelling at the top of your lungs?
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