Intrusive thoughts: sexual, violent, religious and more!

Intrusive thoughts are, as the name suggests, intrusive. These are thoughts that appear suddenly, with no reason to be there, and everyone is subject to them. They come with a little more force than a typical automatic thought. Some people can get too attached to these thoughts, generating discomfort and suffering, being difficult to ′′ get rid ′′ of them.

Usually, intrusive thoughts are related to anxiety disorder, but this is not a determining factor for these thoughts to appear. In general, they are connected to a trauma, a fear, or an event from the past. In this article, you will learn what the meanings of intrusive thoughts are and what types they are. Check it out below!

It may seem complex to understand the subject of intrusive thoughts. So, to help you understand better about it, let’s list some circumstances in which this type of thinking is inserted. See below!

One of the origins of intrusive thoughts, in most cases, is linked to some kind of fear. Even knowing that fear is something totally natural for every human being, it is a feeling linked to our survival instinct.

Generally, the fear caused by these types of thoughts is normal, representing a wrong assessment that the person made of the situation and giving the feeling that something bad could happen.

Having intrusive thoughts is more common than you might think. They can arise during any daily task we are performing or simply in a moment of rest and tranquility – that is, there is no time to happen.

Because the human brain is a “machine” capable of processing millions of thoughts, the mind, while it is processing automatic thoughts, is in the “background”, processing these intrusive thoughts.

Intrusive thinking happens to anyone, as it is part of the human experience to have it. However, this type of intrusive thinking is more common in people who have OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder), post-traumatic stress, anxiety disorder, depression and postpartum depression.

The origin of these thoughts will vary from person to person, as our organism reacts in a very individual and unique way, and each person feels differently. However, this type of thinking can happen to any individual at any age.

If you understand that intrusive thoughts are just bad thoughts, then you are very mistaken. These types of thoughts can emerge as ideas or moments of reflection throughout the days. Often, it’s misplaced ideas that appear out of nowhere and end up lingering in the mind for a while.

Generally, they are thoughts in which the themes are very varied, but the important thing to know is that they are, yes, capable of generating feelings of joy and happiness, causing well-being. To be more in touch with good intrusive thoughts, it is important to be in environments that stimulate this, whether traveling, meeting friends or simply doing activities that you enjoy.

When you have your quality of life affected, then your mind will also be impacted. With this, the emergence of intrusive thoughts of “bad” become more present. If negative intrusive thoughts persist, it’s always good to seek help from a professional to help you understand them.

These thoughts can often be connected to some fear or trauma from the past and therefore deserve the attention of an expert. Therefore, this type of thinking becomes bad when it is fixed and your life becomes organized from what is not true.

It is possible to classify as a human need to want to have control of everything and everyone. But life proves the opposite, bringing aspects that are uncontrollable, as is the case with some thoughts. When we try to control intrusive thoughts, we are allowing them to become obsessive thoughts.

For intrusive thoughts to be considered obsessive, they must be intrusive, constant, unpleasant, and undesirable. Thus, obsessive thoughts differ from intrusive ones when they become more frequent and we are unable to dissociate them from everyday life, bringing unusual levels of disorder to life and especially to mental health.

Perhaps, this is one of the most important aspects to understand: intrusive thoughts and reality. The fact that we have intrusive thoughts does not mean that the reality they bring is true. These, like any others, are just thoughts.

By understanding that we do not have absolute control over what we think or what goes on in our mind, we can say that the limits between thinking and acting are what we establish. Therefore, we should be less concerned with the contents of these thoughts.

In our daily lives, we are surrounded by external stimuli. These stimuli are often capable of increasing the presence of intrusive thoughts, as they arise through our relationship with the world.

To better illustrate and help you understand what intrusive thoughts are, it is important to talk more about some of them.

In this way, thoughts such as “throwing yourself out of a moving vehicle”, “assaulting an unknown person”, “doing harm willingly to a person you like”, “pushing someone from a balcony” are some of the examples we can have as being intrusive thoughts.

Now, to understand more about intrusive thoughts, it’s interesting to know what their types are. Check out what they are and their main features below!

Intrusive thoughts are often related to erotic thoughts, having as the source of thought the desire for relationships with people or situations that are often unthinkable. Wanting to have a relationship with a family member or a coworker, or perhaps a person who is very close and friendly to you, can be classified as types of sexual intrusive thoughts.

Sometimes the intruders turn out to be thoughts that suggest acts of violence against someone you love, someone in your family, or against an unknown person.

Only the act of having this desire for a violent attitude can be understood as a type of violent intrusive thinking. Often, this thought arises in moments of anger and lack of control over a given situation.

Obsessive intrusive thoughts are unpleasant, often constant and insistent. A characteristic that is very present in this type is the fact that it is unwanted every time it comes up.

The person who has this type of thought feels a lot of guilt for having it for not agreeing with what is presented, trying not to do what he suggests to be done. It is a type of thinking in which the individual tends to fight against his own thoughts, doing his best to control them and push them away, even knowing that this is practically impossible.

Thus, the more he wishes not to have that thought, the more he fixes it in his head – that is, it causes the opposite effect.

We live in a world where comparison reigns supreme when it comes to self-esteem. The virtual world tends to enhance intrusive thoughts of self-esteem, due to excessive content of comparisons and easy access to the lives of famous people and great opinion makers.

So, thoughts like “I look very ugly today”, “I don’t look very good in any clothes”, “My body doesn’t please me, I’m too fat” are some examples of those that are related to self-esteem – which is fundamental for every being It is possible to state that this type of thinking may be related to some type of anxiety, for example.

When we receive a hug, a caress or a compliment from someone, it is common to feel that we are not worthy of that moment. This is the kind of intrusive thinking that is related to relationship aspects.

These thoughts, when they arise, bring the idea that we are not worthy of the love we are receiving, creating a feeling of unworthiness, when potentialized.

Sometimes in the mind there are ideas related to the feeling that some performed acts are against the will of God. This is a type of intrusive thought that refers to the feeling or perception of being committing some kind of sin or infraction, which, in the divine eyes, is very wrong and punishable.

Thus, this type of thinking tends to judge our actions and our values ​​according to what is right or wrong, facing religious thoughts, something more moralistic.

In the topics below, you will learn to deal with intrusive thoughts in a more practical and effective way. These aspects will help you in your relationship with your thoughts, bringing more quality to your mental health. Check it out below!

The first step we have listed is extremely important to pay attention to: accepting that intrusive thoughts are just thoughts and that they are not or define you helps you to distance yourself from what is real to what your own mind is creating.

What these thoughts usually convey, when bad, don’t mean that something will actually happen. They are just ideas and, therefore, do not present a true reality, they are just an idealization of it.

Accepting intrusive thoughts is a fundamental attitude to better deal with them. Be it good or bad thoughts, many people try to repress or expel them, as if it were something negative, but failing to find the result they expected.

Having this attitude, the tendency is for feelings to be enhanced in the face of what happened in this experience.

Also, accepting doesn’t mean you should be hostage to that kind of thinking and not having any attitude about it. Quite the contrary, in fact, this acceptance must be accompanied by the ability to realize that we can, whenever we want, resume the progress of our mind.

When the intrusive thought appears, an attitude that will help to overcome it is simply to dialogue with it. By doing this, you help to reduce the…