How To Beat Intrusive Thoughts in 7 Steps

Here are some helpful ways to stop intrusive thoughts:

1. Don’t try to stop the intrusive thought, the harder you try to stop them, the stronger they will be.

2. Label it as an “Anxious Thought." This will help you to see them more objectively rather than subjectively experiencing them.

3. Don’t personalize the intrusive thoughts. The thoughts are not who you really are.

4. Don’t avoid situations that trigger the thoughts. This will only strengthen the thoughts.

5. Learn how to detach yourself from the thought. This is another way of removing them from your subjective experience.

6. Learn how to take back control. This will help improve confidence and reduce the fear of the thoughts.

7. Refocus your on what you were doing or onto something more pleasurable that is outside of your head.

What Are Intrusive Thoughts?

Worried thinking, obsessive thinking, and intrusive thoughts. So what’s the difference and how do you beat and overcome intrusive thoughts?

Intrusive thoughts can and often do go away. You can stop intrusive thoughts.

You worry about money, your family, the future. You have trouble falling asleep at night because you can’t shut your mind off from the events of the day or what you have to do tomorrow.

You obsessively think about a person, a situation, or a fear over and over. You become consumed and unable to let it go until you have worked it out somehow. Usually engaging in some type of behavior that neutralizes the anxiety.

Or you have thoughts popping into your head. You have horrible, intrusive thoughts that you do not want to worry or obsess about. You feel that you can't overcome these intrusive thoughts.

To make things worse, all of these thoughts can also take the form of mental images or in the form of an impulse.

The more horrible and disturbing the thought is, the more it will affect your thinking.