THERAPY SERVICESTRAINING SCHOOL
LOCATIONS
TOOTINGCLAPHAMMARYLEBONE
CALL 020 8673 4545BOOK AN APPOINTMENT
Product has been added to your basket.
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
    • THE AWARENESS CENTRE
      • About The Awareness Centre
      • The Team
      • Centre News
      • Media
      • Collaborative Partners & External Agencies
    • OUR PRACTICES
      • TAC Clapham
      • TAC Tooting
      • TAC Marylebone
      • How to Find Us
    • THE DIRECTOR
      • Michaela McCarthy
  • THERAPY SERVICES
    • NHS THERAPY SERVICES
      • NHS Lambeth
      • NHS Wandsworth
      • NHS Sutton
      • Our NHS Therapists
      • NHS Multilingual Counselling
    • PRIVATE THERAPY SERVICES
      • Online Counselling & Telephone Therapy
      • Low Cost Counselling, Psychotherapy & Counselling Psychology
      • Counselling
      • Psychotherapy
      • Psychology
      • Our Low Cost Therapists
      • Our Private Therapists
      • Private Healthcare Providers
    • SPECIALIST THERAPY SERVICES
      • Addiction Counselling
      • Anger Management Therapy
      • Bereavement Counselling
      • Child & Adolescent Counselling
      • Couples Counselling
      • Eating Disorders Therapy
      • Family Therapy
      • LGBTQ+ Counselling
      • Multilingual Counselling
      • Sex & Relationship Therapy
      • Trauma Counselling & Psychotherapy
    • FURTHER INFORMATION
      • Types of Issues
        • Abuse
        • Addiction
        • ADHD
        • Anger
        • Anxiety Disorders
        • Asperger’s Syndrome
        • Attachment Disorder
        • Bereavement and Loss
        • Body Dysmorphic Disorder
        • Bullying
        • Cancer
        • Carer Support
        • Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
        • Communication
        • Dementia
        • Depression
        • Disability
        • Dissociation
        • Eating Disorders
        • Family and Relationships
        • Gender & Identity
        • Guilt and Shame
        • Hearing Voices
        • HIV/AIDS
        • Illness
        • Infertility
        • Isolation & Loneliness
        • Learning Difficulties
        • Life Transitions
        • Low Self-Esteem
        • Mental Health
        • Paranoia
        • Passive Aggressive Behaviour
        • Personality Disorders
        • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
        • Pregnancy & Childbirth
        • Psychosis
        • Rape
        • Redundancy
        • Schizophrenia
        • Self-Harm
        • Sex and Relationships
        • Sexuality
        • Spirituality
        • Stress
        • Suicidal Thoughts
        • Tourette’s Syndrome
        • Trauma (Child & Adult)
        • Trichotillomania
        • Workplace Issues
      • Frequently Asked Questions
      • Resources
      • Approaches to Therapy
      • Client Testimonials
      • Book an Appointment
  • FEES
  • TAC TRAINING SCHOOL
    • Meet the Faculty
    • Foundation Certificate in Counselling
    • Diploma in Integrative Counselling
    • Diploma in Clinical Supervision
    • Diploma in Working with Couples
    • Corporate Mental Health Workshops
    • Testimonials for the Foundation Certificate
    • Testimonials for the Diplomas
  • PRIVATE PRACTICE
    • Private Practice
    • Hire A Room
    • Wimpole Street Practice
    • Join TAC Directory
    • Therapist Testimonials
  • BLOG
  • WORK AT TAC
  • COUNSELLING PLACEMENT
    • Counselling Placement
    • Counselling Placement Testimonials
    • Placement Training Testimonials
  • CONTACT
    • Appointment Request
    • Contact Us

How to Cope with Intrusive Thoughts

We all experience intrusive thoughts from time to time. Whilst we mostly have control over what we think, we never have full control, and this means that sometimes, negative and intrusive thoughts can come into our minds. Whilst intrusive thoughts are just that – thoughts – they can be distressing if they occur on a regular basis, and depending on the nature of the thoughts, they may make you feel like a bad person for thinking those things.

The good news is, intrusive thoughts can largely be managed. In this article, we’re going to look in more detail at intrusive thoughts and how you can cope with them.

What are intrusive thoughts?

Intrusive thoughts are unwanted thoughts that are often repetitive. They appear without warning and sometimes are violent, disturbing, or distressing in nature. Some examples of intrusive thoughts are:

  • Thinking about hurting someone else
  • Thinking about hurting yourself
  • Thinking about committing a crime
  • Thinking of doing something violent 
  • Doubting your ability to do something
  • Worrying about doing something embarrassing 
  • Thinking about a traumatic life event or experience 
  • Worrying about getting severely ill or coming into contact with germs

Intrusive thoughts generally last a bit longer than other thoughts, which typically last for a fleeting moment. They also tend to recur, and this can make them distressing and make you feel like you can’t control your thoughts. If the thoughts are disturbing in nature, you might begin to feel like you’re a bad person, but it’s important to remember that thoughts alone do not make you a bad person and do not necessarily reflect who you are or your intentions. 

With the right level of treatment, managing intrusive thoughts can, for most people, be effectively achieved. The Awareness Centre offers a number of services to support you in managing your intrusive thoughts.

What causes intrusive thoughts?

For the most part, intrusive thoughts have no underlying cause; they just happen. In a simplistic sense, they pop into your head and exit as quickly as they came, and there’s no real reason for it. It’s just the way our minds work, and it’s something the vast majority of us deal with from time to time (around 94% of us to be more precise). 

In some cases, there could be an underlying cause, such as anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Intrusive thoughts have also been linked to brain injuries, dementia, and Parkinson’s disease. 

Intrusive thoughts vs normal thoughts

It’s thought that the average person has around 6,000 thoughts every single day. That’s a lot of thoughts and there’s a lot going on, so knowing how to separate normal thoughts from intrusive ones can seem quite difficult. Generally speaking, if you find that you’re having recurring thoughts that are causing you distress, that last longer than a brief moment, or that lead you to want to try and control how you think and the thoughts you have, you could be experiencing intrusive thoughts. 

When to seek help

For most people, intrusive thoughts don’t have a bearing on their everyday life and they leave as quickly as they arrive, but if you find that they keep happening and they’re causing distress, or if you notice other symptoms like a general change in your thought patterns or obsessive thoughts, it’s a good idea to speak to a GP. 

You should never feel ashamed of obsessive thoughts, but speaking to a professional to see if there’s an underlying mental health condition like OCD can greatly help.

How to cope with intrusive thoughts

Now you understand a bit more about intrusive thoughts, how can you go about managing them? You might not be able to stop them altogether, but there are ways to make them feel less overwhelming.

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)

One of the most useful ways you can manage intrusive thoughts and thought patterns overall is by engaging in CBT. This is a branch of psychotherapy that helps you to successfully identify negative and/or irrational thoughts and behaviours, understand why they’re happening, and look at how to view them in a different, less negative way.

Say the thought out loud 

Oftentimes, disturbing thoughts can feel overwhelming because they only exist in our heads. Your brain can overemphasise the thought to the point that it feels real, and this can cause distress. To try and mitigate this, try saying the disturbing thought out loud or writing it down. There’s a chance that it won’t carry quite as much weight when you do so, and you might be able to move on from it once you realise it’s an insignificant thought.

Practice grounding 

Grounding is a really useful technique that can help people with a range of negative thought patterns. It works by centering yourself in the present moment and doing things to retain your focus on the here and now. This can include touching things, speaking out loud five things you see, and deep breathing. You might engage in the 5-4-3-2-1 grounding technique, which involves noticing five things you can see, four things you can touch, three things you can hear, two things you can smell, and one thing you can taste. This engages all of your senses in the present moment.

When you focus on the present moment, you’re more distracted from the negative thoughts. 

Accept the thoughts

It’s natural to want to try and push an intrusive thought out of your mind, but this doesn’t always work and can often make you feel like you’re responsible for how you’re thinking. Where possible, try to accept the thought and remind yourself that you have no control over them – they’re automatic and not a reflection of you, who you are, your morals, or your intentions. 

Also try and continue what you’re doing rather than stopping and fretting about the thoughts. Allow the thoughts to be present whilst you work, cook, clean, or simply relax. This will give less power, so to speak, to the thoughts. 

Get help for intrusive thoughts at The Awareness Centre 

Sometimes, professional help is needed to help manage unwanted intrusive thoughts. At The Awareness Centre, our team is best placed to help you recognise, understand, and deal with intrusive thoughts. Whether you have an underlying reason such as OCD or PTSD which may be causing such thoughts, or if there’s no reason for them but they are causing you distress, we can help. Please contact us to find out more and to book an appointment with a mental health professional at one of our London clinics today.

The Awareness Centre
The Awareness Centre offers counselling support seven days a week. Give us a call on 020 8673 4545 and one of our friendly Front of House team can answer your questions and help find you the right therapist for you.
Are You A Pathological Attention Seeker?
I Am 35 And Think Of Myself As Chronically Single

Related Posts

Can Therapy Help You To Overcome A Difficult Early Life?

Can Therapy Help You To Overcome A Difficult Early Life?

How Reading Can Help You To Manage Your Stress

How Reading Can Help You To Manage Your Stress

Four Reasons To Start Therapy In The New Year

Four Reasons To Start Therapy In The New Year

Why You Should Start Therapy Now

Why You Should Start Therapy Now

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Fill out this field
Fill out this field
Please enter a valid email address.

Subscribe to our newsletter



    Please add me to the list

    Categories

    • Abortion
    • Abuse
    • Acute Stress Disorder
    • Addiction
    • ADHD
    • Agoraphobia
    • Alcoholism
    • Anger Management
    • Anxiety
    • Ask Michaela
    • Attachment
    • Bereavement & Loss
    • Bipolar
    • Borderline Personality Disorder
    • Bullying
    • Children and Adolescents
    • Co-Dependency
    • Coaching
    • Coronavirus
    • Counselling
    • Counselling Placements
    • Couples
    • Dementia
    • Depression
    • Divorce
    • Domestic Violence
    • Dreams
    • Eating Disorders
    • Echoism
    • Ecopsychology
    • Empty Nest Syndrome
    • Family
    • Guilt
    • Health
    • Imposter Syndrome
    • Infertility
    • Insomnia
    • LGBTQ
    • Life Stories
    • Loneliness
    • Masochism
    • Meditation
    • Menopause
    • Mental Health
    • Mindfulness
    • Narcissism
    • News
    • OCD
    • Panic Attacks
    • Parenting
    • Personal Development
    • Personality Disorders
    • Porn
    • Postnatal Depression
    • Pregnancy
    • Psychology
    • Psychosexual
    • Psychotherapy
    • PTSD
    • Relationships
    • Sadness
    • Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
    • Self Esteem
    • Self-Care
    • Self-Harm
    • Sex
    • Sexual Harassment
    • Sleep
    • Social Anxiety Disorder
    • Stress
    • Suicide
    • The Awareness Centre
    • Therapy
    • Training School
    • Trauma
    • Uncategorized
    • Workplace Issues

    TAC Brochure

    DOWNLOAD

    TAC has BACP Membership

    TAC Clapham

    41 Abbeville Road
    London SW4 9JX
    [email protected]
    020 8673 4545

    Available Services

    check_circle
    Low Cost Therapy
    check_circle
    Private Therapy

    Appointments

    Monday – Thursday:
    7.00am – 10.00pm

    Friday:
    7.00am – 9.00pm

    Saturday:
    9.00am – 5.30pm

    Sunday:
    10.00am – 2.00pm

    TAC Tooting

    74-80 Upper Tooting Road
    London SW17 7PB
    [email protected]
    020 8673 4545

    Available Services

    check_circle
    Private Therapy

    Appointments

    Monday – Thursday:
    7.00am – 10.00pm

    Friday:
    7.00am – 9.00pm

    Saturday:
    9.00am – 5.30pm

    TAC Marylebone

    85 Wimpole Street
    London W1G 9RJ
    [email protected]
    020 8079 0708

    Available Services

    check_circle
    Private Therapy

    Appointments

    Tuesday and Thursday:
    8.00am – 12.00pm

    Email
    Facebook
    Twitter
    LinkedIn
    YouTube
    Instagram
    Pinterest

    © 2022 The Awareness Centre Ltd.

    • OUR THERAPISTS
    • TYPES OF ISSUES
    • OUR LANGUAGES
    • FAQS
    • HOW TO FIND US

    The Awareness Centre Limited. A company registered in England and Wales, Number: 06194423. Registered Office: 74-80 Upper Tooting Road, London, England, SW17 7PB.  Trading as The Awareness Centre.

    This site uses cookies and data collection for personalised advertising. Your data may be shared with third parties for this purpose. Learn more about how we collect data and use cookies, and check that you consent. Manage PreferencesI Consent Learn more
    Privacy & Cookies Policy

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
    Necessary
    Always Enabled
    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
    Non-necessary
    Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
    SAVE & ACCEPT