Unwanted/Intrusive Thoughts - A to Z of Hypnotherapy

Unwanted or Intrusive thoughts are a form of OCD, and if you are living with it, it can be hellish as you can’t escape from your own thoughts.

Those thoughts often take the form of being graphic (sexual), religious or violent and are nearly always distressing. They are usually accompanied by impulses to act too, despite it being wholly against the character of the person who is trapped in those ruminations. For example, someone may be overcome with the fear that they may be unable to resit harming someone close to them that they love dearly. It’s also important to understand that the unwanted intrusive thoughts aren’t a reflection of the persons true desires as was once thought, they are just thoughts usually driven by anxiety.

When working with this people with this condition I often hear people say that they think “What if I…” followed by acting out their intrusive thoughts. The part of the brain that is responsible for these types of thoughts always goes to the worst case scenario and plays it out as if it was real, it’s an outdated primitive survival strategy that back then helped us to survive from the constant danger that we faced, but now still responds by going looking for what could go wrong, even if that’s now very unlikely.

It’s natural to trying and stop thinking these thoughts, but the more you try not to think of something, the more you do it. You cannot, not think of something. Instead try thinking of something positive to focus on and remember that a thought is just thought, it’s not good or bad, it has no meaning until you attach one to it, so try accepting that the thought has come into your head and ask yourself “Is this thought useful or helpful to me?” and if it isn’t just accept it for what it is…a useless thought.

Hypnotherapy works with the unconscious mind to help it to re-evaluate inappropriate ways of thinking and work in a way that is beneficial for us. To find out more about how I can help you, get in touch.