Intrusive thoughts

[MissNervosa]

Anyone suffer from regular intrusive thoughts? By "intrusive" I mean flash back scenes in your head of horrible upsetting moments that pop into your head at random times.Or thoughts of dread of future events?

More and more over the last few months this has been happening to me.The moments some of my pets passed away seem to pop into my head when I'm least expecting it.Worries over my parent's health and what I'd do without them if they died and what if they die soon hits me now and then. Remembering a horrific news story involving utter tragedy that I've read recently,thinking about a case of extreme animal cruelty (obviously I'm a big animal lover so pet stories especially upset me)....anything upsetting really.

Literally the only way I can stop it is by screaming "NONONONONONONO!!!" in my head to block out the thoughts,otherwise I break down into hysterical tears and have a panic attack or start having suicide ideations as I feel I cant cope. I find myself increasingly turning to drugs (benzos and codeine mainly) in order to sedate myself and make it all go away.

Is it just me? Whats wrong with me?

 

[sonicwhite]

i HAVE PURE-O ocd AND THE VERY MAIN PART OF THIS DISORDER IS INTRUSIVE THOUGHTS WHICH CAUSES GREAT ANXIETY. bUT i'M NO DOCTOR AND THIS SOUNDS MORE LIKE RESIDUE TO ptsd OR SOMETHING i HAVE NO CLUE WHAT IS. Sorry the caps where on. PM me I can give you alot of insight into OCD if your interested.

 

[JBrandon]

Happened to me for about a year after someone close was sexually assaulted. Look into PTSD therapy treatments. It takes time to fix this problem.

Pharmaceutical-wise, Citalopram and other SSRIs are said to help. For me I had to use a behavioral technique wherein I cut off the emotional response to the thoughts, but did not fight them. all that NONO ONNo reacting is actually making them recur more.

 

[freddy47]

Dude all the fucking time. One of the main reasons why I got on heroin (or opiates in general) was to block out all that shit.

Now I mediate and tell myself, it's not that bad. Its my fucking mantra. It's never that bad.

 

[privatestock1988]

i have similar things to me too. i go a therapist once a week and saw my doctor about it and now im on a low dose of ssri and im doing alot better now i also have depression too though. but anyway i think u should talk to your doctor about it maybe u can get some help.

 

[xxsicknessxx]

is there something triggering said thoughts such as smells? music? people? or something you do? I think its normal to remember traumatic things its how your mind tries to protect you from making said mistake again right? If its so bad though you freak out thats not normal. Have you been using drugs to solve this issue for along time? It may be mostly addiction doing this to you, causing you to relive traumatic events to try and trick your self into using again (this is common) I find my self simply figuring out my triggers to certain things then staying away from said triggers... I know its impossible to get rid of all of them but im sure there are slight things you can do maybe avoid a certain place, or avoid some songs, or people... more information would help such as how long this has been going on. Sounds terrible im sorry

 

[Deleted member 170540]

DSM-IV describes obsessions in OCD as follows:

(1) recurrent and persistent thoughts, impulses, or images that are experienced at some time during the disturbance, as intrusive and inappropriate and that cause marked anxiety or distress

(2) the thoughts, impulses, or images are not simply excessive worries about real-life problems

(3) the person attempts to ignore or suppress such thoughts, impulses, or images, or to neutralize them with some other thought or action

(4) the person recognizes that the obsessional thoughts, impulses, or images are a product of his or her own mind (not imposed from without as in thought insertion)

I sometimes get intrusive obsessive thoughts of harming myself (jumping off the balcony, sticking a needle in my own eye, drinking drain opener, etc.), but not much enough to disturb my everyday life. I had a lot more of those symptoms when I was a child/teenager, but less now that I'm on citalopram and risperidone for other psych. problems.

 

[theseeker]

I have this disorder- it's OCD. One thing that helps me is CB Therapy. In therapy, I learned to label these intrusive thoughts as what they are: "It's OCD, it's NOT me". I am not these thoughts, neither are you obviously. Do NOT try to stop the thoughts, as this will only feed the disorder- you have to start by labeling them. When these thoughts come into your head, just say to yourself "OK, that's the OCD coming up again, I'm just going to let it go, it's not me". This has helped me greatly.

 

[sconnie420]

Omg, do I ever.. My anxiety is through the roof bc of it.. Once I start it doesn't generally stop til the next day, or longer.. I have panic attacks a lot, although noone irl knows this.. I do see a counselor but I honestly don't think its working very well, and just started taking a ssri...

I was diagnosed w/ major depression and social anxiety, but it doesn't stop w/ that. Not by a long shot.. I'm still trying to deal with all this myself, I really don't have any1 irl I can tt about it. That makes it all the harder. Fighting a continuous battle w/ urself, it sux.

Ff 2 pm me if u ever wana chat, ur not alone..

Btw I have a shit ton of pets. I, also, am an animal lovr and worked most of my adult life in pet stores.