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How to deal with troubling thoughts | Psyche Guides
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Disturbing Thoughts
We all have thoughts going on in our heads all the time, stories, reimagining of the past, beliefs and ideas. Many of these thoughts are not in our direct control and can show up in our consciousness in an intrusive manner, without any effort or intention from our side.
These unwanted intrusive thoughts, which are without our consent, can be beneficial, mundane, disposable, or even disturbing and scary.
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Suppressing Our Thoughts: The Pink Elephant
Many studies show that thought suppression leads to the mind paying extra and frequent attention to the particular thought that is being suppressed, causing it to ‘rebound’ and become the dominant thought.
Example: Telling the brain to not think of a pink elephant conjures up the image of a pink elephant automatically for most people.
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Disturbing Thoughts: The Limits Of Therapy
Many psychotherapeutic approaches like cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) only touch the surface of the problem, not the origin of the disturbing thought.
Though simply having those unwanted intrusive thoughts does not automatically mean that those will be acted upon, as most people are simply terrified of having such thoughts.
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Practical Steps To Handle Unwanted Intrusive Thoughts
- Acknowledge and label these thoughts as bad or negative, creating a distance between you and the thoughts.
- Write them down, to have it in front of you on a piece of paper, as you reflect on it and stop the worrying in the process.
- Recognize that the thoughts are real and are an unpleasant problem.
- Recognize and validate your own emotional response to the thoughts.
- Do not brood over them, and try to redirect your attention to something else, which is pleasant.
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Handle Unwanted Intrusive Thoughts: Do’s And Don’ts
- Practice mindfulness meditation, focusing your attention to your breath or a mantra.
- Note the thought and ‘park’ it, reminding yourself to tackle it later.
- Do not distract yourself in a way that makes your mind rebound towards the unwanted thought you are trying to avoid.
- Do not take comfort or reassurance in others, as it can be a cause of false beliefs and incorrect notions.
- Do not worry, ruminate or delve into negative self-talk.
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Experiencing Panic Attacks
- Around 15 to 30 percent of us experience a panic attack at least once in our lives, which is essentially our body’s emergency response system.
- Sym...
Understanding The Panic Cycle
There are three reactions that the body produces when in the grip of a panic attack:
- Catastrophic or danger-oriented thoughts, which fuel the feeling of fear.
- Physical symptoms, like sudden racing of the heart.
- An urge to escape.
Panic And The Autonomic Nervous System (ANS)
The Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) region of the brain is activated during a panic attack, and two opposing components get to work as needed:
- The Sympathetic Nervous System: Releases adrenaline and other hormones to help with the ‘fight or flight’ response.
- The Parasympathetic system: Calms the body and is mostly activated when one is relaxed.
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Mindfulness And Simple Knowing
Mindfulness is the act of being aware of our present experience in real-time.
Normally people start processing inside their minds what they experience, creating perceptions. At its core, mi...
One Medicine Many Cures
Mindfulness can be practised to:
- Manage pain, anxiety, stress, or mood swings.
- Provide the body and mind an oasis of calm in between a hectic lifestyle
- Reduce suffering, distress and trauma caused by pain and depression, along with the negative emotions that come with life-threatening diseases.
The Space Inside Us
Mindfulness opens up a space inside our minds that helps us respond to outside situations with ease, instead of just reacting impulsively.
We become aware and are able to detect our default setting, which is our ‘driven-doing mind’, and catch hold of it before any impulsive reaction is acted upon. It also helps us arrest our cycle of negative thoughts.
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Psychological skepticism
Psychological skepticism means being neutral toward the contents of your mind.
Most of us are overly trusting of our own minds. But information is not always the truth. Jus...
Your mind is just guessing
Emotions, thoughts, and memories may give us useful information, but they are also likely to be unhelpful, inaccurate, or misleading.
For example, when you hear a rattling noise while out hiking, your fear may make you proceed more cautiously. However, fear of your coworkers who think you're dumb keeps you from participating in important meetings.
The information your mind sends you in the form of emotions, thoughts, memories, desires, etc., relates to simply guesses, which means it's unwise to put blind faith in it.
Embracing psychological skepticism
Remind yourself that just because you have a thought doesn't make it true. Just because you feel an emotion doesn't make it significant.
When we deal with our thoughts, emotions, and painful memories, we should consider embracing psychological skepticism - the middle road between ignoring the content of your mind or taking it as gospel.