<ul>
<li>It is the <strong>psychological process where a person tries to suppress certain thoughts but ironically ends up thinking about them instead</strong>.</li>
<li>It was first explored by Daniel Wegner in 1987.</li>
<li>Also known as the <em>ironic rebound</em> and <em>the white bear problem</em>.  For example, when you try to suppress yourself from thinking of a white bear or a pink elephant, you're more likely to imagine one instead.</li>
</ul>

The Ironic Process Theory

<p>We have two mental systems that work side by side whenever we are thinking about something or feeling a certain way, these two systems are <strong><em>intentional</em></strong> and <strong><em>monitoring</em></strong> systems.</p>
<ul>
<li>The former orients our attention to focus on our tasks or our goal state and it requires a lot of effort to do this.</li>
<li>The latter's only job is to recognize if our attention is being deviated from said task or goal and alert the intentional system to work harder.</li>
</ul>
<p>Now, there is an imbalance in the task difficulty between the two systems . </p>

The Trouble With Trying To Control Our Thoughts

<ol>
<li>Whatever it is that's acting as the mental burden needs to be minimized or alleviated. Let yourself get rest, go to therapy, do some yoga or anything that de-stresses you.</li>
<li>Frame your goal in a proactive manner rather than being avoidant. Occupy yourself with something that you find enjoyable, meaningful, or satisfying.</li>
<li>Allow yourself to think and feel about things. Oppression brews rebellion, even in the mind. So, labeling things as forbidden will only make us more obsessed with them.</li>
</ol>

The Solution To Mental Control

<h3>KEY POINTS</h3><UL><LI>Research shows that trying to control attention often fails, and it can even result in the opposite mental state that was intended.</LI><LI>Mental control is more likely to fail when the mind is overly burdened, such as by stress, time pressure, or fatigue.</LI><LI>The success of mental control often depends on how the goal is framed.</LI></UL><img alt="Cottonbro/Pexel" height="468" src="https://cdn.psychologytoday.com/sites/default/files/styles/article-inline-half-caption/public/field_blog_entry_images/2021-04/pexels-cottonbro-6943997.jpg?itok=lzXJYCc3" title="Cottonbro/Pexel" width="312"><div class="caption">insomnia</div><div>Source: Cottonbro/Pexel</div><p dir="ltr">What are the ironic effects of mental control? We’ve all experienced them: feeling wide awake when trying to fall asleep&nbsp;yet feeling sleepy when trying to stay awake,&nbsp;trying not to laugh out loud for <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/fear" title="Psychology Today looks at fear" dir="ltr">fear</a> of waking up <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/sleep" title="Psychology Today looks at sleeping" dir="ltr">sleeping</a> siblings yet bursting out in <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/laughter" title="Psychology Today looks at laughter" dir="ltr">laughter</a> uncontrollably,&nbsp;trying to relax yet feeling more <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/stress" title="Psychology Today looks at stressed" dir="ltr">stressed</a> and <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/anxiety" title="Psychology Today looks at anxious" dir="ltr">anxious</a> the more we try,&nbsp;trying to think cheerful thoughts only to be overwhelmed by a deluge of sad memories,&nbsp;or trying to forget an old flame yet becoming more obsessed.</p><div><span>article continues after advertisement</span></div><p dir="ltr">Research has established that these examples aren’t simply anecdotal reports or rare occurrences, but systematic manifestations resulting from the way the human brain is hardwired. According to the ironic process theory <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2F0033-295X.101.1.34" rel="noopener noreferrer" dir="ltr">(Wegner, 1994)</a></p><p>, human mental control not only often fails, but it can ironically result in the opposite mental state of what is intended.</p><p>Given the implications of ironic phenomena for a wide range of life domains such as sleep, mental health, job performance and interpersonal relationships, it is imperative to look at why these ironic effects occur, and hence how we can handle them.</p><h3>Why We Can't Always Control Our Thoughts</h3><p dir="ltr">Two mental systems work in tandem when we are trying to think about something or feel a certain way. The first is an intentional system, which orients our <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/attention" title="Psychology Today looks at attention" dir="ltr">attention</a> to the goal state, such as to focus on a project for work, or to have any thought that is not exciting in order to fall asleep. Focusing attention on something sounds like a straightforward task, but it requires a lot of effort.</p><p>The second system is a monitoring system, and the only thing it has to do is to sound an alarm whenever it detects any deviation from the goal state, such as thinking about the weekend (or getting distracted in general) when working, thinking about exciting things when trying to relax and fall asleep, or thinking about racial stereotypes when trying to be an unbiased job interviewer. This monitoring system has an easy job because it doesn’t have to do anything laborious, such as generating non-exciting thoughts, it simply needs to recognise when a deviation occurs, and then alert the intentional system to work harder.</p><img alt="Ketut Subiyanto/Pexel" height="208" src="https://cdn.psychologytoday.com/sites/default/files/styles/article-inline-half-caption/public/field_blog_entry_images/2021-04/pexels-ketut-subiyanto-4126694.jpg?itok=QU5zrPl2" title="Ketut Subiyanto/Pexel" width="312"><div class="caption">fatigue</div><div>Source: Ketut Subiyanto/Pexel</div><p dir="ltr">This imbalance in the task difficulty of the intentional and monitoring systems could be analogized using the common movie scenario in which soldiers with guns oversee laborers. Most of the time, we are successful in enacting our mental intentions, such as successfully focusing on work, and successfully avoiding exciting thoughts before bed, just as most of the time,&nbsp;laborers in movies are adequately productive. The problem —&nbsp;ironic phenomena where we think about precisely what we are trying to avoid —&nbsp;occurs when our mind is experiencing cognitive load, or some form of burden <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1745691619898795" rel="noopener noreferrer" dir="ltr">(Wang et al., 2020)</a></p><p>.</p><div><span>article continues after advertisement</span></div><p dir="ltr">This mental burden could take many forms, such as stress, time pressure, multi-tasking, <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/chronic-pain" title="Psychology Today looks at chronic pain" dir="ltr">chronic pain</a>, or just general fatigue, and affects the intentional system much more than the monitoring system. This makes intuitive sense because in the above scenario, if both the soldiers and the workers are tired, the <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/productivity" title="Psychology Today looks at productivity" dir="ltr">productivity</a> of the workers would be reduced drastically, while the soldiers would be relatively unaffected since their job is much easier (threatening workers with a gun does not need much energy, but doing physical labor does).</p><h3>The Solution to Mental Control</h3><p dir="ltr">Now that we have established that mental control failures and ironies are the result of the differential effect that mental burden has on the intentional ("workers") and the monitoring ("soldiers") systems, what could we do to avoid future ironic effects? The first strategy is to minimize whatever it is that is acting as the mental burden —&nbsp;alleviating pain with <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/therapy" title="Psychology Today looks at therapy" dir="ltr">therapy</a>, relieving stress with yoga, and reducing fatigue by getting sufficient rest are all examples of how this can be done. After all, it makes sense that our mind works optimally when there are minimal external factors that could interfere.</p><img alt="Te lensFix/Pexel" height="208" src="https://cdn.psychologytoday.com/sites/default/files/styles/article-inline-half-caption/public/field_blog_entry_images/2021-04/pexels-te-lensfix-1371360.jpg?itok=lIAryc0Q" title="Te lensFix/Pexel" width="312"><div class="caption">holiday</div><div>Source: Te lensFix/Pexel</div><p dir="ltr">The second strategy is to frame the goal in a proactive rather than an avoidant way. For instance, instead of trying not to think about a recent break-up, it would be more adaptive to occupy ourselves with something else, especially thoughts and activities that are immersive, such as those that we find enjoyable, meaningful, or satisfying <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11031-017-9653-3" rel="noopener noreferrer" dir="ltr">(Wang et al., 2017)</a></p><p>.</p><div><span>article continues after advertisement</span></div><p dir="ltr">For instance, this could be to plan a holiday, watch a&nbsp;TV series, play a new videogame, or get into a new relationship —&nbsp;in such cases, the immersive nature of the ‘distractor’ makes avoiding the thought of the break-up a much more effortless task. Framing is crucial to mental control success also because the very nature of the goal to suppress a thought is paradoxical —&nbsp;it essentially requires us to be conscious of something but <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/unconscious" title="Psychology Today looks at unconscious" dir="ltr">unconscious</a> of it at the same time <a href="https://doi.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2F0022-3514.53.1.5" rel="noopener noreferrer" dir="ltr">(Wegner et al., 1987)</a></p><p>.</p><p dir="ltr">Finally, it might be a good idea not to be so restrictive about what we think, feel, or do —&nbsp;oppression brews rebellion, even in the mind. Labelling things as forbidden&nbsp;will only make us more obsessed with them, such as ice cream and chocolates while on a <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/diet" title="Psychology Today looks at diet" dir="ltr">diet</a>, and old flames for whom we still hold lingering feelings <a href="https://doi.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2F0022-3514.68.5.782" rel="noopener noreferrer" dir="ltr">(Wegner &amp; Gold, 1995)</a></p><p>. Instead, taking an acceptance-based approach might be adaptive, where the unwanted thought is gently acknowledged and embraced rather than seen as a forbidden and inappropriate thought.</p><UL><LI><img alt="Facebook icon" src="https://cdn.psychologytoday.com/sites/all/modules/custom/pt_social_media/img/icon-share-round-facebook-lg.svg" width="45" height="46"></LI></UL>

Why we often think about exactly what we're trying not to think about.

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

health

Health

mentalhealth

Mental Health

problemsolving

Problem Solving

timemanagement

Time Management

<ul><li>Research shows that trying to control attention often fails, and it can even result in the opposite mental state that was intended. </li><li>Mental control is more likely to fail when the mind is overly burdened, such as by stress, time pressure, or fatigue. </li><li>The success of mental control often depends on how the goal is framed. </li> </ul>

<p>What are the ironic effects of mental control? We’ve all experienced them: feeling wide awake when trying to fall asleep yet feeling sleepy when trying to stay awake, trying not to laugh out loud for <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/fear">fear </a>of waking up <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/sleep">sleeping </a>siblings yet bursting out in <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/laughter">laughter </a>uncontrollably, trying to relax yet feeling more <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/stress">stressed </a>and <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/anxiety">anxious </a>the more we try, trying to think cheerful thoughts only to be overwhelmed by a deluge of sad memories, or trying to forget an old flame yet becoming more obsessed. </p>

<p>Research has established that these examples aren’t simply anecdotal reports or rare occurrences, but systematic manifestations resulting from the way the human brain is hardwired. According to the ironic process theory <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2F0033-295X.101.1.34">(Wegner, 1994) </a> </p>

<p>, human mental control not only often fails, but it can ironically result in the opposite mental state of what is intended. </p>

<p>Given the implications of ironic phenomena for a wide range of life domains such as sleep, mental health, job performance and interpersonal relationships, it is imperative to look at why these ironic effects occur, and hence how we can handle them. </p>

<p>Two mental systems work in tandem when we are trying to think about something or feel a certain way. The first is an intentional system, which orients our <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/attention">attention </a>to the goal state, such as to focus on a project for work, or to have any thought that is not exciting in order to fall asleep. Focusing attention on something sounds like a straightforward task, but it requires a lot of effort. </p>

<p>The second system is a monitoring system, and the only thing it has to do is to sound an alarm whenever it detects any deviation from the goal state, such as thinking about the weekend (or getting distracted in general) when working, thinking about exciting things when trying to relax and fall asleep, or thinking about racial stereotypes when trying to be an unbiased job interviewer. This monitoring system has an easy job because it doesn’t have to do anything laborious, such as generating non-exciting thoughts, it simply needs to recognise when a deviation occurs, and then alert the intentional system to work harder. </p>

<p>This imbalance in the task difficulty of the intentional and monitoring systems could be analogized using the common movie scenario in which soldiers with guns oversee laborers. Most of the time, we are successful in enacting our mental intentions, such as successfully focusing on work, and successfully avoiding exciting thoughts before bed, just as most of the time, laborers in movies are adequately productive. The problem — ironic phenomena where we think about precisely what we are trying to avoid — occurs when our mind is experiencing cognitive load, or some form of burden <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1745691619898795">(Wang et al., 2020) </a> </p>

<p>This mental burden could take many forms, such as stress, time pressure, multi-tasking, <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/chronic-pain">chronic pain </a>, or just general fatigue, and affects the intentional system much more than the monitoring system. This makes intuitive sense because in the above scenario, if both the soldiers and the workers are tired, the <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/productivity">productivity </a>of the workers would be reduced drastically, while the soldiers would be relatively unaffected since their job is much easier (threatening workers with a gun does not need much energy, but doing physical labor does). </p>

<p>Now that we have established that mental control failures and ironies are the result of the differential effect that mental burden has on the intentional ("workers") and the monitoring ("soldiers") systems, what could we do to avoid future ironic effects? The first strategy is to minimize whatever it is that is acting as the mental burden — alleviating pain with <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/therapy">therapy </a>, relieving stress with yoga, and reducing fatigue by getting sufficient rest are all examples of how this can be done. After all, it makes sense that our mind works optimally when there are minimal external factors that could interfere. </p>

<p>The second strategy is to frame the goal in a proactive rather than an avoidant way. For instance, instead of trying not to think about a recent break-up, it would be more adaptive to occupy ourselves with something else, especially thoughts and activities that are immersive, such as those that we find enjoyable, meaningful, or satisfying <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11031-017-9653-3">(Wang et al., 2017) </a> </p>

<p>For instance, this could be to plan a holiday, watch a TV series, play a new videogame, or get into a new relationship — in such cases, the immersive nature of the ‘distractor’ makes avoiding the thought of the break-up a much more effortless task. Framing is crucial to mental control success also because the very nature of the goal to suppress a thought is paradoxical — it essentially requires us to be conscious of something but <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/unconscious">unconscious </a>of it at the same time <a href="https://doi.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2F0022-3514.53.1.5">(Wegner et al., 1987) </a> </p>

<p>Finally, it might be a good idea not to be so restrictive about what we think, feel, or do — oppression brews rebellion, even in the mind. Labelling things as forbidden will only make us more obsessed with them, such as ice cream and chocolates while on a <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/diet">diet </a>, and old flames for whom we still hold lingering feelings <a href="https://doi.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2F0022-3514.68.5.782">(Wegner & Gold, 1995) </a> </p>

<p>. Instead, taking an acceptance-based approach might be adaptive, where the unwanted thought is gently acknowledged and embraced rather than seen as a forbidden and inappropriate thought. </p>

The Ironic Effects of Trying to Control Attention

The Ironic Process Theory

The Trouble With Trying To Control Our Thoughts

The Solution To Mental Control

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