How to get rid of anxious thoughts. How to get rid of bad thoughts in your head: advice from a psychologist

How to get rid of intrusive thoughts is the most common question among my Clients, and this is no coincidence, because obsessive or disturbing thoughts are the most frequent companion. Getting rid of disturbing and obsessive thoughts is the main task of treating VVD and panic attacks, do you agree?

How to get rid of intrusive thoughts yourself

The second most common question is Is it possible to get rid of obsessive thoughts on your own? so read on to find out how.

Intrusive or anxious thoughts in a person with panic and VSD:

have an obsessive nature, it is not so easy to get rid of them on their own,
called as a background that is constantly present,
interfere with life and work, do not allow you to fall asleep on time.

It is very difficult to get rid of them yourself, without the help of a specialist, because a person literally gets stuck in a swamp of these thoughts, he seems to have got his foot in a quagmire - the more he twitches, the more he sinks into the depths of the swamp. He literally gets stuck and drowns in his disturbing thoughts.

Anxious thoughts have visited the head of almost every person, but it is the obsessive and persistent nature of these thoughts that distinguishes them from ordinary negative thinking.

To help yourself on your own it would be good to know what techniques exist to achieve this goal.

Ways to get rid of obsessive thoughts in the head

To free your head from obsessive thoughts on your own, you will have to work hard and understand the mechanism of their appearance.
Nordic walking in nature lovely way run away from intrusive thoughts and reduce their number

Outdoor activities surrounded by positive people are a great life hack to get rid of obsessive thoughts and fears. For example, practice qigong or Nordic walking.

Here are some methods for getting rid of obsessive patterns in thinking:

Learn the practice of meditation. Takes a lot of time, but effective method How to get rid of intrusive thoughts on your own.
Learn to switch focus. For example, exit middle zone awareness of reality, known as deliberation, to the external, known as the perception of the surrounding world by the 5 senses. A very easy to learn method, but its effect is short-lived.
Saturate life with useful actions. For example, play table tennis and badminton, walk more in the fresh air, exercise instead of watching TV, fall asleep after good sex rather than immediately after a meal.
Relieve physical stress. It is known that muscle tension leads to increased obsessive thoughts and anxiety. And that means learning various methods relaxation as a practice of getting rid of the symptoms of VVD will also work in case of a decrease in the number of disturbing thoughts.
Diversify communication. Surround yourself positive people who will communicate on topics of interest to you and will not report negative news about accidents and disasters, which means that your obsessive thoughts after communicating with such people will subside.
Stop browsing social media. networks and TV. The Internet and television are literally teeming with negative news and "hot" details of various catastrophes and natural disasters. By watching such news, you saturate your brain with new food for thought that does not lead to joy, but rather strengthens and multiplies your obsessive thoughts.
Stop sitting on forums about VVD. Many of my Clients sat on the forums dedicated to panic attacks and VVD and hooked on them new symptoms such as derealization, well, new disturbing thoughts like free app to them.

In fact, the ways and methods of getting rid of thoughts, alarming many, but really working methods that use the mechanisms of functioning human brain you can learn and adopt only by working with a specialist.

How to get rid of obsessive thoughts and fears: psychological consultation

Not every psychologist knows effective methods freeing the Client's head from the obsessive nature of thinking and from thoughts-fears.

In most cases, such an unfortunate psychologist will limit himself to general recommendations, which are given above, in the format of a numbered list self-disposal from intrusive thoughts.

This blog, as a psychologist who has saved more than 300 people from OCD, SVD and panic attack symptoms in 10 years of intensive practice, has an effective approach based on the mechanism of the human brain functioning.

Why our brain generates obsessive thoughts:

Human evolution took place thanks to survival. This was facilitated by the accumulated experience a large number generations of people who survived floods, fires, hunting accidents. Our brain has learned to remember all situations that are dangerous to human life and is still fixed on negative experience.
Negative thinking patterns increase with anxiety. In the circle of the panic mechanism, intrusive thoughts increase anxiety. But anxiety as a background enhances the ability of the brain to generate these very thoughts, trying to warn us of danger. The fact that in most cases this danger is imaginary our brain does not care.
Everything unusual intensifies the work of thinking. We defeated other species thanks to consciousness and thinking, its analytical function. Rarely of those who have ever experienced VVD symptoms And panic attack I would call it the normal state. Once you have experienced the first panic attack from within, and not by reading articles on you, you immediately turned on the analysis of this unusual situation, and this analysis of finding a way out eventually turned into an obsessive practice of thinking.

Thus, in your brain, a stable neural network has formed that supports thinking about everything related to the state of VSD and panic, and your thinking has fallen into a rut from which it is impossible to get out of without having a reliable protocol for how to do it.

3 ways to get rid of disturbing thoughts on the blog "Life without VSD"

So, right now, as you read this article in the OBSESSIVE THOUGHTS section, you are faced with the choice of which strategy to choose to stop this endless stream of obsessive thoughts that generate your anxiety and increase muscle tension, forcing your autonomic nervous system to throw new ones into the blood again and again. shots of adrenaline.

However, I'm sure you'll be glad to know that such a choice still exists and you can cope with your anxious thinking.

Independent path. Or seek and find. Try the ways to get rid of obsessive thoughts on your own, given in this material, or invent your own, as a mix of what you find on the Internet, watching videos and reading books. Alternative option this way, use healing power time. That is, do nothing and wait for it to pass by itself, and perhaps soon let it go. So it was with several visitors to my psychologist's office. Another thing, new stress will bring new thoughts-fears.
Blog Author's Guide. Several years ago I wrote a manual "How to get rid of anxious thoughts» in pdf format of the report, in which he described his TriO methodology to help his Clients, who had no access to my online consultation due to the lack of high-quality Internet connection. This digital book quickly became popular because it is written in a simple and understandable language.
Blog author support. It's about about one online or face-to-face consultation the author of this blog, which is educational and therapeutic in nature and is designed to help you master the technique described in the book in communication with its author via Skype or in his office.

To use 2 or 3 way how to get rid of obsessive thoughts and fears caused by them, contact through the form of this blog for my support. I will answer and help anyone who is looking for this kind of help.

Our unconscious tries to protect us by drawing possible paintings what can happen so that we can adapt to the situation by experiencing it in our imagination. However, this does not mean at all that all our fantasies will come true. Try to describe the situation on paper in order to analyze whether the danger is really so great.

Can something good happen instead of the negative scenario A? Try to write another, more successful scenario B. Think in detail how the situation will develop in this case and what you can do to implement the second option. This will allow you to distance yourself from the obsessive scenario A and look at what is happening more soberly.

clear the field

Panic thoughts are a kind of time bomb, a mechanism that was inherited from distant ancestors.

“Our brain is super sensitive to any information that it reads as dangerous. This mechanism allowed distant ancestors to survive in much more severe conditions. environment, - says cognitive psychologist Tatyana Pavlova. - That is why many fears are not a reflection of an objective situation, but only an automatic reaction provoked by the brain, which is primarily focused on survival. Therefore, instead of preparing to repel a likely threat, consider whether the unconscious exaggerates the danger.

Live in the present

Often the mind relies only on negative experiences. However, we can look at the situation with an open mind. Is something unfavorable already happening or just about to happen? Real and probable events are not identical, but the brain easily replaces these concepts. Think about which of the events of the past may actually be associated with fears?

“Try to celebrate everything that continues to please you at the current moment, because this is the only opportunity to experience life in its entirety,” says clinical psychologist Melanie Greenberg. - If something negative happened in the past, it does not mean at all that the same thing will happen to you in the future.

Sometimes, when we think about something, we focus only on what we think is potentially dangerous.

Try to analyze how much the circumstances of life and yourself have changed since something happened to you that probably mentally keeps you in the past. Many fears are drawn from childhood and adolescence. However, now you have more internal forces and the ability to be aware of oneself, analyze current events and leave negative experiences behind, moving forward.

Name your thoughts

Imagine that your thoughts are floating clouds. Some enchant with their beauty, while others, on the contrary, are alarming - suddenly it will rain. Watching the clouds, we guess in them the outlines of one or another image - an animal or a tree. Similarly, you can try to observe the flow of thoughts. Once you realize that you are emotionally evaluating the situation as dangerous, label those thoughts “assessment.”

If you are haunted by the thought that you will fail, then its name is "anxiety." When you are dissatisfied with yourself - this is "criticality". In the future, this will help you rise above overwhelming emotions and control the situation, realizing what exactly is happening to you now.

"Now think - do you really want to spend your time evaluating or harassing yourself with criticism?" Melanie Greenberg asks.

Don't narrow your eyes

Sometimes, when we think about something, we focus only on what we think is potentially dangerous.

"Inner fear is always playing with us bad joke and forces one to concentrate on what is erroneously perceived as a threat to well-being, and does not allow one to assess the situation in its entirety. It is important to see the nuances and details that would play in our favor, - says Melanie Greenberg. - Answer yourself the question: will the situation be as significant for you in 5 or 10 years? And if not, why bother?"

Get Started

So that uncontrolled fear, which we are not able to control, does not deprive us of the ability to act, any activity is useful - even cleaning the house or regular walk with a dog. The main thing is to get up and start moving. physical action literally frees the mind from the captivity of heavy and debilitating thoughts, and it becomes easier to believe in yourself again.

From adversaries to allies

Even if all fears largely reflect the real state of affairs, constant negative thoughts start playing against you. For example, you want to get new job, but you know that only one candidate out of ten will be selected. However, the constant scrolling in the head of the script with negative result can only demotivate and deprive the desire to even submit a resume. Although the person on whom the choice falls may well be you.

“You don’t lose anything,” Tatyana Pavlova reminds. - In case of failure, you remain in the same position as now. But if you can overcome self-doubt, you will have a chance to change something.” Focus on what exactly you can do to realize your ideas and desires.

15 ways to get rid of negative thoughts - it helped me! Have you ever been in a situation where you can’t get rid of obsessive thoughts about some person? About what he said or did, and how much it surprised or offended you? Sometimes when someone hurts us, our children, or loved ones, gossips behind our backs, or confounds us with their actions, we keep thinking about it for hours, sometimes even weeks.

You wash dishes, drive a car, walk your dog, but you can't forget how untruthful, angry or self-centered the words of your abuser were. His face, his words keep popping up in my head. Five hours, five days, five weeks later, he's still in your head - his face is in front of your eyes, even if you haven't spoken to him all this time.

How to learn to avoid such situations?

How to stop thinking about a person or an unpleasant incident - about what could or should have been done differently - when the same thoughts keep spinning in your head, rewinding and playing over and over again?

Maybe it's not about the person. The point is that you got or didn't get what you need, what you don't have, and what is wrong in your life. But most often we are tormented by thoughts about people who, in our eyes, are to blame for all this.

15 ways to get rid of negative thoughts. These thoughts poison our lives, because such experiences can cause both emotional and physical harm to a person. Research shows that toxic thoughts make our brain sick and unhappy. When our mind is constantly occupied with thoughts of bickering, resentment or loss, it begins to marinate in a sea of harmful chemical substances and stress hormones, which are the catalysts for virtually every disease in the world. Scientists are increasingly reporting that negative thoughts play a big role in illnesses such as depression, cancer, and heart and autoimmune diseases.

Moreover, it's just plain annoying. It’s as if you are being pulled into a rotating carousel, on which it’s fun to spin a couple of times, but then you start to feel sick and your head suddenly goes around. You want to get off, but you can't.

We try very hard to avoid everything poisonous: we buy organic products, we try not to eat junk food getting rid of chemicals. Looking for the most fresh food using organic cleaning agents and natural cosmetics. But with all this, we pay very little attention to purifying our thoughts. How can you get rid of negative emotions and memories?

15 ways to get rid of negative thoughts. Choose the method that seems most effective to you and act:

1. Be silent and pause.

This will give you the opportunity to cool down a little, calm down and choose the most reasonable tactics for resolving the conflict. And sometimes, over time, what annoys us is forgotten on its own.

2. Wait and see what happens next.

IN conflict situations very often you want to stand up for yourself and give your offender a fitting rebuff. That is why we worry so much about what to say or do in such cases.

3. Do not play the game "Who is to blame?"

Taking apart events that happened in the past and trying to decide who is to blame (even if you blame yourself) is counterproductive. Bad things or misunderstandings most often occur as a result of a series of events. It's like a domino effect. IN end result You can't blame just one person. First one thing happens, then another, then a third. And so what happens happens.

4. Don't get into the other person's mood.

5. Start with the biggest problem.

Meditation teacher Norman Fisher says that no matter what happens to us, main problem there is always anger. It creates a cloud of emotions that makes it difficult to give a balanced and convincing answer. In conflict situations, the most a big problem- it's anger. Work on yourself - meditate, do gymnastics, go for a walk. Say as little as possible and give yourself time to cool off. Do whatever you want - but before you deal with someone, deal with yourself.

6. Anger warps your mind.

Impossible to think clearly and look for a creative and thoughtful approach to a solution difficult situation if you're angry.

7. Don't try to understand the other person's actions.

Ask yourself: if another person tried to understand what you think or why you do what you do, how close to the truth will their guesses be? Nobody but you knows what's going on in your head. So why try to understand what your interlocutor is thinking? Most likely, you will be wrong, which means that you are just wasting your time.

8. Your thoughts are not facts.

In other words, don't believe everything you think. Our body is acutely aware of our emotions - fear, tension, anxiety or stress. We experience emotions physical level and we often perceive our feelings as confirmation that our thoughts are a fact.

9. How can I use this situation for personal growth?

Meditation teacher and psychologist Tara Brach argues that dwelling on anger, getting offended by someone's words or actions, judging the interlocutor, and getting angry at the way we were treated, we replenish our personal stock of suffering. Situation + our reaction = suffering. Dealing with our feelings and asking why we are so affected by this or that situation and what these feelings say about ourselves is a great chance to learn something new about ourselves. Situation + reflections + mental presence “here and now” = inner growth. Focus on your inner development.

10. Never let others confuse you. Even to himself.

11. What was, has already passed.

Remembering the past, we often try to understand what could have been done differently in order to prevent a quarrel and its unpleasant outcome. But what happened yesterday is just as much in the past as what happened a thousand years ago or during the time of the Mayans. We cannot change what happened then, and we cannot change what happened a week ago.

12. Learn to forgive.

For your own good. We are very devoted to our sorrows and thoughts about all the bad things that happened to us. Yes, it was. Yes, it was terrible. But is it really the only thing that shapes you as a person? We forgive others not only for their own sake. We forgive in order to free ourselves from our personal suffering, to stop holding on to the past, and to move on with our lives.

13. Transport yourself to another space.

Self-awareness teacher and psychologist Trish Magiyari recommends using visualization. Studies show that this method is very effective in helping to get rid of negative thoughts that inflame our consciousness. Personally, this image always helps me: imagine that you are at the bottom of a deep blue ocean and watch how everything floats by. Watch how your thoughts scatter.

14. Respond to the offender with kindness.

Here's what healer Wanda Lasseter-Lundi advises you to do in situations where thoughts about your abuser drive you crazy: “Imagine how you send a beautiful ball in the direction of this person white light. Put it inside this ball. Surround him with rays and keep the light around him until your anger evaporates.

15. Take a minute and a half break.

To free the mind, you need to break the train of your thoughts. Neuropsychiatrist Dan Segal states that “in 90 seconds, emotion will rise and fall like a wave near a shore.” You only need 90 seconds to get out of any state. Give yourself 90 seconds - inhale and exhale 15 times - to not think about the person or situation that upsets you. This will help break the vicious cycle—and with it, the power that your negative thoughts have over you.

Well, are you feeling better?

Intrusive thoughts are thoughts that a person cannot control. He absolutely does not want to "think about them", but they "think" on their own. How to overcome intrusive thoughts? To get rid of obsessive thoughts, you need to understand the behavior of a person suffering from obsessive thoughts, and the causes of this condition.

How to get rid of obsessive thoughts and anxiety

The life of a person suffering from obsessive thoughts and actions that he performs as a result of these thoughts is significantly disrupted. It is very difficult for a person to lead normal image life. The family begins to suffer from this, and troubles appear in the social and public aspect.

Most people with such mental disorders do not want to seek help from doctors, because they themselves are at a loss, and there is also a fear that they will be written into the ranks of crazy people or ashamed to admit their thoughts. Do not forget that the symptoms of obsession have the ability to develop, and this leads to an aggravation of the condition. Do not be afraid, but start fighting thoughts.

Medical painting

Surely many people know that creativity is a good way to correct the mood and emotions of a person. And if obsessive anxiety arises, start drawing, try to put your obsessive thoughts and feelings on paper. Perhaps there will be a desire to portray something quite the opposite of obsession and thus, a person will be distracted from anxiety and anxiety. And you can also use any other type of creativity, for example, singing or needlework - embroidery, knitting.

Exercise - "Twenty years later"

With this exercise, you can easily get rid of negative emotions and obsessive thoughts about what happened the day before. bad event, which for a long time does not give rest. You need to sit comfortably, close your eyes, relax, breathe measuredly and try to imagine the event to the smallest detail, as if it is happening now and here. In this case, a person will experience all those feelings and emotions that he experienced during the event and after it. It can be: fear, anger, resentment, anxiety or complete apathy. Then you need to try to imagine how this event will affect later life and what will happen in a year, five years and twenty.

Everything will be later

good method- Postpone an obsessive thought or idea of actions and behavior "for later." It is necessary to convince a person that an obsessive thought that has visited him can be dealt with, for example, an hour later or after some events. Then delay again and again until the intrusive thoughts go away on their own.

How to deal with an obsessive thought

There is another way. But I warn you right away - its implementation requires perseverance and fortitude. If you want to get rid of obsessive thoughts, you need to keep in front of your eyes the image that you cannot get rid of. A picture of what you are afraid of. You need to consider it with all the details, experience all the emotions. At first, of course, it will be difficult. But it must be experienced.

It is necessary not to extinguish emotions in yourself and continue to consider this picture. After a certain period of time, a peak of unpleasant emotions will come, as well as a weakening, which will be accompanied by a feeling of relief.

It is not easy to deal with any fear. The stage of "obsessive thoughts", as a rule, occurs when the fear has already become powerful, has grown, and therefore it is quite difficult for a person to cope with it on his own. Sometimes it is better to seek help from specialists.

Remember that the described methods of dealing with intrusive thoughts are only temporary help. And people with obsession just need qualified help psychologist.

Treatment for intrusive thoughts

The main cause of obsessive thoughts is fear. These are uncontrollable and uncontrollable thoughts. When a person does not want to "think about them", but they still "think". Why? The answer is obvious - because in the subconscious of a person there is a reason why they can appear. This is fear.

The man is scared and he decides to just not think about it. He has only the emotion of fear, but no solution to the situation. Consciousness does not allow thinking about this topic, but the fear is so great that it breaks the prohibition imposed by consciousness and breaks through in the form of obsessive thoughts. They arise as an attempt to find a solution on a subconscious level.

If you want to get rid of intrusive thoughts, you should know that intrusive thoughts have both a negative side and a positive side. positive side obsessive thoughts is that they loudly signal the fear that sits deep inside.

It is not a person who controls fear, but vice versa. Fear limits a person's actions, his decisions, can make him act illogically, inadequately, and at the same time, fear can be insidiously hidden. As a rule, a person rarely realizes that fear was the reason for his act or decision.

Such situations can usually be clearly seen from the outside. Sometimes we think of someone, "If I were in his place, I would do such and such." And it seems that everything is very clear. And a person will suffer, commit stupid and illogical acts. Why is it that we can see from the outside how it is right, but he can’t see it from the inside? This is because he is hampered by an unacknowledged fear.

How to deal with an obsessive thought? In this case, the opposite approach is required. We don’t need to push them away, but rather “think more” in order to understand what exactly we are afraid of. After you discover the fear, you need to figure out - why exactly are you so afraid of it?

What from the past, and, perhaps, not only yours, but also your loved ones, can cause or increase your fear. Then you just need to remove the fear itself, as an emotion, and understand on a rational level that you would not want this to happen to you, but at the same time the fear would not fall on you. Once you can achieve this result, obsessive thoughts will bother you much less.

Life without intrusive thoughts

Quite often, we can’t distract ourselves from negative thoughts in any way, in our soul we experience the same situation a dozen times. As a result, we become nervous, we can’t concentrate on any business. Therefore, it is very important to be able to switch thoughts. How to switch thoughts from negative to positive?

Chat with friends, loved ones

It really helps to get a little distracted, to think about something else. Just don't talk about your problems. Get distracted, chat on extraneous topics. Immerse yourself in someone else's problem, maybe you can help with something, you can give advice.

Physical work

Great for getting rid of intrusive thoughts. When muscles work, the brain begins to participate less in thought processes. At least do some cleaning. Better yet, go in for sports. Fatigue in the muscles will relieve obsessive negative thoughts.

think of something good

Think about something good that happened to you recently. Think about something essential - what dinner to cook, what to wear to work tomorrow, where to go on vacation ... It is important not to think about painful things.

Do things you can't get your hands on

Perhaps you wanted to clean up your closet? Sort through photos? Do needlework? In general, speaking, engage in painstaking and long work. There will simply be no time to think about the bad.

Watch a movie, read a book

Dive into another world. You will observe other people's experiences, live someone else's life. And forget about your problems for a while. And if you also like the plot, you will think about the actions of the characters for some time, think about how you yourself would act in this situation.

See the photos that will bring positive emotions

Everyone has a bunch of photos from holidays, weddings, birthdays. The ones you haven't looked at in years. Look through them, plunge into the past for a while, relive memories, impressions, feelings. In addition, you will be able to discover that life is not a continuous black streak, that there are joyful moments in it.

You have received advice on how to get rid of intrusive thoughts that are so hard to get rid of. As you can see, there is nothing complicated - you just need to do something else so that there is no time to sit and feel sorry for yourself. There are a lot of options for this, so if you wish, you can score more than one day with business. And when you return to your problem again, you will understand that nothing so terrible is happening.

Instruction

Obsessions fall into two categories. The first of them is akin to a ritual. For example, you are accustomed every time, thinking about something unpleasant for you, to spit through left shoulder. And after a while you notice that you have thoughts that if you don’t do this, then something bad will definitely happen. The second category has the peculiarity of focusing thoughts around one specific topic.

Don't try to drive yourself away unpleasant thoughts. They will certainly come back again. Reprogram your mind. Try to turn the situation to your advantage. To do this, think more often about the positive things that happened in your life.

Do not be afraid that at some point you can break loose and turn negative thoughts into reality. A person has his own scale of moral values. And if you often think about something bad, but at the same time you really understand all the consequences of such a step, then the probability that you will fulfill this negative is negligible.

Keep in mind that it is not worth spending years trying to overcome your ritual habit. If she inspires you with anxiety and has a bad effect on the condition nervous system, it is better to spend only a few hours talking with a psychologist.

You may need to go through a cognitive behavioral therapy. It lies in the fact that the patient is explained the difference between justified and fears caused by his condition. And then, using the example of a person who is an authority for the patient, they show how he should behave in such cases. healthy man.

If you have depression or severe anxiety, contact a psychotherapist who will help you relieve your condition with the help of drug treatment. For this, antidepressants are used. And when chronic forms- atypical antipsychotics.