What are Intrusive Thoughts?

You Are Not Alone

More than 94% of people have unwanted, intrusive thoughts at times. What makes intrusive thoughts particularly disruptive is fear of, and resistance to, them. The more we fear and fight them, often the stronger and more severe intrusive thoughts become. Learning more about what intrusive thoughts are, and how safe and common they are, can go a long way in helping them feel much safer and therefore show up far less.

Intrusive thoughts can affect people of any age or demographic background, although they tend to be more common in younger people. Males and females both experience intrusive thoughts.

Often, though not always, intrusive and obsessive thoughts can follow a period of anxiety, a traumatic event, or postpartum depression or anxiety.

What Can I Do About It? – Treatment for Intrusive Thoughts

Traditional treatment for intrusive thoughts most often includes psychotherapy and in some cases, medication. However, traditional treatment for intrusive thoughts is not nearly as effective as we’d wish it to be.

Thankfully, there are newer, less traditional approaches that are incredibly effective. These involve having a deep understanding of the true nature of thought. Thought is not harmful or dangerous in and of itself. Intrusive thoughts are not true and they are not personal; they mean nothing about you or your true desires, and they are not predictive of the future. By understanding how a brain produces thought and deeply seeing how mechanical and impersonal it is, intrusive or obsessive thoughts can be met with far less resistance and they can begin to fall away.

The No-Willpower Approach that I outline in my bestselling book, The Little Book of Big Change: The No-Willpower Approach to Breaking Any Habit has helped countless people find lasting freedom from intrusive thoughts.

The No-Willpower Approach is an insight-based approach that helps you see yourself and your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in a radically new way. It helps you truly see what intrusive thoughts are, rather than what our mind tells us they are.

Intrusive Thoughts Are Changeable – How to Deal with Intrusive Thoughts

Although many people struggle with intrusive thoughts, they are very changeable. You do not need to “cope” with, or “manage” intrusive thoughts long-term. No matter how long or how often these thoughts have been around, there is enormous hope for complete freedom from them. In fact, most intrusive thoughts are naturally relatively short-term. With a deeper understanding of what intrusive thoughts are and how safe they truly are, you can be free of intrusive thoughts even more quickly.