It is exclusively the mind and ability to think that distinguishes man from other living beings. The brain has made our individual more conscious compared to other inhabitants of the planet. The main goal of consciousness is to create the most rational methods of responding to the world around us. We can be aware of one part of our thoughts because we are purposefully thinking about something. We do not control the other, and it remains in our subconscious. We don't always notice this part of our brain's work as it creates new, significantly more effective behaviors.
As side effect our brain, as a result of the “creative” process, can generate truly strange thoughts that can surprise or even alarm. You want to move away from such ideas as quickly and effectively as possible. Let's look at how to get rid of obsessive thoughts and achieve clarity of consciousness.
It is not always possible to cope with this task on your own. However, there are a number of exercises from which you can choose one or more that are optimal for yourself.
Firstly, you can try to express your emotions. If disturbing thoughts have taken over your mind, it is enough to list them. This is the method recommended by Gestalt therapist Nifont Dolgopolov. In the event that you are haunted by thoughts like “I don’t have time to do something...” or “I’m worried about something...”, you need to remember the circumstances under which these feelings appeared in you. Perhaps, when you took on something, you suspected that you would not be able to finish it on time. You need to try to express your emotions very clearly. It would not be superfluous to enhance them with body movements, shades of intonation and gestures. This procedure It’s better to do it where you won’t be disturbed. Nifont Dolgopolov states that holding back emotions becomes the reason that thoughts constantly revolve around this problem. Once a person has the opportunity to express his emotions, the endless cycle of thoughts stops.
Based on the second method which helps get rid of obsessive thoughts, lies correct breathing . In order for disturbing ideas to leave your head, you need to close your eyes and begin to breathe steadily and calmly. When performing this procedure, listen to your body, watch its movements, control your breathing, watch how your stomach rises and falls. Wellness expert Lelya Savosina, telling, how to get rid of obsessive thoughts through breathing, says that while performing this exercise it is better to concentrate on bodily sensations. The procedure helps to focus on something distant and relieves muscle tension.
Another way to get rid of obsessive thoughts is the following technique. You need to take a piece of paper and start writing on it everything that comes to your mind. There is no need to select words and focus on spelling. You will be able to watch how your handwriting will turn from choppy and sharp to smooth. This will mean that you are gradually achieving inner balance. Psychotherapist Alexander Orlov states that this exercise allows you to look at experiences from a different perspective and gives vent to emotions. The same practice is used in the free association method and the guided imagery method. The basis of psychotherapy is free and confidential communication, during which everything that worries and worries is said.
Staying mindful is another way to ensure getting rid of obsessive thoughts. If a person is immersed in internal experiences, he begins to perceive worse what is happening around him. This mechanism works the other way around. Existential psychotherapist Maria Soloveichik advises focusing on objects and events around you immediately after you notice that you are trapped in obsessive thoughts. You can pay attention to the most insignificant little things, such as a leaf on a tree. If you don't focus on such details, you will return to the realm of thinking. Once you notice this reaction in yourself, again engage in careful observation. Try to expand your field of perception. For example, after a leaf, start looking at the crown of the tree, from time to time switching to small details. Change your focus periodically. Let not only trees, but also people, houses, clouds and other objects come into your field of vision. This technique can make your life much easier, since it will be much easier to deal with obsessive thoughts.
Many who are interested in psychology know that a person is constantly in one of three states of his inner “I”: Parent, Child or Adult. Everyone is inclined to make some decisions as an adult, to help and care as a parent, and also to obey and be capricious as a child.
Doctor of Psychology Vadim Petrovsky states that the constant replay of obsessive thoughts represents endless communication with one of the “I”s. To effectively reduce the notorious internal dialogue to nothing, you must learn to understand which of these three “I”s is speaking at the moment. When your thoughts are focused on a scenario of failure, most likely your inner voice in the form of a parent is speaking to you. Transactional analyst Isabelle Crespel argues that in such a situation, you need to make sure that the critic begins to speak in the tone of a mentor who tells you how to act correctly and how to accept the right decision. At the same time, you need to mentally support yourself with motivating phrases like “Be sure that everything will work out”, “You can do everything.” This inner attitude will help you concentrate on constructive solutions.
When answering the question of how to distract yourself from obsessive thoughts, it is worth mentioning another method, which is to ask yourself questions. In most cases, we worry not because of real difficulties, but only because of perceived problems. The author of the “Work” method, psychologist Katie Byron, advises that if it is impossible to change reality, try to change your thoughts about it. She suggests asking yourself four questions: “How true is this?”, “Am I one hundred percent sure that this is true?”, “How do I respond to these thoughts?” and “Who would I be without these thoughts?”
Let's say you have no idea what the right thing to do is because you think someone will be upset or angry. Working according to the above-mentioned method, you will come to the conclusion that no one will be angry with you and that you have imagined this for yourself. In another case, you may understand that thoughts of someone’s dissatisfaction are just an excuse for laziness and inaction. This technique will help us understand the relativity of many of our beliefs, change the angle of perception and discover completely unusual solutions to certain problems.
Since it is not always possible to remove obsessive thoughts, you can practice meditation as a way to get rid of unnecessary worries. Yoga trainer Natalya Shuvalova is sure that a person concentrates on good and bad thoughts. Meditation helps us focus exclusively on what benefits us. You can concentrate on your breath, a specific symbol, or even a sound. To begin with, it will be enough to learn to observe your feelings and mental experiences in a detached manner. Having first taken a comfortable position, begin to monitor all the processes that occur in your brain and body. Let your emotions, thoughts and sensations flow by. You shouldn't judge them, you just need to try to study them. Natalia Shuvalova says that it is very important to understand that we are able to control thoughts and emotions, and not vice versa. Observation turns off thoughts and frees your head from obsessive ideas.
Another method that helps overcome unnecessary ideas is the method of muting the sound. Business consultant and doctor of psychological sciences Alexey Sitnikov says that we present the most important events and memories for us as vividly and picturesquely as possible. If you imagine a stream of thoughts like a movie, then better quality images and sound, the stronger the impact on us of this or that plot. Therefore, the most obsessive ideas and thoughts should be “viewed” with muffled sound and unclear images in order to significantly reduce the level of its impact. This way you will significantly reduce their importance.
If exercises aimed at solving the question of whether how to get rid of obsessive thoughts, do not help, there is a possibility that the latter have become so intense that the above methods do not provide adequate calm. Psychoanalyst Ksenia Korbut believes that obsessive thoughts can be correctly viewed as a defense mechanism human psyche, helping to overcome frightening and unpredictable feelings. They often occur in people who do not know or are unable to show emotions. It is in such situations that a person tries to explain logically certain experiences or reduce them to something rational and understandable. Since this is impossible to do, we are forced to repeat them again and again to no avail.
If you cannot escape from obsessive thoughts, it makes sense to contact a specialist who will create the conditions for understanding the world of your own emotions.
Often negative thoughts and feelings prevent us from enjoying the good things in life. Gradually, we begin to think about bad things more and more often, and immersing ourselves in negative thoughts becomes a habit that is difficult to eradicate. In order to overcome this habit (as well as any other), you need to change your way of thinking.
When we're stressed about something, the last thing we want is for negative thoughts to add to our stress, so it's important to learn how to cope endless stream thoughts. In this article we will talk about how to rid yourself of unnecessary worries.
Think about today. When you are tormented by anxious thoughts, what do you think about most often at that moment? You are probably reliving past events (even if it happened a week ago) or thinking about what will happen in the future. In order to stop worrying, you need to remember about the present moment, about today. If you shift your attention from what has already happened or will be, to what is happening now, it will become easier for you to stop perceiving everything too negatively. But, as often happens, this is not so easy to do. In order to learn to live in the present, you must first learn to concentrate on what is happening to you literally at this very moment.
Don't isolate yourself. One of the consequences of focusing on bad thoughts is often an ever-increasing distance between you and the world around you. If you decide to come out of your shell and reconnect with the world, you will have less time and energy for bad thoughts. Don't scold yourself for negative thoughts or emotions - this will only make things worse. You may have often thought about how much you disliked someone, and then felt guilty about such thoughts or angry with yourself because of it. Because of this perception, cause-and-effect relationships and incorrect attitudes are strengthened in the head, which over time become extremely difficult to get rid of. Below we present several simple ways switch from your internal world to the external one.
Develop self-confidence. Self-doubt in all its diversity of manifestations often becomes the main cause of difficult thoughts and strong experiences. This feeling constantly haunts you: no matter what you do, it is with you everywhere. For example, when talking with a friend, you are constantly worried about how you look, what impression you make, instead of just talking. You need to develop self-confidence, and then your life will be easier full life and do not torment yourself with destructive thoughts.
Examine your attitude towards negative thoughts or feelings. Because bad thoughts often arise simply out of habit, they can come as soon as you stop taking care of yourself. Promise yourself not to dwell on these thoughts, because you need to learn not only to let them go, but also to prevent new ones from appearing.
Watch yourself. Identify how thoughts or feelings manage to control you. Thoughts have two components - topic (what you think about) and process (how you think).
Try some experiments.
Stop fighting your thoughts with force. When we try to overcome some thoughts or feelings, we try to gather more strength to strike, but because of this we cling to these thoughts even more tightly. The more effort, the more load on the consciousness, which responds to all these attempts with stress.
Learn to cope with your thoughts. If a thought or feeling keeps coming back to you over and over again, there are many ways to stop it from consuming you.
Don't try to run away from negative thoughts and emotions. Are you tired of the exhausting thoughts that are always with you, but have you really tried to deal with them? Sometimes a person tries to pretend that something does not exist, instead of accepting it. If you deal with negative thoughts or emotions this way, they can stay with you forever. Allow yourself to feel what you need to feel, and then let go of unnecessary emotions. If your mind imposes thoughts and emotions on you, it can cause you to judge yourself. There are many manipulative mechanisms hidden in our minds, and many of them we are not even aware of. Consciousness manipulates us because it strives to control us through dependence on a variety of things and strong desires. By and large, we are driven by our addictions.
Know how to remind yourself of the good. If you're stressed, tired from work, or just feeling down, bad thoughts may return. In order to prevent them from completely consuming you, use special methods of dealing with unwanted thoughts that will not allow them to take root.
Practice visualization. This method will be especially useful for those who are very busy and who do not have enough time to relax. It is necessary to imagine in detail some pleasant place: it can be a memory of a place where you felt good, or a fictitious place.
Think about your achievements. The world gives us many opportunities to enjoy life: you can help others, get things done, achieve certain goals, or simply get out into nature with your family or have dinner with friends. Thinking about pleasant things develops self-confidence and makes us more receptive to good things.
Take care of yourself. Feeling unwell will prevent you from fully enjoying life and remaining optimistic. When a person takes care of his body and takes care of his mental state, negative thoughts and emotions simply have nothing to cling to.
Are you bothered by intrusive thoughts? For those who want to quickly get rid of internal blocks, contradictions, fears and obsessive thoughts!
Below you will learn how in just a few minutes you can get rid of a particular block, fear or obsessive thought that haunts you and constantly spins in your head.
Yes, this technique, unlike “Turbo Unblocking,” does not allow you to work through all the blocks at once. But getting to the general block is not always easy, and such work can take a long time.
The advantage of this technique is that with its help you can free yourself from what is bothering you, right now!
And you don't have to spend a lot of time on it! The result was simply amazing!
It is known that during wakefulness, either the left hemisphere of the brain works predominantly (when we decide logic problems), or right (when we use imaginative thinking). This creates the eternal struggle of opposites (for and against, beautiful/ugly, good/bad...).
Our Consciousness (in the broadest sense) also contains two polar modules: the conscious mind + subconscious¹ and unconscious².
Conventionally, consciousness and subconscious can be called a positive module, and the unconscious - negative. Negative does not mean bad or negative. Negative means the opposite of positive. It's like film. A negative is the opposite of a photograph in color and its mirror image.
Think about it! Have you ever found yourself thinking (when repeating any suggestions or trying to think positively) that somewhere in the depths of your being a contrary statement arose? Something that was contrary to what you were thinking?
And this thought gave rise to doubts, uncertainty, and nullified all the work.
For example, you thought: “Everything will go well!” And in the depths of my soul the thought arose: “Nothing like that! I don't really think so."
So there you go! If you consciously pronounce a thought to yourself, then the unconscious, based on binary, will assert the opposite.
If you're thinking:
- Everyone around is sick. I'm afraid of getting sick. I'll get sick...
Then the unconscious will begin to assert:
“It’s not at all necessary that I’ll get sick.”
Not at all!
The mechanism for getting rid of blocks, fears and obsessive thoughts is to overcome the binary.
Reach the point where the opposites have exhausted their potential and the contradiction disappears.
“While working on a problem that bothered me, I identified 6 levels of contradictions in my mind. Having gone through them, I hit the floor, something where all the contradictions simply dissolved. Then I saw light rising upward in a spiral. After that the thought stopped bothering me. By thinking about her intentionally, I no longer treated her well or badly. She stopped arousing any emotions in me.
When I tried to work through another thought in the same way, I carried out the work more superficially, mentally, without delving into the very sensation of these contradictions with my consciousness.
As a result, the thought remained, but I felt that its strength and power over me had weakened significantly. It’s no longer in my head, although it evokes some emotions.”
So, in order to work through any aspect that is bothering you, you need to spend some time reflecting on what is bothering you. It doesn’t matter whether the statement is positive or negative, you should not focus your attention on it. It is important to listen to that subthought, the internal contradiction that it causes.
Then you need to plunge your consciousness into this contradiction and feel what thought corresponds to it. So you should go through all the layers of binary until you feel that you have reached the layer where all contradictions have disappeared.
* Each person will probably have their own number of levels of duality (doubt). There is no need to count them, it is important to work until the level of non-duality is reached.
Let's say you think:
- I'm fine.
In the depths of consciousness a thought arises:
- No, everything is bad.
As you think about the thought “everything is bad” and try to feel it, you realize:
- No, in essence everything is fine, there are more significant problems.
Then the thought arises again:
- No, everything is bad. So what if there are more global problems, but this is the problem that is important to me now.
You are again immersed in the awareness of a negative feeling, and somewhere in your consciousness a new thought is born:
- No, everything is fine...
So one should go through all the contradictions until, in the end, there is a feeling that there are no more contradictions. At this time, no further thoughts will arise in your consciousness - neither positive nor negative. There will be inner silence.
* Most likely, everyone will perceive this final level in their own way. For example, I felt like I hit the floor.
Perhaps after such work you will see light or something else - this is the released energy that was previously contained in your thought (block, fear).
After such work, you will feel that this obsessive thought (block, fear) no longer bothers you. You don't relate to her in any way. From now on, it will no longer eat you up from the inside and drain your energy.
This work requires deep immersion into oneself. If you go through the levels of contradictions more superficially, then you may not be able to completely get rid of the thought/block/fear, but you will be able to significantly weaken them and feel deep relief.
The deeper your concentration on your feelings, the brighter and more significant the result will be.
In addition to this work, you can carry out deep internal work to get rid of the main root block using a special “Turbo Unlock” program. It is this main block (as you will understand later) that causes all our deepest contradictions.
Working with the root block allows us to work through and eliminate our unconscious beliefs, which are fertile ground for all other negative thoughts, blocks and beliefs. This makes it possible to get rid of obsessive thoughts in a variety of areas.
² The unconscious is the totality mental processes and phenomena that are not included in the sphere of consciousness of the subject (person), that is, in relation to which there is no control of consciousness (Wikipedia). Access the unconscious through
The modern rhythm of life leaves its mark on society. Constant stress and anxiety lead to ordinary person asks the question: “How to quickly get rid of stress, obsessive thoughts and constant anxiety on one's own?". Undoubtedly, the best solution A psychologist will help, but first you need to try to solve the problem on your own. Let's get started.
1. Because anatomical features vegetative-vascular and central nervous system, may be violated metabolic processes neurotransmitters, organic brain injuries, infectious diseases and genetic inheritance. The entire list refers to biological factors.
2. K psychological reasons refers to neurosis, depressive state, personality type features, family education, degree of self-esteem and many factors. Obsessive thoughts can be expressed in different ways. The reasons and fears are different, the rational question arises, how to get rid of them?
3. Among the sociological reasons, we can highlight a long stay in under stress, social phobia, emotional and nervous tension. Such factors can arise in a work environment or due to family problems.
4. In addition to the basic aspects, symptoms of obsessive thoughts and anxiety can develop from various diseases. Among them, the most common are delusional disorder, depression, schizophrenia, neurosis, psychosis, epilepsy and encephalitis.
This human condition is also called obsession syndrome. This problem is psychological, and it is necessary to consider it from this point of view.
There are 2 types of symptoms: psychological (internal), somatic (external) signs. Let's look at them in order.
The listed list of symptoms is not a complete list of how obsessiveness syndrome manifests itself. Anxiety and negative thoughts appear various reasons, based on the type of personality.
Like any professional in their field, psychologists recommend using all the possibilities that will help a person get rid of obsessive thoughts and normalize his state of mind. So how can you eliminate anxiety yourself? Let's try to figure it out together.
1. Don't let negative thinking, block it at the slightest sign of manifestation. As soon as you think about the bad, immediately switch to a positive direction.
2. Find a comfortable place and lie down. Remember life situations when you felt the most happy man in the world. Remember these emotions, switch to them when the negative once again makes itself felt.
3. When a person lacks positive emotions, he plunges into his own world of despondency. Day after day, “chewing” negativity, full-blown depression begins.
4. If there are no thoughts to switch to, find something you like. Sign up for a swimming pool or boxing courses (wood carving, etc.). Your day should be busy so that there is no time for obsessive thoughts.
5. When you get into an active rut, you will spend more time both with friends and on fresh air, make it a habit to take a break. This will help get rid of obsessive thoughts.
6. During the day, sit back and forget about anxiety, watch movies, eat pizza. Doing nothing does not mean “doing nothing.” You can deal with the problem yourself.
1. During sessions with a psychologist, many people admit to the ridiculous fears they were subjected to in childhood. Agree, everyone was afraid of the “babaika” who would suddenly jump out of the dark corridor. Now these fears seem ridiculous and stupid.
2. Intrusive thoughts change over time. Adults have their own concerns. Some are afraid of losing their job, losing financial support, or getting AIDS.
3. It is important to understand that as soon as a thought sits in your head, you will replay it over and over again. Try to put aside your fears or do everything to prevent this.
4. For example, are you afraid of losing your job? Build friendships with your bosses and colleagues, improve your skills, and learn every day. Are you afraid of becoming terminally ill? Pay close attention to your health. It is important to get tested regularly and exercise.
1. You can’t close yourself off unless you switch to positivity and detachment. Try to look bad thoughts in the face and find the true reason for their appearance.
2. Give yourself some time during which to write down all your thoughts, worries and fears on a piece of paper. Look for an explanation for them, dive deeper.
3. Even if it seems impossible now, you try. Allow yourself to be sad, cry, fall into despair, but only for a certain period of time.
4. Psychologists advise to penetrate inside your imposed ideas and destroy them from the inside through consciousness. Such actions must be carried out every day free time when no one will disturb you.
5. Finally, allow yourself to rest. Take a hot herbal bath, turn on calm music, which is not associated with bad events in life.
1. You, like all people, tend to talk to yourself and conduct a dialogue that does not carry any semantic load. During everyday worries, we burden ourselves even more, thinking about the possibility of getting rid of obsessive thoughts.
2. From now on, stop yourself from doing this! Don't think about bad things and worry. If you're washing dishes, focus on the soft suds, the glide of a rag, or the music playing. Dream, relax, allow yourself to rest, live here and now.
3. It’s worth preparing yourself for the fact that you won’t be able to do this right away. It takes practice. Sign up for yoga, martial arts, or start meditating.
1. Recent sociological surveys have revealed that more than 40% of the entire population of the planet dream of visiting a psychologist. And this is not surprising. A specialist with many years of experience will give practical recommendations, you will get to know yourself and learn to cope with stress.
2. For psychologists, the question of how to cope with the problem yourself sounds incorrect. Because the specialist believes that it is much easier to immediately undergo therapy for early stage obsession syndrome.
3. The only problem you may face is lack of funds. In this case, ask a friend or close relative to become a psychologist for you.
4. Many people practice communicating on the Internet with like-minded people. Visit forums where people are discussing the same problems. Look for joint solutions.
There is a list of factors that negatively affect the process of getting rid of obsessive anxiety. Some individuals are not confident enough in themselves, others expect the disease to disappear on its own, and others simply lack perseverance. In practice you can find interesting people who, through determination, coped with a number of phobias and fears.
Fight negative thoughts. This technique received the characteristic name “Switch”. The essence of the technique is that you mentally need to imagine all the problems and phobias. After this, imagine a collection of fears in one place in the form of a switch, turn it off at the right moment to get rid of everything. All phobias, from obsessive thoughts to fears and anxiety, will disappear from consciousness on their own.
Breathing technique. Experts recommend breathing to accompany courage and fears. Take a comfortable position and begin to inhale the air slowly and evenly. As a result, you normalize physical condition and you can clear yourself of negative thoughts and anxiety. There is complete calm.
Respond to alarm with action. It is quite difficult to concentrate and look fear or phobia in the eye. If you have stage fright, you should get over yourself and speak at the event as a speaker. Fear will disappear due to new sensations and courage.
Play roles. With obvious phobias, the patient needs to play the role of a successful and purposeful person. Practice this state in the form of a theatrical scene. After a few sessions, the brain begins to take the new image for granted. As a result, worries and fears dissipate forever.
As in most cases, aromatherapy will help get rid of fears, obsessive thoughts and constant anxiety. To cope with phobias, it is important to be able to relax on your own. In a moment of rest emotional state should be fully restored.
Aromatherapy helps a lot with depression and stress. The procedure is best combined with psychotherapy. A pleasant aroma allows the body and subconscious to relax, but the root of the problem lies deeper.
There is no point in fighting psychological phobias folk remedies. To do this, you just need to mentally tune in and immerse yourself.
1. Fears and obsessive thoughts relate to chronic disorders personality. Unfortunately, phobias will have to be confronted throughout your life. There will be positive and negative points. Sometimes phobias will go away or appear.
2. Don't stop after the first successful procedure. Always practice and be prepared. Phobias shouldn't take you by surprise. Work on yourself, don't give up and never despair.
3. Always carry out psychological procedures yourself. Don’t put it off until later and don’t pass it on to your loved ones. You create your own destiny, do not rely on chance.
4. Always try to think positively. Don't blame yourself for anything and don't feed negative phobias and obsessive thoughts. Fears are your main enemy.
5. If possible, consult a qualified psychiatrist. A specialist will easily identify phobias and tell you how to get rid of them with the help of targeted therapy. Medicines do not always help with obsessive thoughts and anxiety.
6. You can resort to various rituals yourself. The point is that you are voluntarily in a state where phobias manifest themselves. In such a mental immersion, you must fight fears and obsessive thoughts.
7. Each time you perform rituals, try to reduce the time you spend in trance. Try to realize that all phobias are only in your head, and you can cope with them.
8. It is not at all necessary to mask your fears and try to distract yourself from them. Just let them into your consciousness and accept them as part of yourself. You will soon understand that phobias are harmless and will not bother you again. In some cases, fears may become your specialty.
1. Animals, like children, are such defenseless creatures that allow a person to feel much happier. If you have previously wanted to adopt a dog or cat, now is the time to do so.
2. Get into the habit of journaling. Express all the negativity that has accumulated throughout the day.
3. Keep a list of your strengths and victories. This way you will understand how strong and characterful a person you have become.
4. Spend time outdoors every day, don’t sit within four walls.
5. Make new acquaintances, do not refuse friends’ offers to attend entertainment events.
6. Start actively playing sports, physical activity will knock the crap out of you. There will be no more time left for imposing thoughts and anxiety.
7. Rearrange or renovate your apartment, change your place of residence if you are feeling sad right now.
8. Set aside funds for a rainy day to become a financially independent person. Money gives you confidence.
9. Set goals for yourself, without them a person suffocates. Have you ever wanted a car? It's time to take the path of realizing what you want.
10. It is necessary to travel more and develop your horizons. Teach foreign language, take as many bright photos as possible and soon everything will get better!
To get rid of obsessive thoughts and constant anxiety, allow positivity to become a part of your life. Don't have an internal dialogue with yourself. Immerse yourself in thoughts headlong. Don't hesitate to ask for help.
It turns out that there are a number of methods that will help block the appearance of bad thoughts or cope with them if they have already come. Most of these methods are proposed by American psychologist Daniel Wegner, who has devoted decades of her life to the problem.
Don't try not to think about the white monkey - think about the black one. Or better yet, about the purple flamingo. Try to switch your consciousness to some other subject that you also really like to think about, but which also has positive connotations. Give yourself a few “continued” thoughts that raise more and more new questions and the need for answers to them - which means they draw you into a completely different stream of thinking. Is it true that Brad Pitt has silicone muscles? I read about this somewhere. But if this is so, then how does he use them? After all, silicone is not capable of contracting like real muscles - or is there some way to make it do this? And there is also a conspiracy theory according to which our Earth is really flat, and only a cabal of evil scientists has been convincing us of its spherical shape for several centuries. Wait, what about satellite images and recordings from space? And they are falsified by the same scientists. What about the poles? There is only one pole - the North Pole, it is in the center of the flat, disk-like Earth, and along the edges of the disk are glaciers, which scientists pass off as Antarctica. And so on - soon the seething stream of this nonsense will take you in a completely new direction*.
* S. Hayes “Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life: The New Acceptance and Commitment Therapy.” New Harbinger Publications, 2005.
Some people believe that a strong impression will help them cope with obsessive thoughts - for example, a scandal with neighbors or a naked run through a winter city at night. However, research shows that the more shock you give to your emotions, the weaker it is in the face of the “alien invasion” of uninvited thoughts. On the contrary, try to calm down and rest - the more strength you have and the better your brain is, the better your chances of repelling the attack*.
* D. Wegner “Setting free the bears: escape from thought suppression.” American Psychologist, 2011.
Agree with the obsessive thought - you will definitely pay attention to it, but only later. Include in your daily schedule “half an hour for painful thoughts“- but not before bed, but, for example, at the height of the working day. By thinking during your lunch break about what's weighing you down, you can quickly take your mind off your problems and get back to work. Sooner or later, the subconscious will get used to the fact that obsessive thoughts have their own time with strictly defined limits, and will stop bothering you at other times. Now you can think about how to eliminate annoying thoughts at this time* D
Once upon a time, a patient came to the great physician Abu Ali ibn Sina who complained that his eyelid was twitching. Ibn Sina prescribed him extremely dubious remedy: Every hour, start deliberately blinking your obstinate eyelid. The patient grinned, but promised to strictly follow the instructions. A few days later he came to thank the doctor. Like the remedy prescribed by Ibn Sina, this method works on the principle of “by contradiction”: when an obsessive thought comes to you, try to force yourself to think about it from all sides, turn it this way and that, make yourself afraid that it will escape you , - and you will soon feel that her grip is weakening and she herself would be glad to run away from you*.
* D. Wegner “Setting free the bears: escape from thought suppression.” American Psychologist, 2011.
Another method, partly similar to the previous one, is to replace the fear of the appearance of an unkillable thought with complete indifference to it. Learn to think about it as something external: for example, if it is the thought that your loved one has abandoned you, get used to the idea that this thought has nothing to do with him (or her), but exists on its own: here Now I’ll go to bed, and my Number One Thought will come to me again. Accustom yourself to the fact that this thought does not develop and does not tell you anything new - it simply comes and goes, like twelve o’clock at night or winter come and go. And very soon you will feel that she is really leaving*.
* H. Russ “The Happiness Trap: How to Stop Struggling and Start Living: A Guide to ACT.” Random House, 2007.
Meditation - great way organize your consciousness, making your thoughts controllable. Practice it daily, trying to achieve the state complete absence thoughts. It's not easy, but if you learn how to do it, you can induce this state at will, including it at the time of day when you are most susceptible to bad thoughts, or in the situation when you become most vulnerable to them. If a bad thought does not receive positive reinforcement in the form of your willingness to devote your brain resources to it, it begins to weaken - and soon fades away*.
* D. Orman “Stop Negative Thinking: How To Stop Worrying, Relieve Stress, and Become a Happy Person Again.” TRO Productions, 2003.
How is a bad thought different from gas? Gas, as we know from a physics textbook, occupies the entire available volume, and a bad thought is not yet provided... It teaches us to concentrate on it, forgetting that there is so much good in the world that it is much more pleasant to think about. Obsessive thoughts are especially popular with people who have neither a major lifelong goal nor interesting hobby. Take yourself out of a state of sad thoughts by thinking about the path to success, about what will bring you satisfaction. If you put in the effort, you will gradually be able to train yourself to have positive daydreams*.
* D. Wegner “Setting free the bears: escape from thought suppression.” American Psychologist, 2011.
