How to get rid of obsessive thoughts: eradicate negative thinking

It is not for nothing that we all proudly bear the titleHomo sapiens. It is reason, the ability to think, that distinguishes humans from other living beings. Reason allowed us to become humans in the process of evolution. The purpose of thinking is to produce new, ever more rational ways of responding to the environment. We are aware of some of our thoughts (we purposefully, voluntarily think about something), but some of them remain in our subconscious. Our brain is constantly working “behind the scenes” of consciousness to find new and more effective ways of behaving for us. Sometimes, as a side effect of this “creativity”, our brain begins to produce a series of truly strange and inappropriate negative ideas that surprise us, and sometimes greatly disturb us. We begin to be overcome by unpleasant ideas - is it possible to get rid of obsessive thoughts, how to regain peace and clarity of thought?

What are obsessions and thoughts?

The trouble is that obsessive thoughts are a series ofinvoluntary negative images or ideas that pop into our minds and can be very difficult to control. This is one of the worst symptoms of anxiety that a person can experience. Such thoughts, more than any other symptom, sometimes make a person believe that he is on the road to madness. Obsessive thoughts can develop into the so-called obsessive-compulsive disorder, in which a person is overcome by an obsession and forced behavior, when he must perform certain actions in order to “calm down”. A person may have obsessive ideas - for example, checking several times in a row whether he locked the door well when leaving the house (even if he knows that he did it). Or, say, starting to check whether the iron is turned off, although it seems that he did not turn it on. Now you probably caught yourself thinking: oh my God, I do this very often! Yes, for women, the presence of negative anxious thoughts is most typical due to our increased emotionality. But there are thoughts that not only begin to control our behavior, but also cause mental suffering. “What if my husband got into an accident? The car is smashed to pieces, and he has already died?” Or: “What if my child, while I am standing in line at the store, turned on the gas and did not turn the valve back? And has already inhaled and passed out?” And such thoughts can also spin in the heads of people suffering from obsessive thoughts: “What if I hurt myself or others ... what if I do something bad ... what if I lose control of myself?” And no matter how hard a person tries, he cannot get rid of his heavy thoughts and experiences. As a result, many obsessive thoughts can lead to a strong feeling of guilt and shame, even if the person has never actually done anything bad. Fortunately, there are still ways to get rid of negative thoughts, and with the help of these methods we can accept our thoughts, preventing them from having too much of an impact on our mental health.

How do unpleasant thoughts arise?

All the events that happened to us are stored inour memory, so to speak, "in reserve". Our past thoughts are also stored in memory. All this is in an unconscious state of storage, sent there automatically. The brain passes all events through a filter, selecting and storing the most important for our life experience. The perception of the surrounding reality and the interpretation of everything that happens is created in our consciousness based on what our brain and another natural "filter" - our genetics - have selected. These interpretations and perceptions generate our thoughts, and they can be either positive or negative - depending on how our "filter" is configured. Thoughts are generated based on past incidents and memories, predicting future ones and interpreting current life situations. It's like a computer - it also tries to make a forecast based on the data it has managed to collect so far. But our brain is also a kind of biological computer. When thoughts are negative (when we experience anxiety, worry, stress, resentment, guilt, etc.), they create resistance to the movement of our life. Obsessive thoughts will always be like boulders in the middle of a fast flow of water. Life is also a flow of pure positive energy; therefore, any negative thought will be in opposition to this flow, causing resistance, which we will experience as suffering.

How to stop the flow of negative thoughts?

If you want to know how to get rid ofobsessive thoughts, the very first thing you should do is understand what exactly is happening to you. And only after that can you take the steps we will tell you about now:

Accept your thoughts There is no point in pretending,that unwanted thoughts don’t exist when they keep coming into our heads. We are simply trying to fool ourselves by trying to escape from these thoughts. We spend much more energy suppressing intrusive thoughts than simply acknowledging their existence. And in doing so, we give them much more power over our well-being. The more energy we put into these thoughts, trying to avoid them, the more powerful and inevitable they will become. And in doing so, we reduce our ability to find real solutions to the unpleasant symptoms, because we have already exhausted our energy just thinking about them. This is how it works: the more we fight negative ideas, the more we fix them in our minds, which makes the intrusive thoughts even stronger and more intrusive. If you listen to yourself, you will understand that you yourself have created your obsessions by deliberately trying to forget about certain thoughts that come to your mind, the content of which you do not like. It is very important for you to understand this! You have to do the exact opposite – accept your thoughts as they are and be willing to live with them for a while. “Yes, I really think that, so what? It’s normal!” It’s normal, because obsessive thoughts can be a by-product of a perfectly healthy psyche. And just because you have persistent, unpleasant thoughts in your head from time to time doesn’t mean you’ve lost your mind. It just means that your brain can be active and creative – although maybe a little too active sometimes. And just because you accept your thought doesn’t mean you have to act on it.

Observe your thoughts as if from afar,as if you had nothing to do with it Especially if your thoughts make you feel guilty or ashamed. Try to understand that nothing happened for which you should blame yourself. Having accepted your thoughts, there is no need to react to them or divide them into “good” or “bad”. Just sit back and passively watch them, as if you were watching a movie. What gives power to thoughts? We have already said - your interest. If you have no interest in a particular thought, then it loses its power over you. You can try this right now: let the thoughts flow smoothly in your brain, and try not to show interest in them. Just watch them, like fish in an aquarium. At first, it will be difficult for you to distance yourself from what is happening in your head, because we have a habit of “communicating” with each of our ideas, thinking about it. But gradually you will feel that your thoughts are not you yourself, but only a form of energy created by your brain. Why does our brain create thoughts? No one thinks about it; it just does it because it does it. Do you ever ask yourself why your heart beats? With a little practice, you can observe your obsessive thoughts without connecting with them. You learn not to give them power over you, depriving them of your interest.

Change the pole of your thinking If you have learnedobserve what is going on in your head with detachment, then eventually obsessive thoughts will disappear on their own. Our thoughts are constantly changing, and now it is worth working on getting your brain to start generating positive ideas, thus developing positive thinking dynamics. Every time positive thoughts come to your mind (for example, about love, joy, excitement, beauty, satisfaction, beauty, etc.), focus on them, giving these thoughts maximum attention. This will set your brain to attract as many new positive ideas as possible and thus create a positive impulse. And every time a negative thought comes, do not show any interest in it, and this will lead to the fact that the impulse of negative thinking will be extinguished in the brain. As soon as you understand and feel the “mechanics” of thought, you will gain complete control over your consciousness.

Sometimes it's not so easy to break free fromobsessive thoughts, but over time, everyone can learn to work with their consciousness. And once this happens, it will mean that negative obsessive ideas will no longer have a destructive effect on our psychological well-being. If you still have not gotten rid of this burden, then try to do it as soon as possible! We recommend reading: