Intrusive thoughts

[Alexander search]

I liken my intrusive thoughts to a visual “ear worm”. Does anyone have any tips on how to deal with a constant “visual worm” of , without going into too much detail, an unpleasant scatalogical nature?  

 

[jt07]

One thing that has helped me is to keep in mind that they are only thoughts. Thoughts are not reality. So I let them happen and don't put emotional weight on them. Together with medication I have found that this causes them to go away after a while. It's kind of like some bullies - once they see they can't get to you anymore and you ignore them, they go away.

[CeremonyNewOrder]

Use of CBT skills and like jt said, reminding yourself that these are just thought distortions and do not represent reality

[Alexander search]

at an intellectual level i can understand the idea of cognitive distancing. I appreciate and know the truth of what CBT says about the nature of thoughts, but it doesnt seem to lessen the impact of them. They can still punch me in the gut and leave me winded. Must try harder i guess.

thanks for replying