![]() ![]() Intrusive thoughts, therefore, do not exist on their own, but they are partly due to some form of or very meaningful change. From a symbolic perspective, sudden change has elements of death in it… especially if we cannot go back. Our parts shaped themselves and got into roles that, at times, are extreme as a result of our interactions with the external system.Īs described above, many intrusive thoughts stem from interactions with the external system that have the potential to introduce sudden changes to the status quo. ![]() Even if we focus mainly on the inner system of parts, we acknowledge that, if there is an inner system, there is also an external system with which we interact constantly. Intrusive thoughts from a systemic perspective ![]() What is in common with the scenarios I have described is that intrusive thoughts seem to stem from situations (either present, past or future) that have the potential to introduce immense changes to life (for better or for worse). You, or someone you love or care for, are going through difficulties that threaten survival (financial, health, strong losses of any type) and all you think about are solutions to the problems. Therefore you spend the majority of your day analysing the situation and thinking whether there is something wrong with you for feeling this way, or something wrong with your partner. You are in a relationship with someone who does not behave in a way that makes you feel that your needs are met. If you have a way to make amends, your thoughts might be a long list of things you can do to repair the situation if there is no way to make amends, then it becomes a form of torture in which your thoughts remind you how bad you are and what a terrible human being you are. You feel guilty about something because you think that you have behaved badly, and all you can think about are the terrible consequences of your behaviour. You don’t know what to do or say, and your thoughts continuously try to find a solution. You have a difficult situation with your manager. Now let’s look at more day-to-day situations You are going on a trip to visit a place you have always dreamt of. You have a date with someone you really fancy and that’s all you want to talk about to the people you meet. No matter what you do, all you think about is how to prepare for the show. You have been selected to participate on a TV show that will change your life. We do this all the time and we might not realise that they are all forms of intrusion. Whether disturbing or annoying, pleasant or disgusting, intrusive thoughts are something that repeats in our mind and that does not seem to get the message to stop. This usually happens to me during the Christmas season when all shops have Christmas songs on loop… after even a short time shopping, I seem to have an MP3 player in my brain that’s on repeat and I can’t find the stop button! The most harmless of all is when we have a song playing over and over in our mind. There are less painful and intrusive forms of intrusive thoughts. The vicious cycle continues with more anxiety and more obsessive thoughts, and the person uses compulsive behaviour to lower the anxiety… until the next cycle begins. In many OCD cases, the content of such thoughts is quite disturbing for the person and generate more anxiety than before. When we are obsessed, we just can’t stop thinking of something despite a part of ourselves is fed up with these thoughts. We can consider obsessions as a form of intrusive thoughts. As a matter of fact, there are forms of OCD that only have the obsessive element without the compulsive one. Intrusive thoughts are the trademark of OCD. Intrusive throughs in mental health issues Intrusive thoughts are a common feature in many forms of suffering due to what we currently call “mental health problems”. ![]()
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