Intrusive Thoughts vs Thinking
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 ต.ค. 2024
- You don't control the guy shouting random things in the street, but you do control how you react to what you hear. Want more exercises to put some space between you and your brain? Check out my book, YOU ARE NOT A ROCK, available in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook versions bit.ly/youarenotarock In the UK, AUS, and NZ, it's titled THE MIND WORKOUT: bit.ly/themindworkout
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Basically don't get influenced by thoughts , by what's in your head , instead just live , live your life ... ,don't waste it . If the thoughts help one live then engage with them ,if not just ignore
What if it's intrusive thoughts when you're in the middle of sex? What do you do then? Continue or stop? (It's not really being afraid just disgusting stuff like thinking about your family during it I dunno)
Keep going. Thoughts don’t matter. If you stop what you’re doing it may keep happening because you reacted to something that doesn’t matter.
@@louc8554 Oh okay thanks... its still ruining sex for me though... :(
What I do is when having thoughts, this happened with my gf too so I can relate, I’ll think the thought but I won’t give myself reasons as to why it isn’t true or why it doesn’t matter how disgusting it is. It’s just a thought so I continue doing whatever I’m doing. Being mindful and meditating can help but I haven’t practiced as much as I need to.
@@minam1250 I shouldn't be laughing reading the comments but this comment cracked me up.🤣😂
Struggling with OCD is hard because I always feel like I need to engage with intrusive thoughts and make sure it's not true. Good reminder video here..but I will admit this skill of separating myself from my thoughts is crazy difficult.
pug_on_ya_rug same
It is difficult. It takes practice. You can do it!
Same
......
Hard af to get rid of them
Maybe it is also just a thought that it is difficult? : -)
Sofie u that’s the backdoor spike if you didn’t know. Even more ocd 😂
The alpacas part is killing me lol so true
Christie Lo Giudice especially the childhood reference "your grandma knitted you an alpaca sweater so it MUST be true that you fetishize alpacas!" Omfg I do this...
shaylen sanders bahahaha me too im the worst!! :)
I’m so good at proving how tormented and subconsciously fucked up I am 🤣 I gotta laugh. This alpaca thing could be me...
What the hell is wrong with us
me too
You are fucking awesome. Thanks for the reminders.
You're welcome!
I was actually scared of watching this video because I was afraid it might confirm the ugly thoughts that go through my head were not really intrusive thoughts. I feel better now after watching this, you just described the way my head sounds like the whole day. Thank u for your videos you've helped me a lot ❤️
literally same
The bible says to take every thought captive. I struggled with panic attacks and intrusive thoughts. Both fear of having a heart attack and suicidal intrusive thoughts. How can you be afraid of having a heart attack while at the same time have thoughts of suicide? It's weird. So I knew that wasn't me, and eventually I started replacing the thought immediately as it came to my mind. Within 24 hours of doing this both for heart attack fear and suicidal fear, they were gone. I had no constant thought of both. The sky was more blue, and the air was fresher. A cloud felt blown away out of my life. I can't say that it doesn't go away forever, as when I actually hurt a ligament in my chest, the heart attack thoughts came back, but they eventually subsided. After 6 years I got the suicidal thoughts and anxiety of everything around me back, but I take it a day at a time and I know they too will be gone again. It's just so hard to replace the thought all the time cause you want to engage with this thought. But I shouldn't. I need to stop. You can too get past this, cause I know I did..
What did you think of. I have scary thoughts that i want gone. Please help. Also do you have a Instagram i can message you on?
Father in the name of Jesus I pray for Joe as I suffer with this too.1 Peter 5:9
9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
@@_uncle_dusty_4410 Thank you for the prayer. I'm sorry your struggling with this. I hope your doing ok, hang in there. Fight the good fight of faith, take every thought captive and replace it with something else. Your mind sometimes gets stuck on something, especially if it's something that's fearful. Your mind is trying to overcome the fear. Instead try and just replace the thought, this helps get the mind "unstuck" from this constant loop or running in circles that it's doing. Anyway I pray for the best :)
this is hilarious, i thought i was having a panic attack and i also have intrusive thoughts about suicide. Im actually scared of being depressed or killing myself so i become obssesive about proving that i love my life. what did you do to overcome those thoughts? and any tips or techniques?
@@brandonmadrigal353 I personally read the Bible and quoted God does not give me a spirit of fear, but of power, love and of a sound mind, 2 Timothy 1:7. Then I just tried to stop the thought and replace it every time it came up. Eventually the thought got "unstuck" from the loop in my mind and well it was like the sky was blue again. Amazing feeling
This is so helpful. My whole life people have told me you are in control of your thoughts. I always felt like there was something wrong with me because I couldn't control the thoughts popping up in my head. But realizing there is a difference in thinking and thoughts is a game changer.
I still can't use this skill 24/7,but i had a very terrifying experience and this skill helped me a lot.Any time i read,saw or heared about a murdering and everything connected with it,my brain threw a picture of my parents connecting with it.And that was terrible.Than I started to ignore this urges and I didn't even realise that it's gone away.VERY important skill.
That's awesome you're putting these skills into practice and seeing the results!
Hey Mark, I've made a ton of progress with OCD in the past few months and I just want to say your videos have been an incredible asset in this process. Your videos are an invaluable resource, keep up the amazing work.
Thanks, Kenneth! That's great to hear you've been making progress. Enjoy the journey ahead :)
I can’t even explain how amazing thus video is.
And the alpaca grandma sweater made me actually lol. And i’ve been spinning the rat wheel so that laugh was huge
THANK YOU
:) Enjoy slowing that rat wheel down!
I'm literally shedding tears of joy right now bro, you are helping me save my life!
It's great to hear these tools are helpful on your adventures, Mike. Enjoy the steps ahead
This useful tip summed up simply: "Don't think about thoughts".
Exactly.
see them as irrelevant.. ignore them.. apparently, my monkey brain/dogs said this, apparently... there are no inherent bad thoughts, you simultaneously create your reality all the time.. if your convinced a thought is true (even though its highly unlikely) and that thought actually happens (simply by coincidence, and slight influence), then its probably because you made it a self-fulfilling propecy.. we need alternative ways of viewing a thought... by which case the thought becomes irrelavant background thought by default... just like haha id like to see that...
Instead think about things that matter.
Awesome video Mark :)
Its almost scary how your videos are so relevant to my current mental health recovery.
Keep it up!
Thanks!
I wish I had thoughts about alpacas 😂😢
All thoughts are alpacas!
IKR.... But they're so cute.... if my thoughts were alpacas, I might get lost in the herd.
So, no.
I shall not participate in the thinking of my thoughts. I shall be the observer..... or something like that.
for me ruminating on intrusive thought comes from focusing on something I can't control. I think it's because I cannot do anything about it I get stuck on it. If it's something I can control I just do something about it and I can move on to the next thing. I have to accept that something is outside of my control and focus on things I can control and how I can be happy given this situation
I think I literally believe my ocd thoughts now, and I feel it and shit. I’m so scared
I’m suffering with the exact same thing right now. :( I feel like shit but I know it will eventually pass. It will for you too
I think the hardest thing for me is to except that the irratiional thoughts in my head I feel uncertain about and I'm trying to force myself to feel certain about which just makes it worse
Man, that alpaca bit is hilarious...and helpful!
:)
Thank you for this, this resonated so much with me. I have been experiencing intrusive thoughts and I have found it really difficult to deal with - "why am I having them? What does it mean about me? They must mean something if I am having them." This was a result helpful analogy.
:)
Thank you so much Mark Freeman for this video. Now, every time I get these annoying intrusive thoughts attacks, I always think of your ALPACA ideas. It is such a perfect solution, funny and so easy to apply.
Enjoy the alpacas!
You an a genuine hero
That's very kind of you, Louis!
this summarized my exact thought process .... i will rewatch this when I get the disturbance again... THANKS
Enjoy leaving that shouting brain behind!
I think thoughts are just unconcious happening without our command. And concious thinking happens with our command. If i havent decided to think of something then its just the mind doing its thing. Yes the one we have control over but the other one not but No matter which category it is the same principles apply.
This is the most important video on TH-cam in relation to mental health, Maybe the most important video in general !
Thank you!
This was a really helpful video.
I jumped into meditation a few years ago due to some disturbing intrusive thoughts. It got worse even though i was mediating everyday. This is really insightful - it was a compulsion/reaction to shut the mind up, hence why it got worse.
Accepting is really the only way.
Question though.
It feels a bit unfair that accepting them never really 100% stops them. They happen 30-50% less which is gr8 but it would be wonderful to get to a much higher percentage.
Eitherway as I know by experience, becoming the watcher when ever I have one has worked really well. If the thought causes an emotional reaction i watch my emotion with full focus. This seems to really release the emotion and stop the thinking to occur. 2 -10mins of being uncomfortable is much better than an evening or day...wow its only now i realise how far I've come.
Thank you for all the videos. Life changing.
It might be useful to take another look at what you mean by acceptance. There are lots of things in your life that you're probably already a pro at accepting, like clouds. If I believe that some clouds are "intrusive clouds" and I need to reduce the intrusive clouds, that's immediately going to land me in lots of checking compulsions and trying to judge and label clouds. If I'm also then trying to track how much I've reduced this imaginary category of cloud that I've invented, I'll have to spend sooo much time watching the clouds, checking them, examining them to see if they're in that intrusive cloud category. Of course if I'm spending time and energy checking and measuring clouds, I'll very naturally find clouds I dislike.
But it can be much more useful to recognize that clouds are there and it's something I want to spend time and energy on. And they're just clouds, in the same way that thoughts are thoughts. So what if you didn't have to accept intrusive thoughts, but you just had thoughts? What would need to change in the way you currently interact with thoughts to get there? What checking and judging and labeling and controlling compulsions can you stop doing around thoughts? What would you like to give your valuable attention to instead?
again, your videos are so powerful for us OCD over thinkers.
Basically they are seperate, but when you use your thinking brain to engage with subconscious thoughts they seem like they are merged and its hard to break this cycle
Thank you. Two simple words that are saying so much from my point of view right now. Thank you.
Wonderful point -- a real revelation for me. Thank you!
You're welcome!
this helped me so much. i am so used to avoiding the idea of "ignoring my thoughts" because i think that will make me go out of control, or never be able to solve the issue. but i'm realizing... most of the issues are only issues when i'm ruminating about them. i have thoughts every day that i don't ruminate on that don't effect my life so... why are the scary ones different? 🤔
i guess they're not.
Yes! Stay your ground and the thoughts will dissolve themselves into the nothingness that they really are! - Prince EA
I am staying my ground and waiting for it to go away, sometimes I feel bad cause they don’t go away immediately but they eventually will. If anyone wants to talk I’m here to help
Thanks for this video. The alpaca part is hilarious and so true how our minds work. I don’t know how many times I’ve had a thought and compared it to something in my past to confirm that thought must be true.
The alpaca! I'm crying snot 🤣🤣. Too true.
I think you just saved my life. Thank you 😂😌✨
:)
big hairy goats and scary shouting strangers... in my head ???
jeez mark, good work, im 62yrs old
still thinking my thoughts are me...weird...but i get it
The alpaca analogy made so much sense
I have to say that this is maybe one of the best videos you have made! :) Really practical... Thanks.. This one is useful in the peer support. The topic itself is really something many (me included) sometimes mix up and forget.
- Jonas :)
Thanks, Jonas! It is a fascinating topic to explore. I wish we learned these things in elementary school.
Mark Freeman Thats true! Its also a bit scary how different cultures have them pretty much mixed together. In finnish A Thought is Ajatus (unrational) and Thinking is Ajattelu (rational). You dont even have to know the language to see that they mean almost the same thing and that people forget the difference is pretty obvious.
Ah, that is fascinating. Language has such an influence on how we handle our brains!
This was so great to listen to. OMG this alpaca 🦙 analogy was spot on. Keep doing these videos they are so freakin relatable. The worst part is you believe the damn person that shouts at you and convince yourself he’s right.
Thanks! You don't have to believe them!
Mark Freeman Thank you for the reply. You are the first video author who’s ever replied to me in a post. The worst part about OCD is that loved ones can’t comprehend how hard these compulsive reactions to the thoughts are to control. Do you have a video that articulates this difficulty? If not, it would be a greatly educational to have a video for the wife or husband of someone dealing with OCD. They get highly frustrated by our compulsions because they can’t comprehend how hard they are to stop doing. You get the good old “just stop” you have control lecture. They have no clue about the impending doom feeling that goes along with “not doing.” 😂 We even know we should stop but we don’t which is so hard to articulate.
@@ludvikjerabek I actually encourage people not to try to get understanding. It quickly becomes a barrier, like trying to get any feeling. A big part of OCD is trying to get feelings: trying to get safety, get relief, get rid of thoughts, etc. It's much more useful to shift the focus to giving. We can give understanding. We can give compassion. We can give ourselves a way out of these challenges by cutting out compulsions and changing how we interact with the stuff in our heads
Thanks for this, I need this right now! TOCD and POCD are destroying my life and I can't cope.
POCD has to be one of the most soul destroying things I've ever went through and still going through, I hope you get better soon!
The more "controversial" my thought the more I engate with it.It feels so damn real! 🤢🤮
Yes! So it can really help to recognize that judging brain stuff as "real" or "not real" or whatever is one of the compulsions. It's all brain stuff. But if we believe that certain brain stuff has meaning and we're judging and checking that, then it creates all sorts of problems.
This video... seriously.. this really really helped me alot. I was coming to this place of realizing that thoughts and thinking arent the same and now I can think that these thoughts are just little annoying people and i can ignore them. This is huge for me. I always thought these thoughts were my own.. wow..thanks so much❤❤
OMG your videos are incredible, where have you been all my life?
Absolutely the key. If we understand and practice this, life is amazing. Thanks so much Mark
Thanks for your stuff man
I fucking love you dude. This video helped me so much
I can’t tell you how much this helped me today. Thanks heaps 👌
You're welcome!
You’re honestly the best person to speak on OCD because I can tell you really experienced it first hand. I know for a fact you know exactly what I and many others have been thru. Thanks for everything honestly I’ve made major progress since discovering you
Thank you for the kind words! I'm glad these tools have been useful on your adventures!
If I can't trust the bad thoughts and feelings, then it logically follows that I can't trust the good thoughts and feelings either.
Exactly.
Once more Mark, thank you.
Only two words to cure pure o and I'm a severe pure o patient from south india and those two words are
"Ignore it".
Best video I have ever watched ! You made it so understandable and thank you !!!!
Thanks, Vanessa!
Hi , Please have a video about "How to Stop Ruminating" (and how to deal with our Rumination)
i think Ruminating is the most common OCD compulsion and i can't find any useful video about this subject in youtube.
Mark did one video on mental compulsions, which includes ruminating
That's called pure "o" OCD, and yes, there are some videos on it! Even pure o OCD has compulsions, it's just mostly mental. Engaging with your thoughts, using counter thoughts (evidence against the bad though,) etc, are compulsions. So is seeking reassurance. Ruminating is also a compulsion. But it's hard because this OCD isn't as talked about as much, but it's still OCD. It's just not typical portrayed and it's not something others see.
This video is literally about ruminating though. Engaging with and arguing with your thoughts is still making those thoughts play like a record player.
Thanks shaylen sanders, i didn't know that it called pure "o" OCD. Now I can look better for treatment.
This is awesome!
Awesome 👏
As OCDers we are good at thinking.
So good at thinking!
Another great video. Thank you.
Thanks!
jajajja this was so funy im spanish speaker and i had to stop the video to GOOGLE search what the he... is an alpaca----- ajjajajaja im dying jjjJjjJjJjJAJAJAJA
Alpacas are everywhere!
THE ALPACA PART😂😂😂😂😂
Always a good part!
Great explaination bro
Thanks!
This video is medicine for ocd
Thank you!!!! ❤️🙏🏻
You're welcome!
Wow this make so much sense ! Ugh You're a genius
Enjoy putting these skills into practice!
Awesome you approached these concepts! I had trouble understanding the difference before. Glad you posted this video! Thank you for all your awesome tools Mark! You made a huge difference in my life!
:)
The hard part about it is that we think we need to stop reacting to the ones that makes us feel bad. When the truth is that we need to stop reacting about all thoughts and stop having conversations with our brain like if it is right about everything
Thank you so much for the awesome videos! I have been struggling with intrusive thoughts for a while and haven't really found a good way to deal with them. I still get the intrusive thoughts but am better equipped to deal with them thanks to you and your channel! Have you considered making a Patreon?
I'm glad you've found these tools helpful! Yes, I have a Patreon page at: patreon.com/everybodyhasabrain
Perfect explanation, thank you :-)
Mission: Don’t stop to argue with the drunk guy shouting stuff from the other side of the road in my head, just keep walking..
Thank You for saving my life.
Sometimes, I forget that I'm listening to these videos without earphones and with the windows open, and my neighbors have now heard some guy say "you wanna have sex with an alpaca" three times 😅
Thanks for sharing the videos with your neighbors! 🤣🙌
@@everybodyhasabrain out here doing important work 😅👏
@@Mary_0888 💯
I know mediation can’t magically erase intrusive thoughts and fears 100% but don’t you think the frequency would drop significantly? Simply by neuroplasticity improving brain wiring and function
If you're cutting out the mental and physical compulsions that are fuelling the intrusive thoughts. Meditation is great. However, if you're meditating for 20 minutes each day but still spending hours each day obsessing mindlessly, which one will your brain get better at? Neuroplasticity is cool. And we need to be aware of how we're sculpting that plastic brain of ours.
It can make you realise you don't have to ruminate and fuel it.
Heres a tip: think creatively, think outside of the box... sometimes things only happen simply because of a self-fulfilling prophecy, placebo effect.. if you suspect that a thought reflects on you then likelihood is that youve just defined yourself by that thought... you can have over 1000 intrusive thoughts and nothing could happen.. it's the thought that creates the reality otherwise known as idealism.. we are idealistic... even if a bad thought comes up, likehood is the only reason your so against that thought is that it goes against your values... its our creativity and positivity that helps it... perhaps, maybe you dont even have ocd.. maybe your brain is perpetuating the belief is haaving ocd and so because it believes it has ocd, it makes you dwell on intrusive thoughts... another thing you could do is choose an alternative intrusive thought... like for instance stealing or pickpocketing.. at least then its lower in intensity... so long that you dont actually do those things..
perhaps just get more sleep...
@Winchestah maybe..
Wonderful video. Very well articulated.
Thanks!
Oh my god thank you so much
You're welcome!
After watching this video Mark Freeman, I like you more than I like Morgan Freeman😕
Whoa, I know this is a channel about mental health but let's not saying anything crazy.
And me more than Gordon Freeman )) it's a joke of course Mark, thank you very much for video, it's very useful.
My thoughts aren't crazy they just are false often
This is both very true and useful. Also, the alpaca exampe is so hilarious!! hahahha with all the typical OCD examples (so its even accurate). Amazing Mark, as usual!!
By the way, I have your book The Mind Workout, and I think its pretty useful. I think its a good way to start fast in ACT, CBT and mindfulness aspects, and I think its mostly precise. Perhaps I would have developed more the changing beliefs part, since its the foundation of everything else, as you explain in your videos.
Thanks for grabbing the book and the feedback!
Thank you so much 🙏
You're welcome, Stefan!
Thank you so much honestly I feel so much better knowing that I can CHOOSE how much energy I want to waste into a thought and the realization alone is a peace of hope for me so thank u🌼
Omg on point! Thank you so much!
You're welcome!
Lol there's probably one of us having this alpaca problem. He would take this literally
Hahaha probably! I'm sure there's one guy that is terrified of alpacas and really doesn't find any of these videos helpful :D
I have a theory that this stems from growing up with narcissisticly abusive parents from an early age, people who frequently invalidated my feelings, galighted me, bullied me, and caused me to doubt myself. The "voice" in my head could be reflections of my father's voice that is still bullying me subconsciously and OCD is an effort to try to go through extensive lengths to "prove him wrong" or make him listen to me as a childhood survival mechanism for love and acceptance. For me, it seems to be rooted in a fear of being misunderstood along with a very logical personality.
It's very common that there are experiences in the past or present that have hurt and the brain is just trying to help us bring some control and certainty to the world. Often, when working on recovery, we can do work to show the brain that we're in a different place now and we can practice trusting ourselves to handle things, it doesn't have to do all of this stuff to control and react anymore, but we understand where that's coming from.
I had never heard of an alpaca before this video...😀. Another great video, Mark!
Wow wool ..... there'll will never be another ewe ....
This is such vital information that I wish was talked about more. Struggling with OCD and always believing that thoughts are the essence of who I am has been rough, and I feel like this distinction makes a lot of things clearer for me. Thank you so much for this
You are a gem 💎.. I am re reading your book.. The mind workout to remind myself that thoughts and thinking are different. I struggle with self sabotaging thoughts and sometimes I feel like I like those sabotaging thoughts just so to get validation from my loved ones that I am not bad person. Is it normal to feel like this?
Lots of love from India 🇮🇳❤️
I'm grateful for this video and your knowledge. my ocd jumps from topic to topic... currently struggling with whether i am brave or a coward. something along those lines. can't seem to beat it but i will try to meditate.
This may not help the OCD calm down at all, but I think you trying to improve your life in the face of OCD indicates that you are, in fact, brave!
You're seriously changing my life! Thank you so much Mark, you really are helping us become Freeman ;D I think you were made to be free and help others become free, it's all in your name :D
Thanks, Johnathan! That's great you're finding your way to free(man)dom :)
thank you
Hey man, your videos help me control my anxiety a lot, I just wanna thank you for all of these videos you've posted. That's a great work
Thanks ❤️
Thank you! I'm glad you've found them helpful :)
Hi Mark! I would like to ask you a question. I'm trying to be as much mindful as possible during the day. When a thought pops up in my mind, I gently focus my awareness on the present moment. Meditation is really helping me with this process. The fact is that sometimes I feel these waves of anxiety or guilt or sudden negative thoughts and I shift my attention on reality as soon as I can. I'm a little bit afraid that this might be a thought suppression. Just wanted to know your opinion on this. Thanks
You are my Christmas gift!!! Thank you so much 💓
Merry Christmas!
Oh my gosh. Amazing video. Thank you so much
Wow!! Great vid man.
Jesus is Lord: another peach of a video, your metaphors are on point.
Thanks so mutch for this video amazing i just saw my problem i your video and i am so releaft
life changing
How do you overcome the fear of forcing yourself to do something. I Keep telling myself I will act out this thought and I won't let it go until I force myself to follow through with it and there's nothing I can do to stop it. It's tearing me apart.
Also, how do you overcome the fear of just getting stuck on a thought in general? Its like I'm afraid to be stuck on a thought and I'm also afraid I'll force myself to be stuck on the thought forever...
Omg u are hilarious
needed this. thank you. for real man.
😁🙇♂️
Struggling with this a lot during quarantine thanks for the video man
You're welcome!
Sena x stay strong you’ll get over it I always have it in bursts so you just gotta remember that eventually it will go away , here to talk if you need any help
Good Difference Between Thought And Thinking.
😘
Ah. I see. I'll stop consuming my negative thoughts about this matter...
Holy shit you fucking hero, alpaca part killed me lol hahahahaha