12/16/2023 0 Comments Intrusive thoughts redditA previous psychiatrist of mine used to call this “worry time.” He suggested making a deal with myself that I could worry about whatever my mind wanted to after sending an email, finishing a homework assignment, etc. Set specific times to spend on those thoughts.More often than not, the thought loses power after some time. It’s not trying to ignore it, but rather telling myself that it’s there, so my mind is assured that I will address it at some point. So I write it down as a reminder, so that my mind can rest easy that I will address it if need be in the future. The thoughts that are most demanding of my attention often feel so urgent to do something about, even when I know there is nothing I can do in that moment. You can even make your own slime or stress balls! Other options could be drawing, coloring, playing with kinetic sand, or squeezing stress balls. Feeling the texture, stretching it, making shapes - it grabs my attention just enough to satisfy reaching a present moment. These can seem child-like, but personally I can’t think of a time in my life when I was more present than when I was a child. I like to think of very basic activities here. Swimming, walking, or even just doing some jumping jacks at home - any form of movement to push through the thoughts is helpful. It empowers me and gets my mind to calm down. One step at a time and then when I am done, I have proved to myself that even with all the thoughts popping up, I still kept going. I like to run sometimes because even when the thoughts arise, I just have to do one thing: keep running. So I take a step back and do something simple enough to distract my mind, but that also keeps my body moving. But also doing too little in that moment (like sitting and watching TV) allows for more room for the thoughts to grow. Looking at my to-do list and trying to attack something from that only leads to more stress for me when I have multiple intrusive thoughts. Here are some tips that I’ve learned to help redirect my thoughts: Once you are aware of a thought pattern, you can more easily redirect it. Practicing self-awareness when demanding thoughts arise is the first step in learning to manage them. Source: Chris Hagen, used with permission
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