Brief Summary
This video by Doc Snipes provides a concise guide on managing intrusive thoughts. It defines intrusive thoughts, explores their various types, and offers practical techniques to handle them. The video emphasizes distraction, cognitive unhooking, guided imagery, and recognizing "proof negative" to counter these unwanted thoughts. It also highlights the importance of seeking professional help if intrusive thoughts persist or significantly impair one's quality of life, as they may be indicative of underlying conditions like anxiety, depression, PTSD, or OCD.
- Intrusive thoughts are unwanted, involuntary thoughts that can be triggered by stress, anxiety, or hormonal changes.
- Techniques like distraction, unhooking, guided imagery, and recognizing proof negative can help manage intrusive thoughts.
- Persistent or impairing intrusive thoughts may indicate underlying mental health conditions requiring professional help.
The video introduces the concept of intrusive thoughts, defining them as unwanted and involuntary thoughts that can manifest in various forms. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, these thoughts often have no basis in reality and are perceived as unacceptable by the individual experiencing them. Intrusive thoughts can be triggered by factors such as stress, anxiety, insomnia, or hormonal fluctuations, and they can be associated with conditions like anxiety, depression, postpartum depression, PTSD, or obsessive-compulsive disorder. The presenter emphasizes that if these thoughts are frequent or significantly impact one's quality of life, seeking professional help from a doctor or therapist is crucial to develop effective coping strategies.
The video explores different types of intrusive thoughts, including negative self-perceptions ("I'm an idiot"), violent thoughts (harming a child, fear of fire or burglary), and compulsive thoughts or cravings (needing a cigarette or a piece of cake). It addresses the common occurrence of intrusive thoughts in women during the postpartum period, clarifying that experiencing such thoughts and being appalled by them does not indicate postpartum psychosis. The key differentiator is that in postpartum psychosis, the individual is not disturbed by these thoughts. The presenter stresses the importance of developing a support system and consulting with healthcare professionals if these thoughts are bothersome during the postpartum period.
The video introduces the first technique for handling intrusive thoughts, which involves treating them like persistent salespeople trying to convince you of something unrealistic. The presenter advises against arguing with or buying into these thoughts, as giving them attention only prolongs their presence. Instead, the recommended approach is to ignore the thoughts and distract oneself by engaging in alternative activities such as doing sit-ups, going for a walk, or calling a friend. The presenter emphasizes that overthinking or analyzing the thoughts can strengthen the neural pathways associated with them, making it crucial to break the cycle by distracting rather than reacting.
The video introduces the "unhooking" technique, which involves recognizing that thoughts are merely words and images that do not necessarily lead to actions. The presenter suggests viewing intrusive thoughts as a bad movie that one can simply change the channel from. To unhook from these thoughts, one can reframe them by saying, "I'm having the thought that..." (e.g., "I'm having the thought that I'm in danger") to create distance. Another strategy is to mentally pack the thought into a "thought box" and place it on a shelf, acknowledging its existence without allowing it to dominate one's current state of mind.
The video suggests developing a guided imagery script or focusing on something else entirely to divert attention from intrusive thoughts. Since it's impossible to concentrate on two things simultaneously, actively shifting focus to a pleasant or engaging topic, such as an upcoming vacation or future plans, can be effective. Guided imagery involves creating a mental image of safety and empowerment, which can be particularly useful when dealing with specific intrusive thoughts.
The video introduces the concept of "proof negative," which involves recognizing and focusing on instances that contradict intrusive thoughts. The presenter shares a personal experience with postpartum depression and intrusive thoughts, explaining how she coped by acknowledging the many days she had successfully cared for her child without acting on those thoughts. This realization served as proof that she could have these thoughts without being controlled by them. Similarly, when dealing with negative self-perceptions, it's important to notice and focus on instances where one performs well or achieves positive outcomes, counteracting the intrusive thoughts.
The video concludes by emphasizing that if intrusive thoughts persist or cannot be managed effectively, it may indicate an underlying condition such as anxiety, depression, PTSD, or obsessive-compulsive disorder. In such cases, seeking professional help from a doctor or therapist is crucial to explore appropriate treatments and strategies for managing these thoughts and addressing any underlying mental health concerns.
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Transcript
Full transcript of “4 CBT tools for Reducing Intrusive Thoughts”. Click a timestamp to open the video at that moment. Need another video? Use the YouTube transcript generator.
0:01 hey there everybody and welcome to this brief presentation on how to stop intrusive thoughts i'm your host dr donnelly snipes so let's start out by defining what intrusive thoughts are intrusive thoughts think intruder they are like thoughts that you have that you don't want to have and they can be a variety of different flavors if you will according to the anxiety and depression association of america intrusive thoughts are involuntary often have no bearing on reality and are perceived by the person having those thoughts as unacceptable you have this thought and it's just like oh no i would never do that but it keeps coming back or you're having this thought that you don't want to
0:49 have it's a thought that you want to get rid of intrusive thoughts are often triggered by stress anxiety insomnia or even hormone fluctuations even in males they are often totally random now it's important to recognize that intrusive thoughts can be an aspect of anxiety depression postpartum depression ptsd or obsessive compulsive disorder so if you are having a lot of intrusive thoughts or if your intrusive thoughts are impairing your quality of life it's important to talk to your doctor or talk to your therapist who can help you identify strategies in order to be able to better handle them this presentation is just going to hit the highlights of some techniques that
1:38 might be able to be used in the moment in order to help quiet some of those intrusive thoughts types of intrusive thoughts that people have they can be negative thoughts like i'm an idiot and i have no business doing this or pretty soon somebody will see that i am a total fraud or they could be violent thoughts of hurting your child or failing to protect them now it's important to recognize here a lot of women have intrusive thoughts or unwanted thoughts during the postpartum period and it does not mean they have postpartum psychosis if they have these thoughts and they are appalled by them being appalled by them is a good sign it means they recognize this
2:29 is not something they want to do postpartum psychosis is when they have these thoughts and those thoughts make total sense to them and they're not appalled by those thoughts at all it's important if you're in the postpartum period and you're starting to have intrusive thoughts to develop a support system and talk to your ob gyn or your pediatrician if if you're having these thoughts and they are bothersome because there are strategies that can be used to help you deal with them more than what i'm going to go into here other violent thoughts can be thoughts of a fire breaking out or a burglar breaking in when you go to sleep some people lay down and they feel
3:14 very unsafe or you can have compulsive thoughts like i need to have that last piece of pizza that chocolate cake is calling my name or i need to have a cigarette or a drink or something else those are compulsive thoughts or cravings which still fall in that intrusive thought category because they're thoughts you don't want to have but they're thoughts that seem to not go away sometimes so how can we handle them well i encourage you to think of intrusive thoughts like a salesman and we've all had the occasion where we have encountered sales people that have been very um persistent if you will so think of these intrusive thoughts like a salesman
4:04 trying to get you to buy into something that you don't believe and their claims really have no basis in reality you know you watch these infomercials and they say this pan will never stick and you get it home and it sticks or this cream will make you look 30 years younger and you know good and well there's no cream in the world that's going to make you look 30 years younger so you know their claims have no basis in reality but they're still trying to convince you of that well do you argue with them do you buy into them or do you say no not worth my energy i'm gonna move on remember giving them any attention makes them stay around longer if you acknowledge
4:50 them if you make eye contact with them then they may have a hook and then they'll start to try to um connect with you and they'll they'll stay around longer so instead of connecting with them ignore them and it goes against the very fiber of my being to ignore a person who's trying to talk to me but i found that for example at the at the mall when you're walking past kiosks and people are trying to get you to check out their products if you make eye contact if you acknowledge them at all it's even harder to break away attention makes them stay around longer same thing for your thoughts so don't overthink don't start
5:37 thinking i wonder why i'm having this thought i wonder what this thought means you can go down this whole rabbit hole of thinking about your thought and that's not going to get you anywhere and it's going to strengthen the memory pathways to that thought we want to break them down not strengthen them so instead of overthinking instead of wondering why you're having it or if it has any basis in reality or any of those questions just distract yourself distract don't react do something to turn your attention to something else you may do sit-ups you may walk around you may call a friend there are a variety of things you can do instead of giving that attention
6:28 just like a salesman the thoughts may come back just like you did the first time it's important not to give them extra attention don't talk back distract don't react the next technique i'm going to talk to you about is unhooking recognize thoughts are merely words and bits of images they don't have to result in actions thoughts are kind of like a bad movie these intrusive thoughts you don't have to sit there and keep watching it it's not forcing you to sit there and keep watching it you can change the channel and with intrusive thoughts you want to change the channel what else would you rather watch in your mind right now
7:13 you can also unhook from your thoughts by saying to yourself i'm having the thought that instead of saying i am in danger saying i'm having the thought that i am in danger assuming you're not of course um i'm having the thought that i'm an idiot i'm having the thought that um i'm gonna make a fool of myself okay you're having this thought pack it up put it into a thought box pack it up and put it over here on a shelf if for some reason that i can't foresee but if for some reason you need it it's over there on the shelf but it's not with you anymore you put it in storage
8:02 and that can be helpful in the moment if you continue to have that thought again you may want to talk to a therapist who can help you figure out ways to deal with it but a lot of times these random thoughts we just pack them up and put them over on the shelf and we forget all about them kind of like some of the sweaters that i have in my closet develop a guided imagery script or think about something else you can't think about two things simultaneously i cannot think about writing a powerpoint and what i'm gonna make for dinner at the same exact time so if you're thinking about something else if you turn your attention and sometimes you have
8:49 to forcibly turn your attention and say no i'm going to think about my vacation that's coming up i'm going to think about what i'm going to do tomorrow i'm going to think about something else but that can help you turn your attention away from the distressful thought guided imagery can be used if you develop a an image of being safe and feeling empowered if you have a particular image for um for example that can protect you from one particular thought that may be something that you call upon when you start having that thought and it's also important to note successes or what i call proof
9:38 negative when after i had my son i had really bad postpartum depression and i had a lot of intrusive thoughts and it was terrifying to be alone with him um for for quite a while and i didn't understand what's going what was going on and i didn't understand all this stuff about intrusive thoughts at that point so i was you know stressed out being alone with him and i would take it sometimes minute by minute sometimes hour by hour noting hey i went an hour and everything's fine i went two hours and didn't have this thought when i would start having those thoughts i had distraction techniques i would call a friend or i would call my husband or
10:29 i would put the baby in a stroller and we would go out on a walk i had a variety of different things that i could do in order to get out of that situation break that thought loop but then i would start looking back over it and recognize how many days that i had had him in my life that things had gone just fine you know i'd had those thoughts come and go hadn't acted on them that was proof negative for me that was proof to me that i could have these thoughts and i wasn't going to act on them so then i started feeling more empowered in what i was doing but proof negative can also apply to negative thoughts if you tell yourself that i'm a screw-up
11:18 and i shouldn't be doing this because i have no business being here noticing when you do whatever it is you do you know maybe you're an electrician or a therapist or a resident and you have a good day you notice that hey i did a good thing noticing um proof to the contrary of those intrusive thoughts can also be helpful forcing yourself to focus on all of the things that you do right instead of the one mistake you made can be helpful at preventing those intrusive thoughts if the thoughts keep coming back or you can't seem to extinguish them it may be a sign that
12:06 you're also dealing with something more than just a random intrusive thought you may be dealing with as i mentioned before anxiety depression ptsd or obsessive-compulsive disorder any of these have a lot of treatments that can be very effective so talk with your doctor or your therapist about the thoughts you're having and about strategies in order to deal with them
