How Do Obsessive Thoughts Affect You? 5 Strategies To End Them
Do you have obsessive ideas that cloud your mind? Do you know what obsessive thoughts are? Obsessive thoughts cause us great discomfort, discover how to put an end to them.
We have all seen ourselves in some situation where our obsessive thoughts They have dominated our minds without knowing the reason for it. Although it is completely normal to have obsessive ideas, in many cases these can lead to certain psychological problems such as anxiety and depression. Therefore, it is important to know why these repetitive thoughts occur.
When we refer to the obsessive thoughts, we are pointing out those ideas that recur recurrently in consciousness, without having a reason or motive, which end up leading to negative, disturbing or strange states for the person who suffers from them. This ruminative thought can arise in anyone, but there are individuals who are more likely to have these obsessive ideas get stuck in their mind and end up generating some anguish.
Obsessions are recurring negative thoughts They appear when you least expect it or when you least want them to, and their presence is annoying, since it usually causes discomfort as well as the feeling of obligation to carry out some compulsive act.
For example, suddenly one day it occurs to you that your parents have a lot of gray hair and immediately afterwards the fear appears that your hair will turn white when you are young. Perhaps this approach is not something strange since you have a family history and it is normal for you to think that. The problem appears when that thoughts with negative images It bombards you, it is recurring, it doesn’t let you concentrate or lead your normal life and it also leads you to wander towards other negative thoughts. At that moment is when you begin to consider that thought as obsessive.
You are probably wondering what is the cause of the obsessive thoughts and why you always tend to this ruminative state. What causes a person to have obsessive thoughts is generally the fear that something bad will happen.. These fears generally have catastrophic consequences (even if the rational probability of them happening is minimal) and that is why they become obsessive, because although the probability is minimal, if it were to happen it would cause negative consequences in the person, and the person therefore tries to avoid them at all costs. coast trying to control every detail, even if it doesn’t depend on him or her to make it happen. In this way, ending up thinking obsessively about a negative idea can lead to suffering from a mental disorder such as anxiety or depression.
How do you know if you are one of the obsessive people?
If we stop to think about it, almost everyone is afraid that their loved ones will die, that they will lose their job, that their house will burn down, etc., but not everyone generates obsessive thoughts. A person who tends to have a mind full of recurring negative thoughts He usually has the following traits in his personality.
Perfectionism
An excessively perfectionist person usually suffers from uncontrollable negative thoughts So much so that he can even suffer from obsessive anxiety due to his overly idealized goals and lack of realism.
Pessimism
Obsessive people with repetitive thoughts They tend to have a pessimistic personality due to the negativity that is constantly in their mind.
High need for control
These obsessive thoughts Sometimes they go hand in hand with the attempt by the person who suffers from them to try to take control of many situations around them. In these cases, this inability to control everything ends up leading to frustration.
Dichothymic thinking
He ‘all or nothing’ is undoubtedly one of the main precursors of the involuntary bad thoughts that obsessively do not stop passing through the mind of the person who suffers from them.
Low tolerance for frustration
This intrusive thought It cannot be stopped in those people who have them. So much so that through this attitude only frustration is fostered since at the slightest thing that something gets out of control or comes out in a negative way, the person feels these obsessive ideas that hold them back.
Low selfsteem
When a person suffers from unpleasant repetitive thoughts It is completely reasonable that these obsessive ideas end up affecting your self-esteem.
If you think you have many of the traits we have outlined, it is possible that your obsessive thoughts dominate part of your life. In these cases, it is essential to try to fight them or go to a professional psychologist to be able to stop each of the consequences associated with these recurring negative thoughts.
How to eliminate obsessive thoughts?
In the same way that a warrior cannot fight the enemy by wanting him not to be in front of his castle, obsessions are not overcome by being afraid of his appearance, that is how they become stronger. According to psychologists, in order to eliminate negative thoughts obsessives we can resort to these tips.
1. Accept them
The first thing to do to fight obsessions is accept its appearance and know that what you are thinking is an obsessive thought, that is, be aware of the problem
2. Become aware of them
Once these have been detected involuntary bad thoughts and it is defined when they appear and in what ways they do so, the next thing is to also be aware of the compulsive behaviors that lead you to carry out that obsession.
3. Rationalize these thoughts
The next step is one of the most complicated, to avoid the obsessive negative thoughts You have to stop performing the ritual or compulsion. To try to stop these obsessive ruminations, it is essential to try to rationalize each of the ideas that come to mind in this style.
4. Work with their cause
To get the obsessive thoughts disappear, we must attack the cause. Although we cannot prevent there from being times of stress, anxiety or sadness, what we can do is carry out behaviors that help reduce it or work on the problems that encourage this type of negative and obsessive thoughts.
To leave behind a ruminative thinking It is vital to try to promote a completely healthy lifestyle. So much so that meditation, physical exercise and following a balanced diet will be the key to being able to leave these repetitive thoughts behind.
Obsession is a mask with different faces. Sometimes it appears in the form of fear that the house will burn down, other times with the fear that my partner will leave me, other times with the fear of the death of a family member, etc. When one fear is overcome, another usually appears. It is important normalize That will happen like this but we can manage to minimize the impact that obsessions have by downplaying their importance.
Thus, after everything mentioned, it is logical to deduce that obsessive thoughts are very difficult to work on without the support of an expert therapist, so it is more than recommended that you go to the Professional Help to fight obsessive thoughts. In this way, you will be able to take control of your mind and leave behind each of the obsessive ideas that can harm you.
