Intrusive Thoughts And Anxiety: How To Free Yourself From Them?
Living with constant intrusive thoughts or ruminations is one of the most unpleasant experiences we can live. They are thoughts that repeatedly bombard us with negativity and lead us to anguish. Today they are, in turn, increasingly common. Why do we have these intrusive thoughts? What are the psychological factors that lead you to this? And above all, how to stop ruminating?
Intrusive thoughts or ruminations are always related to anxiety. It is anxious states that trigger rumination depending on how you manage your emotions, character, stress, etc. In some way, Intrusive thinking is the sign that it is necessary to undergo a process of personal change to live with more well-being.
Although on many occasions we cannot help but worry and think about what has happened or could happen, an intrusive thought is an altered and unpleasant state that has no function. In this article we are going to delve into what they are and why they occur, as well as their solution. We will see some tools to start freeing yourself from them.
Everything I am going to tell you is based on what we work on in consultation with people who live with anxiety and rumination and manage to overcome the problem. Let’s go for it.
The relationship between intrusive thoughts and anxiety
Intrusive thoughts are negative thoughts, ideas or imaginations that lead you to feel anguish, nervous and discouraged and that occur constantly, in such a way that you evaluate what has happened or what you fear may happen. These thoughts imply that you are in a state of alert, and are therefore a consequence of anxiety.
It can occur due to a breakup, jealousy or insecurities, or fear of uncertainty. Although what happens may be unpleasant, the key is always how you understand and manage the situation.
We always have intrusive thoughts when we are in an anxious state that is too constant and intense. For this reason, to work with rumination it is necessary to go to the source of the problem: anxiety.
Anxiety is an intense and unpleasant state of mind that makes us alert. In a way, anxiety is a state of fear and insecurity that has become widespread.
We can have anxiety that leads to intrusive thoughts for various reasons.
Causes of anxiety and rumination
Feeling anxious at certain times in our lives can be natural. A first day at work, health news, an accident or a trip are situations that exceed our sense of control. However, Anxiety becomes generalized and limits our lives mainly due to three factors :
1. Respiratory mechanics
When we are in an anxious state we breathe quickly and shallowly, so that the diaphragm crushes the pit of the stomach. This reason leads us to be on alert, and it is also the breathing we have when intrusive thoughts catch us.
2. Emotion management
When we do not know how to manage our emotions in a functional way (fear, insecurity, guilt or anger) and we feel them for too long or with too much intensity and duration, they can transform into anxiety and this leads us to intrusive thoughts. But the problem is not those emotions, but your way of managing them through your behaviors.
3. Dependent self-esteem
When your well-being depends more on external factors that you cannot control, such as your relationship or the opinion that you think others have of you, anxiety is generated (because we cannot control these factors) and intrusive thoughts arrive without remedy.
4. Character
The person’s character also influences having more or fewer intrusive thoughts. The most introverted people who, therefore, have a greater tendency toward analysis or internal thoughts they may be more likely to experience intrusive thoughts if they feel anxious.
Solutions to intrusive thoughts
It is important to understand that we cannot stop intrusive thoughts as if we were trying to change the channel. They also cannot be controlled, because they are automatic and beyond our control. The appropriate thing is to learn to manage your emotions and mood, reduce anxiety, and work with intrusive thoughts to change the focus and allow you to rest. Let’s see how.
As we talked about, the first and most important solution to freeing yourself from intrusive thoughts is to confront how you manage anxiety. For this we need to work with these keys:
1. Your breathing
If you live with anxiety it is because you have become accustomed to breathing anxiously (this is something unconscious and automatic). When we begin to practice complete breathing (the natural breathing of the human being, where the entire rib cage inflates and deflates at the same time) anxiety gradually decreases. This will help you have a more practical approach and intrusive thoughts will also decrease.
2. Manage your emotions
Learning to understand how you now manage your emotions, how you interpret what happens and how you react is key to knowing how to manage them in a more functional way. This helps you live with more peace and acceptance, build more positive relationships, and above all, build a more stable and positive self-esteem.
3. Routines that bring you well-being
When we have intrusive thoughts we tend to live with routines that overstimulate us or do not bring us satisfaction. What do you do when you have an intrusive thought? The usual thing will be that you are not doing anything, since the intrusive thought paralyzes you. For this reason It is important that we have an action plan with new routines that make your focus change more well-being is generated and rumination is thus less frequent.
Focus on breathing to stop intrusive thinking
I am now going to propose a very simple exercise to try to isolate you from rumination.
When I accompany a person who suffers from intrusive thoughts and, therefore, anxiety in their change or therapy process, we always begin to work with breathing, as well as with some practical changes to reduce the intensity.
At Human Empowerment you have an option to schedule a first session with me if that is what you need. In this session we get to know each other, we see what is happening and how we can solve it in a stable way. It’s about going to the root change that you need, so that it helps you feel better now, but also in the future.
A first exercise that we can practice to try to limit intrusive thinking is the following:
When the thoughts come, try to detect it and, instead of getting carried away by them, do a complete breathing exercise (write me if you want access to a video where I explain how to do it). Subsequently, try to put all your focus on your breathing, specifically in the nose area. Feel how the air goes in and out. Do it for a minute. When you do this, you will feel the intrusive thought become more violent and try to get your attention. Refocus on your breathing.
Our attention cannot be focused on an intrusive thought and breathing at the same time. In this way, we give a pause to rumination. Then, find a task that you like or that is important and that attracts all your attention, so that you cannot do it well if you do not have full concentration.
In this way, we force focus again (imagine a child who colors and who must be concentrated so as not to stray from the line; you should look for a similar task).
With this approach we seek not to give value to ruminations so that they disappear. However, remember that this is useful as long as it is accompanied by the rest of the work to solve anxiety. Therapy is not just about feeling good, but about experiencing a process of change and learning about yourself that leads you to solve the problem 100%.
Our thoughts serve to reach solutions, and not thinking is also a sign that we are at peace.
I send you lots of encouragement, and remember that you can consult me ​​if you want to experience the process of change and therapy that you need and deserve.
