Intrusive Thoughts

Cameron, Meg, Doug and I had some great conversations about intrusive thoughts tonight.  Through our discussions and research on the topic we found out that they can happen to anyone at anytime, although they tend to occur more when someone is already anxious.  That anxiety can be from a mental health disorder, a specific situation, lack of sleep or even too much caffeine.  As we were talking, we all discussed different ways that we know of to stop intrusive thoughts or to relax if we are having a panic attack.  I told them that my therapist of long ago had told me that everyone has intrusive thoughts, such as worrying that they will do something harmful, but very few people act on those thoughts.  Doug let us in on the fact that he never has intrusive thoughts which made everyone laugh.  I decided not to point out his obsession with checking and rechecking and checking one last time to make sure that the garage door is shut before we leave.

As the conversation turned to what to do when an intrusive thought increased our anxiety or made it challenging to sleep, I let everyone in on how I handled my irrational fears.  A few years ago I noticed that I had started to become scared around knives.  I was positive that someone would get hurt by one and I couldn't stop worrying about it.  Instead of trying deep breathing or another relaxation technique, I instead came up with my own.  I told myself that if all of the knives in our house were in the dishwasher or put in the knife drawer, then nothing ever bad could happen.  So now, I just make sure that all knives are put in their place before I go to bed.  Since I decided to do that, I have never had an intrusive thought about a knife again.  Of course, Meg, Cameron and Doug thought this was absolutely absurd and I am sure that my therapist would not have suggested it as a way to control an intrusive thought, but hey, if all I have to do is put something in a drawer to stop worrying about it, I'm all for it.  Now if I could just do that to get rid of my fear of dogs.  That would be an accomplishment.