Posted by pegasus on September 8, 2006, at 9:30:45
In reply to Intrusive thoughts identified... ***TRIGGER***, posted by Racer on September 8, 2006, at 0:29:24
Wow, no wonder you've been anxious. That is a big load to be carrying around.
*****triggery intrusive thought material*********
When I was a kid I did the same kind of thing with natural disasters. I pictured earthquakes that would knock down my house (my bedroom was on the second floor), volcanos with lava running into my street, floods up to the rafters, meteorites crashing through the roof, tornados, hurricanes, sink holes opening in the earth, quicksand, locusts, the whole nine yards.
At the time I could never figure out how to handle that fear and the intrusive thoughts. As an adult, the thoughts become more mundane (carpet lint in my mouth, invisible magnetic fields disrupting my health, people hating me), but the pattern still happens.
The only thing I've found that helps a tiny little bit is doing this exercise:
1. Notice the thoughts. Take a good look at them. Try to make them more conscious.
2. Look around me and realize that they are not happening now. I.e., the allegedly hating person is not in my living room actively hating me right now.
3. Settle my attention on something in my actual surroundings (the feeling of my breath, a smell, a sound, my cat, etc.).Then I often get a little gap of relief. I'm told that if you keep doing this over and over, then the gaps get bigger, and eventually you can control it. Hasn't happened for me yet, but I'm just grateful for the gaps.
I wish you much luck in finding your way through this.
p
poster:pegasus
thread:684139
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20060826/msgs/684212.html