Relatively often there are minor obsessions. For example, when someone starts humming a song, then he cannot get it out of his mind all day long. Sometimes a pointless rhyme or rhyme is repeated too. Intrusive thoughts from time to time are not bothersome. Although they are almost always unwanted …
Certain thoughts can be very bothersome and intrusive ("What if he is cheating on me?"). Sometimes people also experience intrusive images - for example, while driving a car, they experience their own car accident in their minds. The smoker comes up with thoughts of smoking or imagines that he is puffing on the smoke even though he wants to get rid of the thoughts. These unwanted thoughts are calledcompulsions . Althoughintrusive thoughtsare not a disease symptom (they occur, for example, in anxiety disorders), they are also often experienced by he althy people.
Better not to suppress the obsessions
In addition, intrusive thoughts have the property that the more they are suppressed, the stronger they become. Here is an example: sit still for the next two minutes and not think about the pink chameleon. Most people cannot do this, and a chameleon will cross your mind at least twice. Such a phenomenon can be treated as a minor compulsion - the thought bursts into consciousness, even though we definitely want to suppress it. This is an interesting finding because it means that suppressing unwanted thoughts makes them appear more often. Ba! Sometimes a prohibition like "I won't think about it" or "Don't you dare think about it" causes these thoughts to come to mind more often. It is also a well-known fact in everyday life. When we do not want to think about something (e.g. tomorrow we have an interview and we want to relax or what may have happened that the child has not returned from the party yet), despite the will and strenuous attempts, the disturbing thoughts keep penetrating the mind and absorbing our attention.
How to deal with obsessions?
Fortunately, such everyday obsessions can be de alt with relatively easily. As they invadeconsciousness , instead of trying to suppress them again and again, it is better to give them a moment of conscious attention, concentrate on them, and then move on to something else. For example, when someone is unable to part with a song, he should hum it for a moment, then start humming another with an equally catchy melody. Both songs in effectare quickly forgotten.