Eliminating bad thoughts. Obsessive syndrome

I had already been preparing this article for a long time, but still could not write it for the reason that I was not sure that I had a complete idea of how to get rid of obsessive thoughts.

Now I have learned from my own experience how to cope with such thoughts and am fully prepared to tell you about it.

Perhaps some of my readers think that from the moment I started creating this site, I completely got rid of all personal problems. Indeed, I had already changed a lot by the time of the first entries in this blog, but my current state cannot be called complete freedom from negative emotions, prejudices and fears.

My position can be characterized as a struggle with myself, during which experience and materials for these articles are born. Of course, in this confrontation between my true self and the primitive, instinctive, emotional self, the former gradually wins.

But this struggle continues: two steps back and four steps forward. Self-development arises from the awareness of one's own shortcomings and work on them. If there is no struggle, then this does not mean a final victory, but rather a surrender.

After all, self-development is an endless process. I continue to face and struggle with some problems. Including with obsessive thoughts.

Mental "gum"

These thoughts have always been with me. They could occupy my head and make me nervous, endlessly mentally referring to the same experiences. It was like mental gum.

I constantly chewed the same thoughts in my head, tried to resolve them, to untie some imaginary knot. But from my attempts to weaken him, on the contrary, he tied up even more.

I remember how even in my distant childhood I could not stop thinking about some things that I could not think about at all. It must be that my brain's habit of endlessly "processing" some experiences and ideas was aggravated in times of other psychological problems.

I recently realized that I had learned to work with obsessive thoughts. Moreover, I am ready to formulate a method that allows me to get rid of them. I realized that this article may now finally appear.

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Obsessive thoughts come from emotions

This is the first thing you need to understand. Obsessive thoughts are of an emotional, unconscious, irrational nature. They are associated with your devoid of all reasonable fears, anxieties and complexes.

This is why they are intrusive. The emotions that form in you make you constantly think about something. They seem to signal “Problem! Problem! We must look for a solution! "

It's like a notification in Windows or another operating system that appears as an icon and will annoy your eyes until you update some program, remove a virus, or install the correct driver.

We can say that obsessive thoughts also have a positive function. They remind you of the problems that you must solve. And you cannot just take and turn off these "notifications". It is difficult to starve to death when your brain constantly reminds you of food.

But, unfortunately, obsessive thoughts do not always tell us about some real problem. The mechanism behind these thoughts is quite subtle. And if, for some reason, the "standard settings" of this mechanism go astray, then natural human fears and worries can take an extreme form, manifesting themselves in the form of obsessive thoughts, which are very difficult to get rid of.

Everyone knows how normal taking care of one's health can turn into hypochondria, how a natural fear of danger threatens to turn into paranoia.

And now you become a regular visitor to medical forums, and thoughts about your health do not leave your head. You may be constantly thinking about danger while you are outside. Or you cannot get out of your head the thought of what people think of you, although you yourself do not see any point in thinking about it.

The conclusion I want to make is that obsessive thoughts are based on emotions. Therefore, they have no rational nature. Therefore, they cannot be fought with logic.

This is a very important conclusion. I watched myself a lot, tried to understand how these thoughts appear and how they disappear, how my mind tries to deceive and confuse me. Earlier, in the evening, when I was very tired, I could not stop some thoughts.

For example, I could start thinking something bad about myself, blaming myself. No matter how skillful the inner lawyer was, who, using logic and common sense, tried to convince me that everything was not so bad (although of course he did not rule out a problem), the accusing party always prevailed, and everything became even more confusing. The more I tried to justify myself and get rid of annoying thoughts with the help of thoughts, the more I got confused and the more these thoughts overwhelmed me. This sport with itself caused the invisible knot to tighten even more.

The next day, in the morning, I didn't even want to think about this problem with a fresh mind. If I began to reflect on yesterday's "dialogue" with myself, then I understood that the problem had a place to be, but it was greatly exaggerated and exaggerated by my state. I realized that the problem should be solved, not thought about it. There is no sense in these thoughts.

After some time, I realized what the deception and deceit of these thoughts lay. If you try to destroy them with logic, they will still prevail, since they are irrational and illogical and make you believe in absurd ideas, in front of which common sense is powerless.

You can't eliminate obsessive thoughts with logic

If you are inclined to blame yourself, then you will continue to blame yourself, even if you have nothing to blame yourself for. Because such is your mood and it is from it that these thoughts flow, and not because of some real situation! Even if suddenly you manage to convince yourself for a minute that these thoughts are groundless, then after a while they will come back again if you resist them and continue to provide them with a logical rebuff.

If you are in a mood in which you think that you are sick, that something bad will happen to your health, then no amount of positive test results will convince you otherwise. "What if the analyzes were inaccurate?", "What if I have something else?" - you will think.

And you will not see an end to these thoughts, no matter how absurd from the standpoint of common sense they are.

It is useless to try to refute them. Because it is impossible. They will come back and attack you with new absurd arguments that you will believe in, because you are in such an emotional state that gives rise to these thoughts about non-existent problems.

Remember the state when you are worried about something. No matter how you convince yourself that everything will be fine, that there is no reason to worry, your perception, distorted by nervous tension and excitement, paints you a perspective in the darkest tones. Not because everything is really bad, but because you now perceive everything that way. If in this state you start to think and talk a lot about the future, then your negative perception will attract your thoughts to the “negative” pole and it will be difficult to break out of this attraction.

The method of getting rid of obsessive thoughts

You need common sense, but only at the beginning.

First of all, you need to figure out if your obsessive thoughts are based on some real problem. It happens that mental gum harasses you, exaggerating the problem. But an exaggerated problem does not mean there is no such problem.

So think about what the reasons are for these thoughts. Getting rid of thoughts, you should not ignore the problem, if there is one. For example, it seems to you that you have some kind of illness and thoughts about it do not leave your mind.

Maybe these are really not unfounded fears, and you have symptoms of some kind of disease. If so, see your doctor. If you have already done this and you have not found anything - forget it.

Regardless of whether there is a problem or not, there is no point in thinking about it all the time! You either try to solve it, if it exists, or you forget about everything, if it doesn't exist.

This is the only moment in the fight against obsessive experiences in which you need to apply logic and common sense.

What to do?

Pick a moment in time when you are in the best possible morale, when you are more optimistic and stronger than usual. For example, in the morning, when you are full of energy, after exercise or after.

Convince yourself that it makes no sense to go through the same thoughts thousands of times in your head. That these thoughts are deception or exaggeration, the purpose of which is to confuse you.

Understand the following things well

• you will not come to a solution to the problem if you constantly think about it
• obsessive thoughts do not have any rational basis, and if they are associated with a problem, then you will solve it, instead of constantly returning to it with thoughts
• you cannot get rid of the mental gum with logical reasoning and reflection

Realize the absurdity of obsessive thoughts

Further, you can once again, with the help of several logical theses, lay bare the entire absurdity of obsessive thoughts. For example: “I have nothing to fear, because the tests showed nothing”, “they don’t die from attacks of panic attacks, I have read about this more than once”, “no one is trying to harm me”, “even if there really are things that are worth fearing you don't need to think about them 1000 times a day, this will only lead to nervous exhaustion. "

Your anti-intrusive argumentation should be intelligible and concise... You should not get carried away by arguing with yourself. Remember, in a long dispute with obsessive thoughts, you are doomed to failure, in which emotions and fears will prevail over logic and mind, and negative perception will itself "pull" thoughts to the negative pole.

To destroy the force of this attraction, you need to think less. When you think about annoying thoughts, chew them endlessly, you only reinforce them.

Set yourself up to ignore obsessive thoughts

Tell yourself that you will no longer think about what you think about all day long. and what plagues and torments you. Indeed, why chew mental gum all the time when it doesn’t make any sense?

An obsessive thought is the repetition of the same thought in different ways. You will not receive any new and valuable information from it, you will not come to any decision.

Therefore, give yourself the intention not to get carried away with fruitless thoughts. After you said it to yourself, made a promise that you will not break, draw an invisible line... After this line, you no longer pay attention to obsessive thoughts.

Don't expect thoughts to return no more

They will return more than once. Tune in like this: "Let them come back, what's the difference, I realized that these thoughts are deceit and do not relate to the real problem."

Thoughts will come back, sometimes you will start to untie this knot in your head again. As soon as you notice that you are again carried away by this, smoothly divert your attention to the side. Do not argue with these thoughts, do not be upset that they came (and they will come), ignore them, treat them with complete indifference.

If suddenly you need to remind yourself of the absurdity of these thoughts, do not go further than short formulations: "nothing will happen to me, and that's it." Do not get involved in an argument that you will never win. All the endless arguments that again make you afraid or nervous are lies and deception.

Remember what I said in the article: if you are in such a psychological state in which you tend to worry about your health or about your future, or about your loved ones, then your mind will focus on this fear, no matter how absurd this fear is ... Don't turn your mind against yourself.

You probably know a puzzle toy that looks like a pipe. If you put the index fingers of different hands into both ends of this tube and try to free them with the help of physical effort, pulling your hands in different directions, then nothing will work, the tube will only squeeze the fingers more tightly. And if you relax and don't pull, everything will work out.

The same applies to obsessive thoughts. There is no need to want to get out of them at all costs. Relax, "hammer", let them be.

Be indifferent!

Your indifference to obsessive thoughts will rob your obsessive thoughts of their emotional content, which fills them with such a power that you sometimes cannot control. Over time, you will learn to manage your attention and notice those moments when you again began to think about what you should not.

Then thoughts will leave you forever.

But there is no need to wait impatiently when this will happen: "when will they leave!", "I try not to pay attention to them, but they still do not leave my head!" Such thoughts are not necessary!

Arm yourself with a salutary indifference: thoughts don't bother - okay, they come back - okay too. You don't need to turn thoughts about the appearance of obsessive thoughts into obsessive thoughts!

It’s not a big deal that repetitive reflections keep coming to you. If you have deprived them of their emotional "charge" and try to ignore them, then they will not plague you as they used to. In this case, they become just an annoying notification window (you may have seen such windows on your computer) that pops up in your head from time to time.

And this is not so scary. You can live with it. Thoughts sometimes appear, but they no longer attract your attention and do not confuse you. They are just short signals in the head that come and go.

When I began to treat obsessive thoughts in this way, they left my head and I learned to deal with them. AND fighting obsessive thoughts is not fightingif you take the fight as violent resistance. Relax!

Conclusion

I have already said in other articles that mental illnesses:, panic attacks, obsessive thoughts can either break you down or make you stronger (as in the statement of a famous philosopher).

Dealing with panic attacks can teach you. Dealing with depression can help you find the source of your happiness. And trying to control obsessive thoughts will teach you how to control your attention and control your mind.

Arm yourself with patience and work on yourself, then you will not only get rid of your ailments, but also get a valuable and useful experience as a result that will be useful in your life!

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Hello dear readers! Getting rid of obsessive thoughts, in fact, is a very important process, because they take away energy, strength, time and human health. Life must be cherished and appreciated every minute, and not wasted. Therefore, today I will share with you the most effective methods that will help you get rid of heavy and unnecessary thoughts.

What it is?

Psychologists are inclined to believe that this is a neurotic disorder, most often arising from traumatic events. And it is not necessary to witness murders or unexpectedly lose loved ones. For some, the death of a pet can be decisive, as it will cause deep feelings that the psyche, for some reason, was not able to cope with at the moment. But do not be afraid that now you are entitled to medical and inpatient treatment.

There are various techniques thanks to which a person has the ability to independently cope with this complexity. As a last resort, you can enlist the support of loved ones, people who are significant to you or contact a psychotherapist. The only thing is, be prepared to make an effort to heal and release.

Judge for yourself, the obsession does not last a day or two, and if you decide to fight it, then a long time has passed during which you decided to seek help. And the modern world is too overloaded with information and events that can distract at any moment. And you will not be cured in one completion of the task, systematicity is necessary here, at least in order not to again fall into this exhausting state in the future.

Top 10 Technicians

1 giving up the fight

The very first rule of thumb in dealing with negative thoughts is not to fight them. Paradoxically, it is. They are already taking energy away, and if you consciously pay attention to them, exaggerating and immersing yourself in complex experiences, not finding any resource and outlet in them, you will simply deplete your body. Do you know the expression: "In order not to think about a white cat, think about a purple dog"? It exists in different variations, but the meaning is the same.

Imagine that there is a “delete” button in your head, press it and turn your attention to more pressing matters and pleasant experiences. For example, remember the most pleasant event from your childhood, what causes a smile on your face, serenity and touching the most? You will not notice how the anxiety recedes, giving space to other feelings.

2.Creativity

A great way to deal with your worries. Take a sheet and write about what torments you and haunts you. If you want, draw, and your artistic abilities do not matter at all, so you should not try to arrange it beautifully and correctly. You can just mold from scrap materials, ordinary paper, plasticine, clay is perfect. After expressing painful ideas in a convenient way, listen to yourself, did you accurately write or draw everything you wanted? If so, now is the time to get rid of this obsession. Do not regret it, but tear it into small pieces, throw it in the trash, or burn your creation.

3.Transformation

Changing tormenting fantasies and feelings into resources and new opportunities, a zone of proximal development. Yes, it can cause indignation, but think for yourself, if something bothers you for a long time, it means that your subconscious mind is trying to "break through" into your consciousness, and in such a not very pleasant and desirable way gives you a signal. Is this what comes up most often in your head? Worried about not turned off iron or gas? Then start developing your attention and memory. Then you will know exactly what you turned on or off, and what else you did.

Believe me, this skill will be very useful to you, both at work and in everyday life, in relationships. And the article will help you.

4.Regularities

Try to pay attention to exactly what moments anxious thoughts begin to bother you, maybe there is some pattern? For example, before going to bed, or an exciting event? Often our subconscious is looking for ways to evade unwanted work, meetings, and more. Yes, at least from admitting to oneself that something is tired, that there is no desire to stay close to an already unloved person, to study in the specialty chosen by the parents and to do something out of habit.

5 distraction

Have you noticed that watching the fire, looking at the water, we think about how happy life is and how good it is at the moment? As if everything is suspended around, and it seems that there is only you and the element? Do you know why this happens? Because the brain, switching its attention to all sorts of dynamic processes, believes that the rest is not so important, therefore all sticky and tormenting emotions go away, and that is why you feel relaxation, a surge of strength and inspiration.

The more often the brain is busy, the less the likelihood of neurosis.

Therefore, I propose to adopt one technique, as soon as you begin to feel that bad thoughts appear in your head, proceed to the implementation:

• It is necessary to sit comfortably, close your eyes and count each inhalation and exhalation. That is: "Breathe in once, breathe out two." When you count to 10, it counts as one cycle. You need to do at least three, if you notice that it is not enough, you can continue. It is only important to breathe slowly, fully focusing on counting, chest movements and sensations.
• Then, when you feel that you have relaxed enough, having got rid of tension in every part of your body, imagine an image that is exhausting, and give free rein to your imagination, destroying it in any way you can imagine.

I also recommend reading the article about. There is a whole program of different relaxation techniques described there, you can use any you like, adding a second part where you need to deal with the sticky obsession.

6.Physical load

If you are mainly tormented by dissatisfaction with yourself, not ideality and echoes of low self-esteem, for example, that you do not look the way you would like, did not achieve the desired by virtue of character, and the like, then physical activity will help you. In principle, it helps in any cases when you just need to switch and give your brain a chance to rest.

Tired, exhausted - you simply will not be able to torture yourself further, plus a clean apartment, a well-groomed garden or a noticeably thinner and toned body will be a pleasant bonus.

Alternatively, sign up for courses, making your dream come true. For example, learn how to sew graceful dresses or climb rocks, skate beautifully or dance tango. When you start realizing your desires, which you usually did not care about, you will feel happy, and then the level of thought control and, in general, claims to yourself will decrease.

7 affirmations

To get rid of the so-called neurosis on your own, the method of positive affirmations will help you. To do this, first try to figure out the meaning of the ideas that prevent you from living, constantly spinning in your head, and then transform them into positive statements that you will begin to consciously repeat to yourself several times a day. Well, if you go back to the example with the iron on, you can reformulate it like this: "I am attentive and notice all the details and nuances that surround me."

You will find detailed instructions on how to compose and use them. And also get rid of negative wording, and generally from using a particle of "not" in your proposals. And for the success of this action, come up with a punishment, for example, 5 push-ups for each negative wording. You can make a bet with loved ones in order to increase motivation.

Any means of positive thinking will bring changes to your life, learn to notice the beautiful and pleasant in it, and then your consciousness will be rebuilt, ceasing to torment with obsessions.

8. Analysis of reasons

If you want to "look deeper" in order not just to get rid of the consequences, but to find out the root cause of your condition, I propose to try a paradoxical method, which consists in a thorough and detailed analysis of each thought. Take a sheet and arrange a so-called brainstorming session, that is, write down absolutely everything that is swarming in your head at the moment. It is not worth giving an assessment, just write until you feel that, so to speak, “zeroed out” and dried up a little, and you can stop there.

Re-read what you have written, what feelings do you have on the text? Find scary phrases, and "play" with them, writing out at least 5 points for each, answering the question: "What if?" Such exercises help to rationally approach the subject of tension and anxiety, since it often happens that emotions are so "overwhelmed" and a person is not able to realize that he is sometimes worried about something that does not actually coincide with reality, and if he looks more closely, you can see it.

9 driving to the point of absurdity

Laughter is the best therapy and an opportunity to release the accumulated energy, cope with anxiety, so why not resort to it? For example, you constantly replay the situation in your head that the girl will not like you on the first date. Now imagine how much she grimaces at the sight of you and tries to run away, but falls, this makes her even more frightened, and so on. Continue until you feel like the situation really makes you laugh.

This technique can be difficult for serious people who have forgotten what it is to play and have fun. But if you overcome your resistance, believe me, the result will not be long in coming. I am not calling you to be frivolous and irresponsible, it is just sometimes important to add lightness to your being, and even more so to humor.

10 postpone

Remember the immortal phrase of Scarlett O'Hara: "I will not think about it now, I will think about it tomorrow"? This is from the movie Gone with the Wind. Now, it really works. We do not reject an idea, we just put it off until later. And then she ceases to be intrusive, because the consciousness is calm, you will definitely return to her, only later. And then, perhaps, the level of tension will begin to fall, other pressing matters will appear that require your attention. But in this method, it is important to be honest with yourself, otherwise you will stop trusting yourself, so later, be sure to take time to realize exactly those fantasies that poison your life.

1. Prayer is suitable for believers, because even scientists have found that when a person prays, sound vibrations make the space harmonious and calm. And if you feel peace and quiet joy, then this will be the best treatment not only for the soul, but also for the body.
2. If you have completely different views on religion, then you can try meditation. From previous articles, you may have noticed how often I recommend resorting to it, and for good reason, because these methods really work, both on the physical level and on the mental level. You can learn more.
3. Start fighting bad habits, especially those that destroy health and kill time. With their help, you will not get rid of obsession, but, on the contrary, intensify it, up to the occurrence of prolonged depression, affective disorders, insomnia and panic attacks.

Conclusion

By changing your mindset, you will bring other changes into your life. So why not make it high quality and rich? Time passes, and it is impossible to turn it back, and neuroses only accelerate this process. So take care and value every minute, take care of your health and everything will be fine with you! Subscribe to updates and join groups in social networks, the buttons are in the upper right. And that's all for today, dear readers! See you soon.

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Obsession (obsessive syndrome) - obsessive thoughts, ideas in the head, actions. Such a disorder is one of the most difficult both for the personality itself and in terms of diagnosis and treatment.Due to this disease, the patient experiences difficulties in everyday life, work or study, communication with other people, and also constantly spends his time on performing certain endless actions, comprehending obsessive images and thoughts.

Obsession: characterization of the concept

Every person has intrusive thoughts or actions to one degree or another. In my head, you can constantly scroll through thoughts about an important upcoming event (exam or interview), you can worry about whether you turned off the iron or not, every morning, make your way along the same route. All this serves to reduce the level of anxiety, relieve nervous tension.

Moreover, about 40% of people experience nervous irritation, bad uncomfortable sensations when changing the usual order of things.

Obsession (obsessive compulsive disorder) is a mental disorder in which obsessive states of a different nature arise. These states appear from time to time, and represent involuntary ideas and thoughts, actions that entail the formation of a system of rituals.

Such conditions cause nervous tension and stress in the personality. Fixation on bad, painful thoughts in the head or ideas causes negative emotions, and thus can lead to the development of depression or can provoke neurosis (neurotic disorder). At the same time, patients do not suffer from impaired logical thinking.

Obsession is not just repetitive uncontrolled movements (compulsions) and not just scrolling or fixating on bad thoughts in your head. The peculiarity of the syndrome lies in the awareness of these obsessions in the individual. A person perceives obsessions and comulsions as something foreign, alien to his consciousness. Obsessions are perceived as intrusive, meaningless, sometimes contrary to their own nature, but the individual cannot fight, cope with them. The return of obsessions and similar states each time brings a person nervous tension, increases anxiety, and can cause bouts of depression and neurosis.

Types of obsessive states (depending on the scope of manifestations):

• motor (compulsions);
• emotional (phobias);
• intellectual (obsessive thoughts).

Obsession can also manifest itself at the level of gathering (excessive accumulation), desires, images, doubts, ideas.

In general, obsessive-compulsive disorder has a thematic recurring property. The most common topics are dirt, contamination, violence, order, symmetry, sexuality, aggression. What is especially, obsessions of a similar nature are found in healthy people.

A separate group can be divided into a state of obsession - "not good enough", from which a person has a feeling that the process is not finished. To cope, to overcome such a state, to eliminate tension, he has to repeat the same action over and over again, for example, turn on and off the light.

To relieve stress, distract from bad ideas, or reduce anxiety levels, a person has to create rituals for himself. This can be counting, rechecking, washing and other constantly repetitive actions. The patient realizes their meaninglessness, but still resorts to them, since they help, at least temporarily, to overcome fear or obsessive thoughts in the head.

Why and where does obsessive syndrome arise - the causes of the disease

At the moment, there are no clear reasons in psychiatry that would explain where obsessions come from, why symptoms of the disease occur, since the disorder can be caused by other mental disorders and diseases (neurosis, schizophrenia, depression, etc.).

But still, the main 3 reasons why obsessive neurosis occurs in science stand out:

• Biological factors - anatomical features of the CNS and ANS, impaired metabolic processes of neurotransmitters, infectious diseases, organic brain damage, genetic predisposition.
• Psychological reasons - depression, neurosis, peculiarities of the psychological type of personality, character accentuations, family upbringing, low or, on the contrary, high self-esteem and other factors.
• Sociological reasons - social phobia, prolonged stressful conditions, nervous and emotional stress associated with conflicts in the family or at work, etc.

Also, symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorders develop with other diseases:

• schizophrenia and delusional disorder;
• depression;
• psychosis;
• neurosis;
• encephalitis;
• epilepsy.

The main symptoms of obsessive compulsive disorder

Obsessive Syndrome can manifest itself both physically and psychologically.

Somatic symptoms of the disorder:

• bradycardia or tachycardia;
• reddened or vice versa pallor of the skin;
• dizziness and shortness of breath;
• increased intestinal motility.

Psychological symptoms of an obsessional state:

• Obsessive thoughts and reflections ("mental gum" - endless dialogues with oneself, aimless pondering of some facts, fantasies of actions, which, as a rule, are negative in nature.
• Obsessive images.
• Obsessive impulses - the desire to do something, aggressive or bad actions. This desire torments patients, causes tension, they are afraid that they can realize it, but they never undertake to implement it.
• Obsessive doubts - can be associated with unfinished actions or various phobias.
• Contrasting thoughts are scary or bad thoughts towards relatives, colleagues, or other people, with no strong antipathy towards them. Contrasting thoughts are often combined with images and impulses.
• Obsessive phobias are the most common: fear of germs, dirt, fear of getting infected with something.
• Obsessive actions (compulsions) are a system of rituals that is protective for the individual.
• Obsessive memories are often painful, bad, with an inherent feeling of remorse or shame.
• Hallucinatory states occur less often.

Contrasting (aggressive) obsessive thoughts

Contrasting thoughts are very diverse. Usually these are negative images of harm, violence. The main symptom of such thoughts and ideas is the desire to hurt or harm. Often this state can be directed towards oneself.

Typical contrasting thoughts: fear of harming someone or even killing (strangling your own child or husband, poisoning or pushing them from a height). Such states torment the patient, he experiences terrible stress, a feeling of guilt for his thoughts, fear of submitting to his desires. Contrasting thoughts, ideas, impulses are never realized in real life.

How to get rid of obsessive thoughts: diagnosing and treating the disorder

The problem of treating a disease is the difficulty of making a diagnosis. After all, the symptoms of obsession occur in many other diseases. Therefore, a psychiatrist must carry out differential diagnostics, as a result of which it is excluded:

• neurosis or neurasthenia;
• schizophrenia;
• hysteria;
• depression or other affective disorder;
• other somatic diseases.

Differential diagnosis in neurosis and schizophrenia in a person, especially in neurosis-like and sluggish types of schizophrenia, is rather difficult.

Obsession in schizophrenia has a number of features:

• the emotional component is pale,
• there are no obsessive images,
• some monotony and systematicity is observed,
• there is rigidity and monotony in obsessions.

With sluggish schizophrenia, an obsession with doubts is especially pronounced. In the symptomatology of low-grade schizophrenia, there is a critical attitude towards obsessions, they are regarded as painful and alien to the personality itself, the patient tries to cope with them. With the progression of the disease, criticality subsides, painful tension decreases due to the impotent struggle with obsessions.

How to treat the disorder

Treatment of the syndrome can be conditionally divided into three types:

• etiological;
• psychotherapeutic;
• pathogenetic.

Etiological treatment of obsession is aimed at eliminating the cause that injures the patient. Pathogenetic treatment, which is considered fundamental in the fight against personality obsessions, is designed to eliminate pathological changes in the brain.

Treatment with psychotherapy is considered to be quite effective, as evidenced by various clinical trials. Methods such as cognitive-behavioral and exposure therapy, hypnosis, auto-training, psychoanalysis are used.

Medication used to treat the disease: antidepressants, antipsychotics, tranquilizer tablets.

To defeat the disorder, its treatment must be comprehensive, and also include physical therapy, good nutrition, and rest.

Hypnosis is used along with CBT or in cases where it does not work. Hypnosis (suggestive therapy) can be effective at the deepest levels of the psyche, and hypnosis also helps to fight phobias. Treatment with such therapy should be carried out only by a highly qualified specialist.

How to get rid of obsessive thoughts and fears on your own?

It is impossible to fight obsession with folk remedies, but you can do it yourself. To do this, you need the following recommendations:

• Obsessive-compulsive illness is a chronic disorder that will have to be dealt with throughout your life. There will be moments of retreat of the disease, and there will be bad moments of relapse.
• Never stop fighting, don't give up work on yourself, don't despair.
• Do not shift the performance of your rituals to family and friends.
• Don't beat yourself up for your thoughts, develop positive thinking.
• Try to avoid those situations that can provoke obsessive thoughts and states.
• Try to find a good psychiatrist who can help you overcome your fear and obsessions with therapy. In some cases, drug treatment is significantly inferior to CBT and other methods.
• The EPR method (exposure and prevention of rituals) can be used independently. It consists in voluntarily finding himself in a situation where obsessive thoughts arise, while the patient must resist the impulse and perform his usual ritual. If you try to stay in this state for as long as possible, you can eventually achieve tolerance, and understand that without performing your protective rituals, nothing terrible happens around.
• Try to shorten the time you spend doing your rituals. Try to realize that these obsessive thoughts and rituals are false and in fact completely unimportant.
• Do not try to distract yourself from obsessions and images, the struggle with them is meaningless, let them into your consciousness, but do not conduct a constant endless "dialogue" with them.

In solving the problem of how to get rid of obsessive thoughts about a person, fears, actions, you can independently resort to the method of cognitive-behavioral therapy, which is based on knowledge about the disease, awareness and behavior correction.

CBT is carried out according to the following principle:

• Step 1. Shifting emphasis. The ability to recognize your symptoms and call them by their proper names (the thinking model “is obsession thinks so, not me; it is the compulsion that wants to do, not me).
• Step 2. Decrease in importance, which is based on the awareness of their disease. You need to understand that obsessive thoughts - false, wrong, having nothing to do with reality. And then voltage, which is experienced in the non-fulfillment of their usual rituals, is nothing more than the result of biochemical processes in the brain. By accepting your illness, treating it as a medical phenomenon, you learn not to berate yourself for your bad thoughts or fears.
• Step 3. Refocusing... This is a difficult stage that requires time, will and training. It is based on a shift in focus from obsession to something useful or reasonable. When arises obsessionor compulsion, you need to designate for yourself that this is a symptom of the disease and that is how you treat it, try to switch to something else that brings benefit or pleasure.
• Step 4. Revaluation... By completing all the steps in a comprehensive manner, a reassessment of the significance of your obsessions gradually comes, you will learn not to give them special importance, significantly reducing the time for performing your rituals.

It is impossible to comprehensively and effectively treat the disorder with folk remedies. But there is also another side. Treatment with folk remedies helps well in relieving some of the symptoms, nervous tension and excitement.

Respiratory gymnastics, herbal sedative teas will help normalize the emotional state, both for a woman and a man.

Obsession is a serious disorder that noticeably spoils the patient's life, but the desire to defeat him, a systematic struggle, hard work on oneself will allow him to take control of the disease, so that finally a calm, happy life comes, in which bad thoughts, feelings of guilt do not torment, and there is no need waste time performing meaningless rituals and experiencing groundless fears.

Often, negative thoughts and feelings prevent us from enjoying the good things in life. Gradually, we begin to think more and more often about the bad, and immersion in negative thoughts becomes a habit that is difficult to eradicate. In order to overcome this habit (however, like any other), it is necessary to change the way of thinking.

When we worry about something, the last thing we need is for thoughts of bad things to intensify stress, so it is very important to learn how to deal with the endless stream of thoughts. In this article, we will tell you how to rid yourself of unnecessary worries.

Steps

Change your way of thinking

Think about today. When you are tormented by anxious thoughts, what do you think about most of the time? You are probably reliving past events (even if it happened a week ago) or thinking about what will happen in the future. In order to stop worrying, you need to remember about the present moment, about today. If you shift your attention from what has already happened or will be, to what is happening now, it will become easier for you to stop taking everything too negatively. But, as is often the case, this is not so easy to do. In order to learn to live in the present, you must first learn to concentrate on what is happening to you literally at this very minute.

• There is one simple technique: look at a soothing image (photo, painting). This will allow your head to rest and let go of all bad thoughts on its own, and this happens only in a natural way - that is, when you are not trying to deliberately get rid of thoughts and do not wait until you finally succeed. This is a very simple yet powerful way to calm down and relax.
• If that doesn't work, try to distract your mind by counting from 100 to 7, or pick a color and look for all of the items in the room for that color. This will get rid of the chaos in your head, and then you can again focus on the present moment.

1. Do not withdraw into yourself. One of the consequences of focusing on bad thoughts is often the increasing distance between you and the world around you. If you decide to get out of your shell and reestablish connection with the world, you will have less time and energy for bad thoughts. Do not scold yourself for negative thoughts or emotions - this will only make things worse. Perhaps you often thought that you really disliked someone, and then felt guilty about such thoughts or were angry with yourself because of this. Because of this perception, cause-and-effect relationships and incorrect attitudes are strengthened in the head, from which it becomes extremely difficult to get rid of over time. Below are some simple ways to switch from your inner world to your outer world.

   Develop self-confidence. Self-doubt in all the variety of its manifestations often becomes the main cause of hard thoughts and strong feelings. This feeling constantly haunts you: whatever you do - it is everywhere with you. For example, when talking to a friend, you worry all the time about how you look, what impression you make, instead of just talking. You need to develop self-confidence, and then it will be easier for you to live a fulfilling life and not torment yourself with destructive thoughts.

   • Try to do something fun on a regular basis - this will make you feel confident in your abilities. For example, if you are good at baking pies, enjoy the entire baking process: knead the dough with pleasure, enjoy the aroma that fills your home.
   • When you’re able to develop the ability to live the present moment with joy, remember that feeling and repeat it as often as possible. Remember that the only thing that keeps you from feeling in the present is your perception, so stop harassing yourself with self-criticism.

   Understand How Consciousness Works

   1. Reflect on your attitude towards negative thoughts or feelings. Since bad thoughts often just happen out of habit, they can come as soon as you stop taking care of yourself. Promise yourself not to focus on these thoughts, because you need to learn to not only let them go, but also not to allow new ones to appear.

      Watch yourself . Determine how your thoughts or feelings manage to control you. Thoughts have two components - the topic (what you think about) and the process (how you think).

      • Consciousness does not always need a topic - in cases of its absence, thoughts simply jump from one to another. Consciousness uses such thoughts in order to protect itself from something, or in order to calm and distract from something else - for example, from physical pain, from fear. In other words, when a defense mechanism is triggered, often consciousness simply tries to cling to something to give you a topic for thoughts.
      • Thoughts that have a specific theme have a very different character. Perhaps you are angry, worried about something, or thinking about a problem. Such thoughts are often repeated and always revolve around the same thing.
      • The difficulty lies in the fact that consciousness cannot be constantly absorbed by a topic or process. In order to rectify the situation, it is worth remembering that thoughts alone cannot help matters. Often we do not want to let go of thoughts and feelings, because we want to better understand the situation: for example, if we are angry, we think about all the circumstances of the situation, all the participants, all actions, and so on.
      • Often our desire to think about something is simple think turns out to be stronger than the desire to let go of thoughts, which greatly complicates the whole situation. The desire to think only for the sake of the "thinking" process can lead to self-destruction, while this struggle with oneself is another way to escape from the situation that initially caused thoughts. It is necessary to overcome the desire to constantly comprehend something and learn to let go of thoughts, and after a while the desire to let go of thoughts in all cases will be stronger than the desire to scroll something in the head without stopping.
      • Another problem is that we are used to thinking of thoughts as part of our personality. A person is not ready to admit that he can inflict pain and suffering on himself. There is a generally accepted opinion, according to which it is believed that all feelings concerning oneself are valuable. Some feelings lead to negative experiences, others not. Therefore, it is always necessary to look closely at the thoughts and feelings in order to understand which ones are worth leaving and which ones are worth letting go.

   2. Try some experiments.

      • Try your best not to think about a polar bear or anything incredible - like a raspberry flamingo with a cup of coffee. This is a rather old experiment, but it reveals the essence of human thinking very well. When we try to refrain from thinking about the bear, we suppress both the very thought of it and the idea that we need to suppress something. If you specifically try not to think about the bear, the thought of it will not go anywhere.
      • Imagine holding a pencil in your hands. Think about the fact that you want to quit. In order to throw a pencil, you need to hold it. As long as you think about leaving him, you keep him. Logically speaking, the pencil cannot be dropped as long as you hold it. The harder you want to throw, the more force you hold onto it.

   3. Stop fighting thoughts by force. When we try to overcome any thoughts or feelings, we try to gather more strength to strike, but because of this, we grab onto these thoughts even more. The more effort, the more stress on the mind, which responds to all these attempts with stress.

      • Instead of trying to forcefully get rid of thoughts, you need to loosen your grip. The pencil can fall out of the hand by itself - in the same way, thoughts can leave on their own. It may take time: if you tried to forcefully eradicate some thoughts, consciousness could remember your attempts, as well as its response.
      • When we go over our thoughts in an attempt to understand them or try to get rid of them, we do not budge, because thoughts simply have nowhere to go. As soon as we stop dwelling on this situation, we release them.

   Learn new

   1. Learn to deal with thoughts. If a thought or feeling comes back to you again and again, there are many ways to keep it from engulfing you.

      • There is probably a movie that you have watched many times, or a book that you have reread. You always know what will happen next, so you are not so interested in watching a movie or reading this book again. Or maybe you've done something so many times that you don't want to do it again because you know how bored you will be. Try to transfer this experience to a situation with thoughts: as soon as you lose interest in thinking about the same thing, the thought will go away on its own.

   2. Don't try to run away from negative thoughts and emotions . Are you tired of the exhausting thoughts that are always with you, but have you really tried to deal with them? Sometimes a person tries to pretend that something is not, instead of accepting it. If you do this with negative thoughts or emotions, they can stay with you forever. Allow yourself to feel what you need to feel, and then let go of unnecessary emotions. If your mind forces thoughts and emotions on you, it can make you judge yourself. There are many manipulative mechanisms in our minds, and we do not even suspect about many. Consciousness manipulates us, as it seeks to control us through dependence on a variety of things and strong desires. By and large, we are driven by our addictions.

      • Remember that your happiness is in your hands, that feelings and emotions should not determine how you manage your life. If you allow your past or future experiences and obsessions to control you, you will never be able to live a fulfilling life.
      • Control your thoughts yourself. Turn them inside out, change them - in the end, you will realize that you have power over thoughts, not them - over you. Replacing negative thoughts with positive thoughts is a temporary measure, but it can be extremely helpful at the right time. It will be easier for you to let go of thoughts if you feel that you yourself are able to control everything.
      • If your thoughts revolve around a problem that you still have to solve, do your best to come up with ways to get out of the problem situation. Do your best, even if the situation seems completely hopeless.
      • If your thoughts and feelings are related to a sad event (such as the death of a relative or a breakup), allow yourself to feel sad. Look at the photos of the person you miss, think about the good things that you have experienced together, and cry if this makes you feel better - all this is human. It is also helpful to write your feelings in a journal.

   Remember the good

   1. Know how to remind yourself of the good. If you're stressed, tired from work, or just feeling overwhelmed, bad thoughts may come back again. In order to prevent them from completely absorbing you, use special methods of dealing with unwanted thoughts that will prevent them from taking root.

      Do visualization. This method will be especially useful for those who are very busy and who do not have enough time to rest. It is necessary to present in detail some pleasant place: it can be a memory of a place where you felt good, or a fictional place.

   2. Think about your accomplishments. The world gives us many opportunities to enjoy life: you can help others, finish your business, achieve certain goals, or simply get out into nature with your family or have dinner with friends. Thinking about the pleasant develops self-confidence and makes us more receptive to the good.

      • Give thanks for what you have. For example, write down three things for which you are grateful to the universe. So in the head you can quickly "put things in order" and get rid of the stream of thoughts.

   3. Take care of yourself. Feeling unwell will prevent you from fully enjoying life and staying optimistic. When a person takes care of his body and takes care of his state of mind, negative thoughts and emotions simply have nothing to cling to.

      • Get enough sleep. Lack of sleep lowers vitality and does not contribute to a good mood, so try to sleep at least 7-8 hours a day.
      • Eat well. A balanced diet will allow your brain to get all the nutrients it needs. Include plenty of fruits and vegetables in your diet.
      • Go in for sports. Regular exercise will not only help you stay fit, but also fight stress. Both will contribute to better well-being and allow you to free yourself from heavy thoughts.