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Learning to Cope With Unwanted Thoughts Through Proactive Thinking

User Profile: comfortableNight4463
comfortableNight4463 September 9th, 2022

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"Researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem found that proactive control is better than reactive control in managing intrusive thoughts.

Free Association and Proactive Thinking


As part of the study, researchers gave 80 volunteers 60 word cues on a computer screen. The volunteers then had to write an associated word for each cue. Participants in the control group could reuse the same associated word when a cue word was repeated, while participants in the test group had to think of a different associated word each time. Participants also ranked on a scale of 0 to 10 the extent to which each word reminded them of the cue word. They found that, with the test group, weaker associations increased reaction time, while they also gave faster reaction times compared to when the associations were strong—showing that proactive rather than reactive response can be effective.

Managing Intrusive Thoughts


Being proactive isn’t about giving the unwanted thought free rein, but “making it conscious, challenging its validity, and whether or not it serves us” so that we choose how we want to feel and think. “If you often have a recurring intrusive thought, or you notice a similar theme, ask yourself what it might be rooted in,” she says, “Does it tie back to how you felt about yourself when you were younger, or things other people may have said to or about you? This can give you a clue to where it may originate, and can take some of the power out of it.

Martin supports the idea of challenging intrusive and unwanted thoughts: “If your thoughts make you feel uncomfortable, and you believe there is some truth to them, what positive action can you take to make a change?” she says. “If there is no truth to them, why are you allowing them to intrude in your day? How would you LIKE to think and feel instead? And what can help you achieve that? What needs to change in how you live your life or how you think to enable you to feel differently?”

“When you have more conscious awareness of the thoughts that come into your mind, you can start to choose whether or not to allow it in.”

Intrusive Thoughts and the Pandemic

Researchers in Canada spoke of a “COVID Stress Syndrome” developed by some individuals over the last couple of years, and this can involve COVID-related intrusive thoughts among other symptoms, like fear of infection or fear of touching surfaces that could be contaminated.
“Many of us were forced to sit in our homes in the quiet without the outside distractions we previously used to utilize to drown out intrusive thoughts, ignore trauma or mental health issues and help us overcome our addictions by replacing them with other things,” adds Roach, “In some situations, it was good because it forced us to address the things we weren't addressing. In other situations, it was bad because it took away the good distractions needed to help us get better.”"

Read the complete article available at Very Well Mind!

Reflection:
How do you deal with unwanted thoughts?

#IntrusiveThoughts #ProactiveThinking #MentalHealth
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User Profile: Sunisshiningandsoareyou
Sunisshiningandsoareyou September 9th, 2022

@comfortableNight4463

Interesting read, thankyou for sharing, Night. <3

Intrusive thoughts can be persistent at times and often pop outta nowhere, in the most random situations oof.

I find it helpful at times, to question a "why" to them, as mentioned in the article too, it may help to know where the thought is stemming from, or what may have triggered it, so one is able to work on the root cause of it.

Other times ofcourse distraction techniques can be helpful. :)

Sending so much love to anyone dealing with these, it's incredibly hard experiencing such thoughts. Hang in tight, people, one thought at a time, we got this. <3

User Profile: calmDew1576
calmDew1576 September 9th, 2022

@comfortableNight4463 Intrusive thoughts are oftenly associated with stress and for a good reason. When we are in stress the brain can get confused very easily.

It's important for people to realize that they're not the only ones who experience this phenomenon.

Proactive thinking can help at understanding someone's self and how their brain works. Plus it can help plan what to do in times of crisis.

Thank you for the informative post!

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