What to do about intrusive thoughts - shall I worry about acting upon them?

[blancheneige]

Hi. I'm a 20 year old female. I suffer from an anxiety disorder and I've started medication (fluvoxamine + pregabalin) a week ago.

I'm going through a massive anxiety crisis with the onset of highly distressing intrusive thoughts (that turn to obsessional thoughts). For example, I get the constant fear that I might lose control and harm or kill myself. I get mental images of me jumping out of the window out of impulse. Or often, I get the terrible fear that life might stop making sense and that I might simply die.

These thoughts alone are enough to provoke panic attacks for they make me think I might actually BE suicidal and act upon these thoughts.

Has anyone out there experiences this? What should I do about this?

[overunder]

I think I know what you mean. For years I would get weird impulses too. Like while i was driving I'd get this impulse to just let go of the wheel and see what happened. Things like that. But I never acted on any of those impulses. You've got to trust yourself that you will be able to maintain control. I know, it's easier said than done. I'm a few years older than you and having gone through some of the same stuff, I can say from my experience that it gets better over time.

Just wondering, did these thoughts start before or after you went on fluvoxamine and pregabalin? Sometimes anxiety meds can have weird side effects that include thinking some pretty far-out thoughts.

One other thing that helped me is to have something to think and obsess about that's good for me. I got really into Yoga for a few years for example, and sometimes when I'd get those impulses I'd try to switch to thinking about Yoga, which i was very passionate about.

[kellyzac]

hi im a 27 year old with three children i can relate to these thoughts i was started on a medication which i cant remember the name but sounded like the one you are on and it tipped me over the edge i constantly thought i was going to hurt my children or myself to the point of one day i took my mom to the train station and waited with her for her train and i was shaking with fear because all i could think was i was going to jump on the tracks i could feel myself pulling towards them and visualise what would happen its horrible. I was taken off that med and put on sertraline which i feel so much better on. My doctor said sometimes these meds can actualy make things worse in some people! Dont worry to much ive never acted on any of these thoughts they are just irrational thoughts. Hope this helps.

[acasey]

i can relate to you with that same thought.i worried aboout the same thing. you will never act on it, trust me. the fact that the thought of it scares you says it all. if you got this thought and said "hmm that sounds like a good idea". then that would be a concern. but sense the thought clearly scares you enough to ask for advise about it, you are oviously never gonna do it. anxiety can cause alot of things. intrusive/crazy/scary thoughts beinng one of them. its only a thought. just becuase you think something does not mean its going to happen. hoped this helepd

[marmaladesreturn]

Yep, I too get them. There has been some good advise above.

Just remember that they are only thoughts. Not facts. You have never acted on them, nor will you ever. They are scary, because your body acts in a 'flight or fight" response - sending adrenaline running - making you feel crazy. As soon as you can take the emotion away from the thought, you will find that you will think about them less. And every day will get better. I found that if I invited the scary thought rather than resisting them they lost some of their "scariness" because I was able to control it.

Practice just observing the thought come into your mind and watch it pass like a cloud in the big blue sky. Imagine you scary thoughts are clouds, if you look past the cloud you can see an empty sky. You mind is the sky and a cloud is a scary thought that will pass.

:)