irrational thoughts

[brittypixi]

My question is on irrational thoughts. I know that when you dwell or think about something for an extended period of time it will definitely get worse. But what im wondering is how it can get to the point where its almost like you really do believe it and while you can see the rational side of things, the irrational side will always take over. I feel like ive gotten to a point where even though I know what the truth is and what’s rational, my worrying just wont stop and I ruminate on the same irrational thought even when im telling myself that it doesn’t make sense, I have no proof and its irrational. Does anyone have any advice on irrational thoughts and how to get past them and really believe that they are not true?

[mamascrazy1985]

Wish i had some advice on how to make it go away but i dont. i am dealing with the same thing ......when its happening i try to think of other things and it makes it better but doesnt go away completely. at least u know some one read ur post lol good luck

[gaara]

My question is on irrational thoughts. I know that when you dwell or think about something for an extended period of time it will definitely get worse. But what im wondering is how it can get to the point where its almost like you really do believe it and while you can see the rational side of things, the irrational side will always take over. I feel like ive gotten to a point where even though I know what the truth is and what’s rational, my worrying just wont stop and I ruminate on the same irrational thought even when im telling myself that it doesn’t make sense, I have no proof and its irrational. Does anyone have any advice on irrational thoughts and how to get past them and really believe that they are not true?

I'm going through the exact same thing. I'm struggling with it but the one thing you have to hang on is your hope. Keep going until you conquer it. That's what anxiety does to you, because the negative thoughts come out of nowhere and out of the norm for you and are really scary they have a much bigger impact on you than the positive and rational thoughts so that might be why they overpower it.

It all depends on how much you want to change it and to keep fighting it because just remember, the feeling won't last forever. :)

[RoseFlower]

I suggest finding a trusted high-level therapist (PhD level) or a psychiatrist to discuss this with. Irrational thoughts can lead to a variety of any kind of psychosis, and that can be troubling and/or dangerous. I know a girl who suffered a psychosis twice before I met her and she recovered with therapy and her faith.

This is something you don't want to mess with. Have it checked out and find someone to talk to (therapist or Dr.) who has seen it all before (and worse) and will not judge.

My brother had illegal-drug-induced psychosis once, when we weren't in touch much, when he was a rebellious and angry hallucinogen-using teen to mid-20s. He doesn't talk about it much at all. I gather it was not a fantastic time for him. But psychosis can be caused by anything or seemingly nothing, so talk to a pro and rule out or prevent full-on psychosis.

Illogical thoughts are not fun. I find that wisdom literature (some bits of the Bible, some good poetry, and writings of peace-seekers and wise people everywhere) can help keep me grounded when my thoughts go awry. Or solid, good, grounding music can help me stay in the now.

Rose

[kathique]

I know what you mean. Intellectually you know the thoughts are irrational, but emotionally you can't believe it. Have you ever heard of Action and Commitmant Therapy (ACT)? I will try and find a link for you with furher info. I highly recommend the book "the happiness trap" by Russ Harris. He's an ACT therapist.

Rose - I don't think freaking the OP out with stories of psychosis and delusions is helpful. It's anxiety - not psychosis.

Will be back later with a link to ACT therapy.

[lawandorder]

Rose why are you here?
Do you even suffer from anxiety? Are you familiar with irrational thoughts?

"But psychosis can be caused by anything or seemingly nothing, so talk to a pro and rule out or prevent full-on psychosis."

Can you leave the conclusions to a professional? That's not even true.
What is a full-on psychosis? What is a semi psychosis? Could I have psychosis on a monday morning after a bowl of cereal - only a semi psychosis not a full blown one - then come out of it in the afternoon when I come home to a delicious dinner (stir fry) made by my room mate?

Could you be in a psychosis right now, without even knowing it? Because people with psychosis don't know they are in one. In fact, the only time someone is diagnosed with psychosis is when they have hallucinations/delusions. In which case, the majority of people visiting this site to not have those symptoms.

I can relate heaps to you brit, i get it too sometimes. What anxiety does is strip us completely of our confidence. So while we KNOW the irrational thought is untrue, we dont have the 100% confidence to say IT ISN'T, and move on.
So the trick here, as I reinforce to myself, is that these thoughts, 'are just thoughts', and do not need to be tested. You need to learn not to TEST yourself regarding the thought, because you'll start to test everything (which is what I did), and it just got frustrating, until i learnt to let the thought roll through and go.

This takes practice though and I promise that the part of you saying to yourself 'i know its not true, that thought, but why don't i believe it' will ALWAYS be there, no matter what. Because that is who you are, and you've been that way since you were a kid. The anxiety is (presumably) new-ish to you, or atleast this symptom, so it would take just as many years as you've been alive, to start actually acting upon the irrational thoughts...

Chin up, it will get easier...
Cheers

[kathique]

Link to ACT therapy info:

http://www.actmindfully.com.au/acceptan ... nt_therapy (http://www.actmindfully.com.au/acceptance_&_commitment_therapy)

[tconnorbok]

I get those dam irrational thoughts all the time and it sucks. I do tell myself that is all they are but they still stick around which causes the anxiety level to jump. It is like anything that I see bad I associate it with those irrational thoughts. I stopped watching the news it is bad all the time and most TV shows because my mind wants to latch on to the fear. I was never this way until this anxiety crap hit me one day out of the blue. I want to find the off switch to get back to my once normal life. It seems like when I started to take zoloft that is when all that started for me. :unsure:

[hesson81]

Yea, They are irrational thoughts and even you know it. A couple of reply's up someone was talking about psychosis, DONOT worry about that. That will not be your problem , you understand that they are irrational, psychosis is not your problem.

I sometimes wonder if there are people that post things like that on this site only to make out issues of anxiety worse. Luckily with practice, not even those will phase you.

I think that irrational worrying is a boat load of mental energy. You'll have to pin point what's going on in your life, if there is something, and pin it there, and then coping with the irrational worry will be a balanced coping approach.

I have been there, and used to hate it. I couldn't stand worring about stuff that I knew was not worth worrying about.

The balanced approach, remember that anxiety is cause by negative emotions. Try not to harness negative emotions by being upset about having irrational worry. What your going to do is this... Allow the worry to be there, because even you know it passes. Label it exactly what it is. It's an irrational worry, and it will pass. If your in the position to do so, then your gonna distract. Gonna have to go for a walk, or more better, intense work out session, take up an out door hobby. Sometimes it doesn't sound good, but Driving yourself out to do something physical, may be better than the irraional worry itself.

your Just gonna repeat this process. You don't even have to have faith, because I will tell you, it will pass.

Dealing with anxiety also includes laying down expectaions, i remember when I used to harness such negative emotion by thinking that irrational worry would never pass. Even I have experienced as you can agree, it makes you think that it's there forever. It's soooo not ;) In terms of expectaions, when you go through this coping process the effects of the irrational worry will lesson in intensity and become less frequent. Will it ever go away????...... Probably not!! But it doens't for even people that are defined as completly normal people. It'll get to a point where you just won't care about it. That's normal. Have rational expectaions.. :)

[forwells]

Howdy

You know there is one way you look at this .

IT IS NORMAL .

Yes that right , it is 100% normal to have these thoughts and you have always had these thoughts . We have upwards of 60,000 thoughts a day . The problem is now is that because with anxiety you are on high alert you see these thoughts more and then your anxiety tricks you into believing that they are more than they are .

Well its not just your anxiety but its the brain washing with bullshit that you have been taught to see also . You know like your mentally ill. That your brain is not working as it should . All this BS is there for one reason . It is there and has labels placed on it because if it wasn't then they couldn't sell drugs for it and psychiatrist would not have a job .

Look into the history of psychiatrist , there is not much that they have found to be a solid truth . I am sure 50 or 100 years ago people with anxiety would have been labeled mad and placed in a padded room . You can imaging what this would have done to their anxiety and that in turn they would have been see as worst and had worst treatment .

This is still happening today but there is no padded room . It is done by making people believe that they have no control over their lives and in order for them to live happy they have to rely on drugs . IT is not true . The truth is that you have the choose and you can do it drug free with help from people that know what they are talking about and don't have a vested interest in your health .

Do not let these sort of people brainwash you into believing their rubbish . They are not wizards with magic pills . You have the power and a good coach / therapist will help you to see that power and then you and only you can go on to change what needs to be changed .

Anyway off my soap box :lol:

As i said these are normal thoughts and are bought about for many reasons but there is no need to be scared of them at all because they are only thoughts and that's all they will remain if that's what you want .

I can tell you 100% that these thoughts will fade back into the back ground over time as your anxiety settles . And trust me i had some very weird and scary ones in the bad times . The thoughts that you are having now that freak you out , one day you will have and just laugh at them .

cheers kev :D

[Itzomi]

I suggest finding a trusted high-level therapist (PhD level) or a psychiatrist to discuss this with. Irrational thoughts can lead to a variety of any kind of psychosis, and that can be troubling and/or dangerous.

That is the equivalent of telling someone with an ingrown hair, "OMG, better go check that out! It could be a cancerous tumor!"

ALL of us here have irrational thoughts, or we would not be on an anxiety board. People here just need a shoulder to lean on - someone to tell them, "Hey, don't let this get you down, I've been there, too" type of thing. I'm sure everyone here aleady gets "Better get professional help!" comments with their real life friends and family, or perhaps they've already had it checked out and got the brush-off.

I don't mean to come down on you, you're a newbie and all, but people here need to be reassured (assuming something is clearly not a dangerous symptom), not frightened.

[Klyn]

I am actually going through the same thing right now.
I am fully aware that my thoughts are irrational yet I still think them.

For me, I have to tell myself to stop thinking about them. Or I try to distract myself, ie. play a game on my phone, text a friend, stuff like that.

The more distracted you become, the easier it will be to let go of the irrational thoughts.

[kathique]

I was thinking about this topic today. Irrational thoughts really are the nature of the beast we call anxiety. Without irrational thinking, we wouldn't have anxiety. It's interesting that while our fears differ, it's really the same old anxiety formula that frightens us.

[tconnorbok]

I would agree with that statement. If I didn't have those thoughts I think i would be 100% better. It is the fuel that anxiety needs to keep going. Maybe it is the only thing that it has left and thats a sign you are getting better and once you conquer it your free.

[cherryblossomer]

What I have the most issue with is that my irrational thoughts revolve around my boyfriend which I love very much and I just don’t know how to handle them sometimes because they can be so overpowering and really get me down. I can be happy and just cuddling with him and my anxiety will hit me like a ton of bricks and then I am just upset and worried and scared and sad. I don’t want to have these thoughts and be worried and have all these irrational thoughts when I KNOW I love him and that he makes me so happy. How do I get through this :(..

[Klyn]

What I have the most issue with is that my irrational thoughts revolve around my boyfriend which I love very much and I just don’t know how to handle them sometimes because they can be so overpowering and really get me down. I can be happy and just cuddling with him and my anxiety will hit me like a ton of bricks and then I am just upset and worried and scared and sad. I don’t want to have these thoughts and be worried and have all these irrational thoughts when I KNOW I love him and that he makes me so happy. How do I get through this :(..

I know exactly what you mean. You're happy and enjoying your time and then the anxiety kicks in. You start wondering if its too good to be true, then you start questioning things.. I do it all the time, it's so damaging to the relationship.. it's one of the hardest things for me to try and control. You really have to do your best and stop thinking those thoughts because remember, they're just thoughts. They aren't real, and they can't hurt you unless you let them.
Maybe your irrational thoughts when you're with your boyfriend comes from insecurities, because that's where mine comes from for sure.

[cherryblossomer]

I think the most frustrating thing about the irrational thoughts is that even though you SEE the rational side of things, the irrational side can seem to take over and make the rational side really hard to believe. For instance, i know i love my boyfriend because of x, y, z, its obvious really, but i get a thought and assume that because i had that thought that that is how i feel, when really this all just started because i had one random thought that when i thought of i didnt just throw out like i should have, and kept obsessing over something that makes no sense..and here i am now! i want to get out of this mess and just be happy with my boyfriend, i love him so much :/ so having the thoughts what if i dont love him blah blah are really upsetting to me.

[gaara]

I think the most frustrating thing about the irrational thoughts is that even though you SEE the rational side of things, the irrational side can seem to take over and make the rational side really hard to believe. For instance, i know i love my boyfriend because of x, y, z, its obvious really, but i get a thought and assume that because i had that thought that that is how i feel, when really this all just started because i had one random thought that when i thought of i didnt just throw out like i should have, and kept obsessing over something that makes no sense..and here i am now! i want to get out of this mess and just be happy with my boyfriend, i love him so much :/ so having the thoughts what if i dont love him blah blah are really upsetting to me.

What works for me is to try and have a night out with him. Go out for a few drinks have some fun. Go to the movies or even something harmless like the zoo and just talk you know. Enjoy the company. Keep those good times close to you and with time, the anxious and distressing thoughts will soon fade and you'll wonder how in the world you ever thought them.

I did the exact same thing when I got back together with my girlfriend last year, i was on edge all the time that I'd crumble like I did before but then as each good time I had with her past, the bad thoughts slowly but surely were erased...until I had a huge dosage of PTSD(pretty sure it's what caused the whole anxiety thing again in me this past summer) but I'm slowly working through it.

It's over when you want it to be over.