Overcoming Unwanted Intrusive Thoughts: A CBT-Based Guide to Getting Over Frightening, Obsessive, or Disturbing Thoughts Paperback – Illustrated, March 1, 2017

Overcoming Unwanted Intrusive Thoughts. I think this is a valuable resource for clinicians and OCD suffers. I’m a strong believer that individuals who experience difficulties with OCD need to be given multiple resources from various sources throughout their treatment to help them better understand intrusive thoughts. I believe that this book helps provide valuable insight on such topics as how everyone experiences intrusive thoughts, how sometimes using self-talk incorrectly can lead to compulsions, the importance of observing thoughts and letting them go, and how energy spent thinking of a thought may make them ‘sticky,’ and more difficult to let go.The triggers for intrusive thoughts are varied and often unique to the person. The usual culprits are stress, anxiety, or external triggers like that person who cut you up in traffic that morning. Some mental health conditions, such as Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety disorders, can also trigger intrusive thoughts.But before you start worrying, let's clarify: intrusive thoughts are common. In fact, nearly everyone experiences them at some point in their lives. They're part of the weird and wonderful tapestry of human thinking. It's when these thoughts occur on a regular basis, become too loud, too disturbing, and or start affecting our daily life that they become a concern. But there is a way to manage them.Ever noticed how it's easier to deal with something when you're fully present? That's mindfulness. It involves focusing on your breath, the sensations in your body, or the sounds around you to cultivate an awareness of the present moment. This awareness allows you to observe your thoughts, including the intrusive ones, without reacting or getting swept away. These thoughts don't define you.Label thoughts: Observe intrusive thoughts without judgment and label them as "just thoughts."Try a guided technique: A simple breathing meditation can help you to stay grounded.Instead of reacting emotionally to an intrusive thought, simply acknowledge it for what it is: a thought, not a fact. This creates distance between you and the thought, reducing its intensity.By labeling it, “This is just an intrusive thought, not reality” you weaken its power and prevent it from spiraling into distress.Use a neutral phrase: Say to yourself, “Oh, there’s that thought again,” instead of engaging with it emotionally. This helps reduce its significance.Imagine the thought as background noise: Think of intrusive thoughts like a radio playing in another room—you don’t have to listen or react to every single sound.The more you resist, the stronger it tends to become. By allowing the thought to exist without reacting emotionally, you take away its power. Over time, this "allowing" approach helps the thought lose its grip, making it fade naturally.Use the "observer" mindset: Imagine yourself as a curious scientist or a neutral observer, simply noticing the thought without engaging with it.Remind yourself that thoughts are not facts: Just because you have a thought doesn’t mean it’s true, important, or requires action. Let it come and go like a passing cloud.

I will keep this as a night-stand book to refer back to regularly until the habits are natural. Explains, in-detail, why your attempts at stopping the thoughts keep failing. Shares different information than I've never received from a therapist (even CBT-trained therapist). As a Christian, I am cautious with psychology books; sometimes they take a purely humanist perspective (denying any spiritual realm). I found this to be helpful, neutral, and sensitive in explaining how combatting irrational, intrusive thoughts with an aggressive/fighting disposition (even with using prayer and Scripture) can mistakenly cycle more anxiety by giving the thoughts weight. You can trust God, but also, unintentionally, be feeding a cycle of anxiety by validating intrusive thoughts; the authors speak about how sometimes people have a crisis of faith from doing this.Purchased "Needing to Know For Sure" as soon as I finished this. Will likely buy the "Overcoming Anticipatory Anxiety" too.Here are a few notes I made about the book:I recognize that whoosh was "first fear." I can’t control first fear. This is the amygdala doing its job. It’s normal. First fear can be caused by subconscious thoughts. But thoughts are just thoughts. Thoughts are not facts. Thoughts feel real only because of the emotion I place on them. I will not explore, entertain, or try to solve a problem connected to the thought. I will allow and accept the thought. By validating if it’s true or false, I give weight to the thought. I will not give False Comfort a voice because it feeds Worried Voice and creates more anxiety. You can’t reason with Worried Voice because, unrealistically, Worried Voice demands 100% assurance when tunnel-visioned. I choose to "accept and allow” the thought, which is more of an attitude than technique. I will float above the fray by removing myself from a turbulent experience: holding a neutral, third-party perspective on my thought; it is the opposite of entanglement. Floating is a non-distressed, uninvolved, and non-judgmental perspective. You view the thoughts from an emotionally-removed perspective. The feeling of urgency that comes from intrusive thoughts is a false message; allow time to pass with the thought—in an unrushed accepting response —is how to stop it. Emotional discomfort does not mean real danger. The thought that it might come back is just another intrusive thought. It does not matter if a meaningless thought comes back. The most effective ways to rob thoughts of power is to continue doing what you were doing before. Acceptance is an attitude of allowing the thoughts and not a technique for stopping them. If I am checking if I’m having the thoughts, I’m not accepting. Acceptance is when I don’t care whether the thoughts are there or not because they are unimportant or worthy of attention and because they don’t matter. This reduces anticipatory anxiety, reduces avoidance, and cultivates okayness in the mind.