IMatter Peptalks

How To Get Rid of Disturbing Thoughts

Have you ever had a thought that you couldn't get out of your head no matter how hard you try? Well is some steps that I take to get rid of these thoughts without as much of the trial and error that I had to go through 😉

Step 1: Know it's normal

Disturbing thoughts are called disturbing for a reason and we often times guilt trip ourselves for having them thinking it makes us a bad person however we fail to realize that being disturbed by these thoughts and and feeling disgusted and displeased with ourselves by just having them is normally proof of our humanity and goodness for lack of better words. So know it's normal and it doesn't mean you're a bad person.

Step 2: Visualize a doppelganger

Doppelganger isn't the best word to describe what I mean it sounds cool o.k. What I mean is replace this thought or image by visualizing a similar one. For example blood vs ketchup. I have visualized brown fuzzy pants on a blonde model before as my second replacement image. Keep in mind your brain may wander to the first thought or image before you can fully replace it and even then it may wander due to the third step. Don't worry you can always come up with more visualizations that have very slight similarities so that you won't be tempted to connect the dots anymore. Perhaps you can gradually work up to a black screen or nothing.

Step 3: Don't implant it

In our worry over the thought itself we often implant the image in our brains more than necessary a way to stop this is by recognizing that your worry may be the only thing keeping this thought in your brain and holding you back from moving on from it. Now try not to worry about not worrying, it takes away the point of this step, instead try your best to recognize your worry as the root of the problem and simplify it. Remember what you think will happen will happen so tell yourself affirmations that it won't and don't half-a** it.

Step 4: Try everything

Don't be afraid to do things you normally wouldn't to help the process along. Now I don't mean jumping of a plane without a parachute but things like meditation, praying (If your religious and haven't practiced in a while you can also go to confessions,mass, and read the bible), and buy worry dolls (whether you believe in them for them or prefer a Placebo Effect type of approach) These are just a few of the things I have done and found useful myself so try brainstorming some things yourself!

Lastly

Step 5: Loop

Now I dont mean repeat these steps over and over again though that can helpful as well, I mean loop your replacement image. For example imagine a black slate in the original images place and loop it till it is natural to you. This also helps me in clearing my mind when meditating and getting a song out of my head when I'm trying to sleep (I think of the end of the song let it fade out and then loop the white noise) but the point is you can loop your desired image in its place till it becomes second nature and it will come up in the original thought or images place until it eventually fades away.

Step 6: Distract yourself
Now don't distract yourself just to distract yourself but be productive finish summer reading, play an instrument, write a story, anything that you want to do but haven't had the courage,time, or motivation to do. This goes hand in hand with step 4 but you want to do something that makes you happy, puts your mind at ease and helps you forget for a little while.

That's it I hope you find this guide useful! Look forward to more pep-talks and guides like this.~Love Sophia ♡