Combat Obsessive Thinking

Obsessive thinking affects 1 in 50 people and is one of the psychological problems most hidden by those who suffer from it. Obsessive thinking is getting hooked on an idea and not being able to get rid of it. Obsessive thoughts generally involve worry, an irrational or absurd worry. All of this causes unnecessary suffering.

We have all had a bad day, an argument or situation that just spoiled our day. Situations that make us spend the day thinking about them and how we could have acted or reacted differently. But, as much as we want to, we can’t stop thinking about it. Although we can no longer change anything, our mind does not stop reviewing it over and over again and it becomes a “I want to stop, but I can not”. That is obsessive thoughts.

Obsessive thinking as a psychological problem

We all have some obsessive thought. Thus, having one of these thoughts does not constitute a problem, much less a pathology. However, for some people it does constitute a psychological problem, since these thoughts significantly condition their lives. Also, they tend to hide them. It is very difficult to confess that one has something strange and ugly.

For these people, the recurring obsessive thoughts. The obsessive thoughts they have are about absurd worries, and although they know they are absurd, they cannot help themselves. A classic example of obsessive thinking is found in “Will I be able to commit a dishonest, prohibited act or a serious crime?”

Causes of obsessive thinking

Obsessive thinking arises for several reasons or, rather, for the combination of several reasons. One of the most common is related to the future, specifically, the need to predict the future. We want to know the future to predict it, to know that a misfortune will not befall us tomorrow. We want to control the uncontrollable, but we cannot. Unexpected things happen every day.

Another reason for obsessive thinking arises is related to our low tolerance for anxiety. We live in a world where we are always running and constantly bombarded with stimuli and information. We need to always be idle, doing things. All of this creates stress for us and we can feel anxious. Something normal for which our bodies are prepared, but not so much our minds. Faced with a certain idea that causes nerves, we want to get rid of it, appease it at the moment. We do not tend to reflect on it.

The last reason we will name is terribilitis. Terribilitis is the belief that any adversity is “terrible.” We consider ourselves the center of the universe, so any setback we consider the end of the world. This tendency to exaggerate problems is another reason for obsessive thinking. Although these are the three main reasons, there are others such as superstitious thinking, excessive shame, fear of ridicule, etc.

What to do in the face of an obsessive thought?

Any obsessive thought has characteristics that define it and that can help us neutralize its negative influence. The main one is that 100% of the people can get rid of them or reduce their power until it is negligible. We can all get rid of obsessive thoughts without the need for drugs. However, we will need to perform an intervention.

Treatment is based on learning to tolerate anxiety. The more anxiety we are able to tolerate, the higher levels of anxiety we will endure. To do this, you have to get used to anxiety, at least to certain levels of anxiety. In the same way, we have to learn to tolerate uncertainty. Being able to live without thinking that what we cannot anticipate will necessarily be bad.

On the other hand, we must also stop giving importance to the “bullshit”. Most of the problems we have are not very relevant, so one of the best things we can do with a problem is to place it in its real place on the plane of transcendence. For this we have to accept ourselves as we are. Erase the image of “perfect” so unreal that we are formed. You have to start being “sweet hooligans” who take on their imperfections. All this will help us to ward off useless thoughts in general and obsessive thoughts in particular. In short, we have to get it into our heads that “nothing is so terrible.”