Some people experience anxiety when thinking about the materialization of bad thoughts. This obsessive state harms the person, his normal work and life. “Help me cope with the fear of materialization of thoughts,” these are the words that come from the lips of people suffering from such a phobia.
The possibility of thoughts materializing can cause panic fear
It is important to provide timely support to such people, because fear can be so strong that it is difficult to cope with it on their own. You should learn to motivate yourself to constantly fight the phobia in order to restore normal human functioning.
Truth and lies about the materialization of thoughts
The human psyche is endowed with one important property - thinking. Without it, people would become inert. All life, as well as the conditions of existence, are all the result of human activity, for which the mind, with its effective ideas and plans, is responsible.
It is worth thinking about materialization as a real possibility of the human brain. Many adherents of psychology are confident that such a gift exists, but it is not yet open to modern people. Various psychics and parapsychologists think so.
Good thoughts that can be materialized are a true gift of humanity. These thoughts, like bad ones, can have an impact on the outside world. It’s up to everyone to believe it or not, but scientists have proven with simple examples that the inexplicable can become real.
The first example is the influence of the human voice on plant grains. During the experiment, they were irradiated with X-rays, divided into two parts and placed in front of two different people. One of them said out loud the words asking him to germinate the damaged grains. The other was uttering a bunch of meaningless words. The result of this study amazed the public. The man’s request came true, but the second part of the grains could not germinate.
The second example is related to water. This liquid has its own memory, which is sensitive to external information. Its structure changes depending on a person’s emotions.
Fear of thoughts materializing
Obsessive-compulsive mental disorder causes negative, anxious thoughts. There are many examples. A person may feel shame or guilt for thinking about unintentionally harming their loved ones. Or he may think about the possible loss of his job and anxiously imagine moments of his own failures in his work life.
Psychologists are confident that human consciousness should be perceived as a separate world, connected to reality, but not influencing it. A patient with such a phobia erases all boundaries, thinking that his thoughts will cause harm. This kind of thinking leads to:
- to the appearance of negative emotions,
- to loss of self-control,
- to the emergence of obsessive thoughts that unfavorable fantasies may come true.
The appearance of bad thoughts and the fear that arises from their possible materialization negatively affects the patient’s psyche. A disorder develops that can later lead to mental exhaustion.
Fear of thoughts materializing: how to cope with a phobia
Scientists have found that more than 50% of the population of our planet suffers from obsessive thoughts, which not only constantly keep a person depressed, but also over time develop into a real phobia.
What frightens people most is that all the bad events that their consciousness has depicted will definitely happen.
What is the fear of materialization of thoughts and how to cope with it? Is it possible to lose self-control if you don't cope with your own anxieties?
Concept of materialization
Thinking is an integral part of our psyche. This is what makes us human and distinguishes us from other living beings on Earth. All events that happen in life are naturally reflected in our feelings and experiences.
Whether there is a reverse process in which our thoughts can materialize, no one knows for sure. Representatives of various fields have been arguing about this for a long time: psychologists, esotericists, psychics, doctors.
One thing is certain - for many people, the fear of ideas that can come to life in a negative way is quite real. Experts call this condition obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), obsession, or neurosis.
Obsessive thoughts usually arise completely unexpectedly for a person. Under their influence, a person begins to constantly think and worry. Most often, the same plot with various variations scrolls through his mind.
Absorbed by a negative stream of thoughts, a person becomes lost and falls out of reality.
Thoughts can be associated with both real fears and completely irrational ones. For example, anxious thoughts regarding health issues. Very often, as soon as we sneeze, cough or feel a slight pain, bad thoughts begin to haunt us.
Our consciousness immediately begins to look for symptoms of the disease, draws pictures of how we will be treated, and what we will do if the disease is incurable. As a result, we become fixated on this thought and bring ourselves to nervous stress. Although in fact our health did not deteriorate, and all the fears existed only in our heads.
Some people are afraid of harming their family and friends with their negative thoughts.
Do not forget that thoughts cannot force us to do something against our will. To do this, a specific intention to cause harm must be formed in the mind. For now there is no such feeling - these are just thoughts. They cause a lot of problems, but which can be successfully dealt with if desired.
Fear of your own “ideas”
If obsessive and anxious thoughts haunt a person relentlessly, this can create a fear of bad thoughts in him.
The understanding that we cannot influence the development of the situation, because at this moment thoughts do not obey us, also negatively affects us.
Strong experiences trigger physiological processes in the body that negatively affect our well-being. This manifests itself in a special way:
- Consciousness gets used to being in constant stress, as a result of which a corresponding reflex is developed in which any negative thoughts will cause fear and panic in us.
- During a stressful situation, the body actively produces hormones that negatively affect our brain activity. Consciousness ceases to distinguish a real threat from a fictitious one, since in both situations we experience real and genuine fear.
- The load on the cardiovascular and nervous systems increases. This is especially reflected in people suffering from vegetative-vascular dystonia: the heartbeat increases, blood pressure increases, sweating increases, tremors of the limbs appear, hands sweat, breathing becomes difficult, headaches occur.
- Trying to ignore intrusive thoughts can make the situation worse. Thoughts are just a signal that tells us that we have deep-seated psychological problems and we need the help of a specialist.
In this situation, under no circumstances should you scold yourself for weakness and inability to resist negative thoughts. Fear of our thoughts can become a real phobia, which will greatly poison our lives.
Understanding that fear is not the main problem will help you find peace. Our reaction to it is dangerous.
Fighting a phobia
Don't try your best to forget about obsessions - it doesn't make sense and will worsen your mood over and over again. Do not rush indiscriminately to take various medications that once helped your friends.
To cope with the fear of materialization of thoughts, you first need to realize that this problem has acquired the proportions of a phobia. In psychology, there are special exercises that will help you avoid negative thoughts and relieve fear:
- Burning. A simple, but at the same time very effective technique. All thoughts that disturb you and give you no peace must be recorded for a certain time in a specially designated notebook. After which these notes are carefully re-read and burned. This action will improve your psycho-emotional state, reduce anxiety, help get rid of obsessive thoughts, and also remove fear.
- Steps forward. The method suggests meeting your fear halfway. First, you should make a complete list of those situations that give rise to the fear of materializing thoughts. After this, you need to analyze the list and begin to artificially create similar situations. As a result, the body will gradually get used to them and stop perceiving them as stressful.
- Worst case scenario. You will literally have to act as a screenwriter. You should imagine the worst-case scenario in which your bad thoughts come true. It is best to record an audio recording that you can listen to constantly. This method will help strengthen your psyche and obsessive thoughts will leave you alone.
- Let's eat our fears. Everything is very simple. As soon as you feel fear emerging, start singing. Express all your thoughts and experiences in the form of a song. It doesn't matter what the melody will be, and that the lyrics may be awkward. By saying out loud everything that frightens and burdens us, we already reduce the level of fear.
- We visualize the picture in our head. The previous method works when we can put our experiences into words. What to do if bad thoughts and associated fears are present in our minds in the form of pictures? Replace them with happy images! You can also imagine fear in the form of some objects and imagine how they disappear and evaporate.
- Intensified soul-searching. This option invites a person to delve into their feelings and experiences in order to understand where fear came from, what are the reasons for the appearance of a phobia, and why anxiety has become the main feeling in your life, and positive emotions have disappeared.
All these exercises will help you not only understand why you are susceptible to this phobia, but also overcome it, free your life from fear once and for all.
A positive attitude and peace of mind play a huge role in the process.
If you cannot cope with your fears on your own, you need to seek help from a psychotherapist, who, after a conversation, will select the most suitable treatment method for you.
As a rule, many of our thoughts are related to what others think about us. Even after turning to a specialist for help, we continue to have complexes and worry about this. To successfully combat this phobia, you must be extremely frank, without embellishing or hiding your thoughts and experiences. The doctor will not judge; his main task is to help you start a new happy life.
Obsessive states: possible mistakes
You should not hope for instant results when fighting a phobia.
Fear could have been developing for years, so immediately learning to think in a new way, avoid anxious states, and stop negative thoughts is not easy.
This will require significant time and investment of certain mental strength. Some people will be able to take control of their thoughts almost immediately. Some people need more time.
Be prepared for the fact that at some point you will get tired of fighting and the fear may return. The main thing is not to stop working on yourself.
During this period, you should not share your experiences and emotions with others. By retelling our experiences, we once again experience stress. In addition, we can easily fall under the influence of acquaintances who will definitely want to give their assessment of the situation and tell us what we need to do.
In addition, exclamations such as: “Are you doing well?!”, “How are you coping? I couldn’t do that!” It really knocks you out of a positive mood.
Therefore, you should discuss all your experiences and doubts only with a psychotherapist, under whose guidance you learn to cope with your own fear.
You don’t need to push yourself all the time and wait impatiently for obsessive thoughts to disappear. Because you cannot, with the wave of a magic wand, stop thinking and worrying about this. Go to victory over your phobia gradually, impartially assessing your feelings, emotions and the situation as a whole, do not try to look for logic in the subconscious, do not delve into yourself and do not criticize yourself.
Conclusion
Use the above tips, and they will definitely help you cope with the fear of materializing thoughts. By getting rid of this phobia, you can easily start a new life filled with interesting, happy and joyful events.
Source: https://psyhoday.ru/strahi-fobii/pomogite-spravitsya-so-strahom-materializacii-mysli.html
Psychological portrait of the patient
Obsessive thoughts can occur in both children and adults. The psychological portrait of the patient has its own characteristics. According to psychologists, most often such an individual:
- Experiences fear of thinking as a process itself. The patient experiences confusion from struggling with his own fears.
- He painfully experiences his own uncertainty and is afraid that what he previously imagined will come true.
- Critical of himself. The patient understands that he has mental problems and perceives this as his own shortcoming.
- Demanding of himself. Existing signs of a nervous disorder force the individual to begin searching for a way to combat the problem that has arisen, constantly comparing those around him to himself.
The nature of bad thoughts can be different. The patient can talk about violence and cruelty, his own actions, sexual perversions, etc. Whatever he thinks about, his problems affect his general mental state. Therefore, it is important to promptly get rid of fear, which interferes with the full development of the individual not only spiritually, but also physically.
Bad thoughts can have different themes
Methods for overcoming phobias
Fear of bad thoughts and their materialization is not a serious psychological disorder. But you still need to fight it, because its presence and development can cause the appearance of neuroses against the background of nervous exhaustion.
Therapy is based on two main areas - awareness of the problem and the fight against it. The patient must independently take measures that will help him regain mental health. According to psychologists, the patient needs:
- Rationalize your own thinking. It is important to realize that these are just thoughts, and the experiences that arise are empty and have no validity.
- Set boundaries for the development of thinking in order to confront fear in a timely manner. Such actions will help avoid the occurrence of anxiety with accompanying feelings of guilt, shame, etc.
- Realize that a person is the creator of his own thoughts. Actions (as opposed to thoughts) are controlled by a person.
Learning to control your own thoughts is not so easy. If such methods are unsuccessful, you should consult a psychotherapist. The specialist will review the characteristics of the patient’s mental disorder and identify shortcomings in the methods used to combat fear.
How to stop thinking about bad things
Help yourself or consult a psychologist. Most experts are confident that such a psychological disorder can be easily eliminated. The fact is that obsession is a problem that can be solved even without taking sedatives. You need to learn to control your own thinking and promptly “switch” thoughts from negative to positive.
Another problem is finding motivation. The constant struggle with bad thoughts often becomes the cause of fatigue, when the patient wants to give up and not continue his path to recovery.
At such moments, it is important to talk to yourself, ask yourself what recovery will bring, and evaluate the work that has already been done. In addition, it is easy to find mental relief in simple things such as:
- watching your favorite movie,
- listening to music,
- hobby,
- going to a cafe with friends or family.
Any activity that brings pleasure will help you continue to fight your own fear. Surround yourself with positively minded people, and only then will you become happy yourself, stopping thinking about the bad.
Going to a cafe with friends will help you get rid of obsessive thoughts
Fear of sharing your thoughts.
Hello, Valeria. It’s good that it’s important for you to understand your thoughts, experiences, and what’s going on in your head. You have developed an excellent skill in sorting out thoughts in your head, and have learned to control your speech. You think before you say something, it's good.
And the fact that you pay attention to bad moments is good, because thanks to them you can learn something very important. But on the other hand, it is important not to focus on the negative, because what we pay attention to determines the fullness of our lives. And in order to have a lot of positive things in your life, you need to train your focus on the positive.
To do this, I propose one very interesting exercise; you will need to start a notebook and every day write down ten positive events that happened to you today. It doesn’t have to be something global, perhaps it will be not significant joys at all, it is important to learn to notice them.
You said: “I can’t share my thoughts with someone because I know that they won’t understand me,” I agree with you, it’s not easy to find a person who will understand us. And it may take a long time before we find someone who understands us. But by not talking about your thoughts, by deciding in advance for the person that he will not understand you, you reduce to zero the chances of finding understanding in his face. Our attitude and confidence that we will not be understood are reflected in our nonverbal message, which is certainly read by our interlocutor. Therefore, it is better to talk about your thoughts, being sure that you will be understood, this significantly increases your chances of understanding.
The fact that you fly out of real life while thinking about something indicates a high degree of absorption in your thoughts, feelings, and experiences. This is a high level of concentration on something when everything else becomes so unimportant that it simply disappears. This is a very good ability that is important to learn how to manage.
If we talk about the situation with a friend, sometimes people mistakenly read our behavior, because they are not psychics. Perhaps your immersion in the question and the importance of answering it seemed from the outside like doubts about the answer. It can be useful to tell a person one or another of your actions, states, emotions, without relying on his extrasensory abilities.
I think, rereading my answer, you will notice how you understand something valuable and important for yourself. You may not immediately see the changes that will happen to you in the near future.
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Exercises to combat fear
Psychologists advise patients with an obsessive fear of the materialization of their own thoughts to work on self-control. Special exercises can help with this. The most effective are:
- Burning. You need to write down disturbing thoughts on paper, then burn it, imagining how the fear itself is destroyed.
- Moving towards your own fear. One must master what one is afraid of. The path to recovery lies through the search for control of the condition using the method of forced adaptation. Along with attempts to master his fear, the patient gradually gets used to it.
- Recreating materialization. You need to artificially recreate any of your own anxious thoughts. The evoked emotions and reactions should be recorded in audio format, which the patient can later listen to, developing adaptive immunity to it.
- Self-digging. Dive into your own fears. It is important to find the essence of your critical condition, acting persistently and decisively, despite the anxiety that arises. You need to not turn away from your problem, but pay attention to it.
To find an effective way to combat anxiety, you need to understand its basic patterns. If the patient understands the specifics of his own fears, it will be easier for him to cope with them. Don't forget that you can always turn to specialists for help.
Burning your fears on paper will help you get rid of them.
How to get rid of bad thoughts in your head - 7 tips
Obsessive thoughts are just a stage of life that you are currently going through and which, like many things, you just need to endure. Even if the body is shaking from depression, despondency and resentment for the well-being of others (why me?), it will still pass with time.
I also faced this problem, so I understand your situation. At first, your whole life loses color, fear appears, and the ability to rejoice disappears. But then the wave goes down, and you gain valuable experience. The attitude towards many things changes, simple and important things are realized.
To speed up this process, I suggest you familiarize yourself with some techniques. They will help relieve mental pain and quickly return to reality.
But for a complete “recovery” we will still need time. It’s just that at a certain point you will be so tired of animal fear and self-humiliation that out of anger you will throw away obsessive thoughts without any techniques.
#1 Allow thoughts to be
About 30 years ago, psychology professor Daniel Wegner conducted an interesting experiment. He divided student volunteers into 2 groups and asked one of them not to think about the polar bear. Every time an image appeared in the subjects' minds, they had to press the bell button. The results of the experiment revealed that the bear appeared in the minds of the students several times a minute.
Based on experience, the professor concluded that the brain is incapable of controlling the thought process. He proved that the ban only causes an obsession in a person and, in fact, simply confirmed that the forbidden fruit is sweet .
You can read more about the experiment on Wikipedia.
By transferring the results of his experiment to our situation, we can understand why thoughts do not disappear so easily. In a constant effort to get rid of them, we only remind the brain of their existence, again causing a wave of feelings.
Therefore, in a moment of anxiety, you do not need to stop and drown out your thoughts . No matter how scary it may be, you must try to observe them and accept your condition. Over time, you will readjust and the mental images will not cause as much fear as they did before.
A thought is just an impulse; emotions do all the “dirty” work. And if you replace the emotion of excitement with the emotion of calm, then you can deceive your consciousness.
In general, the highest level of deception is to love your illness according to Sinelnikov’s book of the same name. For the body it will be simply an explosion.
At first it is incomprehensible and illogical to him, but then you feel better. Of course, there will be no love, but anxiety will gradually go away and emptiness will be established in the soul.
“Love” will, as it were, suppress emotions and temporarily create a neutral atmosphere.
#2 This is not from you
If you are reading this article, then a part of your consciousness understands that some, excuse me, bullshit is happening. Something just and overpowers your consciousness. But this shouldn’t be, these thoughts are disgusting and you have no right to have such power.
Therefore, obsessive thoughts are like an external enemy. Depths of the subconscious, energy waves, “demons”, etc. Let them fly, let them exist. The main thing to know is that this is not your inner essence.
Such an idea will help you treat yourself more loyally, and again calm your emotions. You seem to throw off responsibility from yourself and begin to fight not with yourself, but with an external enemy.
#3 Diary
If you don't have enough money for a psychologist, you can keep a diary. Not even to lead, but simply to pour out your condition at once. They are not afraid all their feelings, experiences, and most terrible forecasts on paper.
It’s like you’re communicating with a friend, you’re not afraid to look fear in the face. You do not hide from disturbing thoughts, do not hide your experiences from yourself
With these small actions you show your consciousness that you have not given up and are still ready to fight. You prove to yourself that you are not driven into a corner and can analyze the situation with a sober mind.
To completely relieve your soul, you can mock this leaf: tear it, burn it, soak it in water, etc. Everything here is limited only by imagination.
#4 Release your emotions
Seclude yourself, lie down, completely immerse yourself in despondency . Allow yourself to feel sorry for yourself, to feel the injustice of your situation. Instead of constantly holding back and feeling resentment, it is better to get rid of it immediately.
Cry once, but with complete dedication, hit a punching bag, scream into a pillow. Don’t be shy to express your emotions, because as we have already found out, they are to blame for everything.
#5 Obsession
You can try to hide from your thoughts by working, meeting with friends, or constantly fussing around the house. But this is only temporary relief, then the thoughts will come flooding back with renewed vigor.
It’s better to find an idea, an obsession, a hobby for yourself and at the same time use other methods. When you can remove bad thoughts for good, you will have something to do and keep your head busy.
Otherwise, there will be nothing to do, the head will be empty and the brain will again fill it with mental “nonsense”. The result will be a vicious circle: you will cleanse yourself, but your thoughts will return to what is pure.
To find your hobby, you can try:
- Do what you are interested in (If you like reading books, try writing, if you like fishing gear, try making them at home, etc.)
- Remember your childhood, some hobbies
- Ask yourself questions like “what would I do if I had $1,000,000?”
- Do popular things (language learning, sports, drawing)
- Look at the hobbies of people you admire
Don't be shy about your new hobbies. Firstly, we only live once, and secondly, this will help us cope with the current situation faster.
#6 Physical condition
When you are depressed and depressed, you should not forget about the needs of the body. You should also get enough sleep, eat right, and exercise.
This will not help directly, but it will significantly improve the condition of the body. And there is a direct relationship between the state of the body and the state of the soul.
#7 It's not that bad
The issue of obsessive thoughts has been around for some time now, and psychologists have entire collections of heavy books on this topic. They study them, go to all sorts of seminars, attend master classes.
This is because a huge number of people these days are susceptible to this condition. You can find them on forums, in different groups, chats. You are not alone, and you have support.
Don’t worry, at most , and everything will definitely change for you. The brain simply physically cannot hold one thought for more than this time. He will get tired of fear, monotony and depression. He will send it with the words “come what may.”
For example, for me this condition took about two months and for 2 years now I have been in excellent health with freedom from “mental diarrhea.” And now, I want to share the method that probably helped me the most.