Images of violence fill my head a lot lately. Things like hurting my dogs when I know I would never do that. humiliating. Is there a med for intrusive thoughts?
I once had this problem but it luckily dissolved with the voices after abilify. But even so, I struggle with intrusive thoughts as well.
Do you take AP’s? And if so, this is where you have to take initiative. I have grabbed techniques online and it’s to make a chart. In one line, you place “Negative thought” and write down your intrusive ones. On the other, you speak. “Positive Thought” and replace or counterattack the negative one.
It helped me a lot! I hope you’re intrusive thoughts go away soon 
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Same technique my pdoc showed me at CBT!.
Not always working though.
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yes, I’m on AP’s…I will try that thanks.
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This isn’t uncommon - the key here is that you don’t have a desire to do these things and would never do them.
I get the exact same thoughts, especially around fragile creatures - babies and small children, my cats. My roommate has graphic thoughts like this about her dogs. She tells me that she views these thoughts as her brain recognizing how fragile her dogs are, and how important it is for her to take good care of them, how much responsibility she has.
I think she’s right - when I have thoughts like that, they’re always accompanied by the knowledge that “it would be so easy to…” and a feeling of horror about what I could do. When I look at it as a reminder of how much power and responsibility I have, it makes it easier to let go of it. I just think, “That’s right, it’s important that I be careful and take good care of these creatures, because life is fragile and they depend on me.”
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@Rhubot yes, I get that. It’s like…the dogs are helpless…the “it would be so easy” part is what gets me…I still get thoughts of violence pushed into my head about what I used to believe and that involved chef knives against the dark side. Interesting that when I have the “it would be so easy to” thoughts accompany using a chef knife. I know there’s the link so I just ignore it…but it still makes me feel so bad. thanks rhubot…that made me feel better that you have the same thoughts.
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Try not to feel bad. You’re not getting these thoughts because this is something that, deep down, you want to do. My roommate loves her dogs and takes excellent care of them, but her thoughts like this involve a hammer. Mine involve my bare hands.
I can imagine that it must be particularly disturbing to have these thoughts tie into a previous delusion. I’d guess that the chef’s knife is just one of your brain’s go-to images and not give it any more weight than that.
But mostly, don’t punish yourself for having these thoughts. They suck, but they don’t say anything about you as a person. You don’t do these things, don’t want to, you find them repulsive, so you’re just fine.
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I get intrusive thoughts about my family getting hurt or me just driving off the road into the ditch. *shrug
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Instructive thoughts can be hassle sometimes. I try to challenge them whenever they appear, to the best of my abilities.
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I get intrusive thoughts about people coming to mind that I don’t like and saying stuff that annoy me. It’s really very irritating. I realized that what has troubled my mind as a schizophrenic has always involved thoughts and delusional voices of other people, so I generally stay away from them these days, except family. I do want to be a pro bass player one day, so I’ll have to get out there sooner or later, but I’ll avoid getting too personal with people. I realize I’m just not a people person.
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My therapist and I talked about how we tend to fuse with the thoughts, thinking they’re our own, hence become troubled by them. The best way I found to give them less importance is to know they’re a part of humanity I condemn, and that they come because I’m mentally ill, and that’s okay. You’re not a violent person, or a psychopath that would hurt your pets.
My therapist also said for me to give credit to all my self control. When they appear, I reject them and don’t act on them. A lot of people act on them. We don’t.
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