Hello, I recently read many comments on a thread regarding intrusive, unwanted thoughts, images, sounds etc… this happens to me too. Especially at night when I am trying to go to sleep but I can’t because the thoughts keep coming even though I try to stop them. I thought it was just me, but I realized other people go through this as well. Does anyone know what these intrusive thoughts are? Do they have a name ? For example if I WANT to think of an apple , I can see an apple in my head. But if I don’t want to think of an apple and it randomly appears in my head over and over again for a couple of minutes (it just happens) is that an intrusive thought? It can even be more complex and disturbing than just apples.
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Hi @Ruby_Lall nice to meet you! I have those they are the worst at night when I lay down and try to fall asleep because I’m still and it’s quiet. Over and over really bad at times and yes worse than apples lol
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I had intrusive thoughts sometime. For example I get a complex hallucination scenario and I keep dwelling on it for weeks or even years. Every patient tends to suffer symptoms more acutely either early in the morning or just before midnight, in a few hours range.
I found no solution for intrusive thoughts. There is no way to get one’s mind off of them. Anything that even approached helping me with my intrusive thoughts was healthy sleep, strict diet and physical exercise. Some amateur therapy helped as well, but it can also be harmful, depending if one’s susceptible to certain triggers.
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Hi Turtle41 , nice to meet you as well! Thank you for the reply . It is definitely hard to deal with . I am also glad to know it’s not just me and other people understand what it’s like too. I guess it creates a sense of “hey I get you” kind of feeling. I hope it gets better for you, do you happen to know why this happens ?
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Hi vladyslavbond
Thank you for your reply! I appreciate it. Do you know if this is a sign of schizophrenia or any other mental health problem? Yeah I feel you, I also have been experiencing it for awhile too. I’m glad some things have helped you, even though it is quite hard to get rid of completely.
if you haven’t been diagnosed as schizophrenic I doubt you are…you might just be scaring yourself with your own thoughts…if you were schizophrenic it would go deeper, much deeper than that…I am not a doctor however and I think I will just be quiet because I don’t know anything about you.
Hi Jukebox,
Thank you for your reply! I haven’t been diagnosed and think I should seek a therapist. I don’t know what causes this and why it come about . Sometimes I’d think maybe it’s just overthinking but when I try to stop thinking about it it keeps going .
I told my pdocs nurse about intrusive thoughts I was having a few years ago about wanting to hurt the pdoc and they misconstrued my description of the thoughts as an actual threat to the pdoc. They then canceled my ability to get medical care at that clinic. Now I know to keep those kinds of thoughts to myself…
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its natural to form images and thoughts in the mind especially at the end of the night when we are tired and ready for sleep, its a human thing to do, it only becomes a problem if you become overly focused on them, it is bad idea to focus on them too much and we should just try and let them float past like clouds. let them pass by and enter the land of dreams 
Intrusive thoughts is indeed a sign of some kind of mental illness. However, to be a schizophreniac, or even someone with a milder case, around thirty to fifty more symptoms is required to even consider it.
There was a handy test suite made for therapist that is used to determine if a patient is sick in the head or not. I remember I scored around 9/10, and to be considered suspect it required around 7/10 I think. Sadly I lost the document.
Anyway, key to combat mental illness is early treatment. I lost half of my life to this illness just because noone intervened in my psychosis in time. Usually intervention happens in at most a month after psychosis. In my case it didn’t happen until five years later. This is why mental health of children is taken so seriously. If you can afford it, you should be evaluated professionally.
So basically the doctors made it more likely for you to act on your thoughts by denying you treatment.
Personally, I used to fight violent thoughts all the time. I still do get the urge to kill someone with a hammer and eat them. The urge reduced to around 1/3 of the frequency it used to be, but the intensity did not change.
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