Doyle,
Thanks for the info from the website! I found it really helpful to imagine my brain as having two doors and letting the thoughts go in one and out the other. It's kinda funny when you have to actually picture this stuff in your head for the thoughts to slowly go away. However I did have a question about how you said to write in detail these thoughts I'm having and say them over and over and don't ignore them.Well...I kinda had a problem with that, there's no way that I want to sit down and resite how I would kill my family!! I feel like I'm planing a suicide! See,I can't even talk about it anymore because it's scaring the crap out of me!! I feel it's helpful when I don't get into too much detail about it. Should I actually say it to myself over and over? I wrote a reply to my last post in "what If thinking", please respond if you know what I mean. Thanks again for your help!
Angelkeys

Angelkeys,

Hey hon! I'm glad that link could be of some help .

Oh the joys of not wanting to think of the thought. I hated that part the most too, at first. It's sort of like a paradox type thing, because you wanna get over the fear but the way to get over it, is to think about it and it's the thinking about it that's scary...lol pretty confusing huh?

What it means is that you have to realize that no matter how much this thought comes into your mind, it's not going to happen and the more you allow this thought in and realize that it's not going to happen, the less it will start to scare you. Does it mean you'll ever act on this fear? Nope, that's why it's a fear because it's an annoying thought that you don't want around.

If it's too scary to allow yourself to think about at first, try writing it down on paper over and over again. In my journal i have 3 pages of me writing "I'm going to go crazy" over and over again. Did i go crazy? heck no, but it did help to realize that no matter how much i thought about it, it wasn't gonna happen. Now i can joke about going crazy and i know i'm not going to, whereas before, even if i heard the word "Crazy" i'd think of a million different types of ways i could go nuts and which one was going to happen to me.

It really is an uncomfortable thing to do at first, it's annoying and it can even be confusing, like "How the heck is thinking about this going to help get me better?!"
Like i said, it's really all about accepting the thought as just a thought. That it has no motions, no meaning, no movement, and no hold on you. The only thing this thought is able to do, is scare you and that's the part you want to work with because if these thoughts can't scare you, then they aren't going to come around anymore. So instead of thinking "What if i kill my family!? " you will be able to think "Oh, stupid thought,whatever" and then move to the next thought....Well, ok here's an example...Your regular everyday thoughts, like "Oh man, i gotta wash the dog today" now, how long would that thought usually last in your head, about 5 seconds? We don't go around getting scared thinking "OMG, i gotta wash my dog, gotta wash my dog, gotta wash my dog" over and over again right? So what you want to try to work to, is accepting this scary thought, to be just like the "Gotta wash my dog" though. Which is just a thought that pops in and goes right back out .

Also remember that just because you are learning to accept these thoughts, it doesnt mean you will ever act on them. I think i wrote about this in my other post, but what the heck, i'll write it again ...lol The way i see it is we are learning to accept these scary thoughts, that way, they won't be there anymore. Now, if you're anything like i was when i was trying to overcome this, you're thinking "What if i accept these thoughts and then i end up harming my family!?" Quite simply put, the thought would have never scared you in the first place, had you really wanted to harm your family. You would have been comforted by the thought, you would have had no fears, no worries, and probably a plan to take action. So those are the 2 differences

Accepting:What we are trying to do, so that those scary thoughts won't be scary anymore. They will just be another thought quickly passing through our minds, Accept and move on. Know that they are only a thought and that they just can't harm us(or anybody else).

Comforting: What a REAL "crazy" person would feel. Therefore the thoughts would never have been scary to them in the first place and they would be trying to figure out a way to truly make these thoughts come true.

So, yes, it will be tough at first, but just tell yourself "I am learning to accept these thoughts. They are only thoughts and they are NOT going to do anything to anyone." Then, the more you are able to see that these thoughts are simply fears and you can accept them, the less you will fear them and the less they will come around.

Wow, i always make the longest posts on scary thoughts...lol Anyway, hope this can be of some help hon. You're gonna be fine, just take it one step at a time, you'll get there, i did . Take good care!

Doyle

Hello angelkeys,

I was just reading your post and I have to say that I find this very useful for myself when dealing with my own scary thoughts. These forums are a great way to get more insight into this condition (I hate this word but I cannot really think of another way to put it). Just thought I'd put in my two cents.

LOL. I think I got the names mixed up. Thank you Doyle for the insight. Angelkeys, you are not alone. Take comfort and know that many people are in your camp.