How to get rid of obsessive thoughts - advice from a psychologist. How to get rid of obsessive thoughts and fears

Usually people consider thought to be something unimportant,

therefore they are very little picky when accepting thoughts.

But from accepted correct thoughts all good things are born,

All evil is born from accepted false thoughts.

Thought is like a ship's rudder: from a small rudder,

from this insignificant plank trailing behind the ship,

depends on the direction and, for the most part, fate

the whole huge machine.

St. Ignatiy Brianchaninov,

Bishop of the Caucasus and Black Sea

During difficult periods of life, almost all people suffer from an invasion of obsessive thoughts. These terrible, nasty, sticky thoughts cling with particular force to a person who is experiencing the death of a loved one. So what are they?

Intrusive thoughts- this is the form in which false ideas come to us, trying to take power over us. Our consciousness is constantly exposed to their active attacks, but at critical moments in life this onslaught can intensify, which reduces the quality of life and prevents us from soberly assessing the situation, making plans and believing in the possibility of their implementation. Because of these thoughts, it is difficult for us to concentrate and find reserves to overcome problems, they are exhausting, and often lead to despair, as a result of which the reality that we begin to accept as reality is distorted.

What obsessive thoughts do people who are grieving usually have?

They are very diverse. I will give some examples, although they do not constitute even a hundredth part of all possible obsessive thoughts:

· All the good things in life have come to an end. All that remains is to live and endure;

· I don’t want to live, but I want to go to her (to him);

· I won’t have anyone else;

· No one needs me (not needed);

· I cannot live without him (without her);

· Everything that happened is my fault;

· There will be no joy in the future. Real life is over, and now there will only be survival;

· It is better not to live at all than to live like this. I see no meaning or hope in such a life;

· Now I have no meaning in life;

· It will never get easier. This pain and suffering is for life;

· No one needs me (not needed). I'm a burden to everyone.

And similar thoughts. They permeate our consciousness and do not let go of a person even for a second. Often these thoughts make us suffer to a much greater extent than even the events themselves that caused the crisis.

At times, these thoughts occupy the entire area of consciousness, depriving us of sleep, food, joy, and stability. The seeds of hopelessness, despair, melancholy sprout and give their nasty harvest precisely on the black soil of grief, which we have fertilized with these obsessive thoughts.

Obsessions roll in with a powerful wave, which is very difficult to resist if you don’t know certain rules. If we look objectively, we will see how these thoughts simply, brazenly and aggressively take our consciousness into slavery. Obsessive thoughts, like vampires, drink up the remaining energy we need and take away the feeling of life. They control our behavior, desires, free time, communication with other people does not allow us to get out of the state of grief.

Intrusive thoughts- cunning and treacherous enemy who does not appear openly, but disguises himself as our own thoughts and gradually imposes his desires and feelings on us. They act like banal viruses that have invaded the victim cell.

I would especially like to mention thoughts of suicide, as well as thoughts that cause feelings of guilt. They are almost always dangerously intrusive and in the vast majority of cases, thoughts are viruses.

There are a number mental illness(depression of organic origin, schizophrenia, etc.) in which obsessive thoughts are present in the complex of symptoms. For such diseases, there is only one known option for help - pharmacotherapy. In this case, you need to contact a psychiatrist to prescribe treatment. I would like to note that here we are talking only about the only possibility of correction and treatment, but not about the cause of this serious condition.

Fortunately, the vast majority of people who suffer from compulsions during grief do not have any psychopathological disorders at all. With the help of a certain algorithm, they can get rid of unnecessary thoughts.

What is the nature of such thoughts?

From a scientific point of view, obsessive thoughts ( obsessions) is the incessant repetition of unwanted ideas and drives, doubts, desires, memories, fears, actions, ideas, etc., which cannot be gotten rid of by force of will. In these thoughts, the real problem is exaggerated, enlarged, and distorted. As a rule, several obsessive thoughts arise at once, and they line up in a vicious circle that we cannot break. And we run around this circle like squirrels in a wheel.

The more we try to get rid of them, the more they appear. And then there is a feeling that they are of a violent nature. In addition, very often (but not always), obsessive states are accompanied by depressive emotions, painful thoughts, as well as feelings of anxiety and fear.

What does secular psychology say about obsessive thoughts?

Many psychologists, often speculatively and without evidence, have tried to explain the cause of obsessive thoughts. Different psychological schools still sharply debate among themselves on this issue, but the majority still associate obsessive thoughts with fears. True, these assumptions do not clarify how to deal with them.

So, we can say that classical psychology does not have an accurate and understandable answer to this question, and does not offer effective methods to get rid of obsessions.

How then to fight them?

For a long time, experts have made many unsuccessful attempts to find at least some method of dealing with obsessions. However, their efforts were partially crowned with some results only in the last century, when a method of pharmacotherapy was invented, which in some cases helps to cope with fear. The disadvantage of this method is that it does not last long and cannot be applied to all patients. And at the same time, I repeat, in most cases, pharmacotherapy relieves symptoms only temporarily, and does not eliminate the very cause of obsessions.

There is one more old way, which creates the illusion of solving the problem, but in fact only seriously aggravates it. I'm talking about drinking alcohol, drugs, crazy entertainment, extreme activities, etc. Yes, with their help you can disconnect from obsessive thoughts for a very long time. a short time, but then they will still “turn on”, and with increased force. Unfortunately, this method is very popular, despite the obvious harm caused to the body if it is used.

So what should we do? Is the situation really hopeless and we are doomed to become slaves to these thoughts?

Secular psychology does not provide recipes for effectively combating obsessive thoughts, because it does not see the nature of these thoughts. Simply put, it is quite difficult to fight the enemy if we do not see him and do not understand who he is. Schools of classical psychology, having arrogantly crossed out the vast experience of spiritual struggle accumulated by previous generations, began to re-build certain concepts. These concepts are different for all schools, but they are united by the fact that they look for the cause of all troubles either in the faceless and incomprehensible unconscious of the person himself, or in some physical and chemical interactions of dendrites, axons and neurons, or in frustrated needs for self-realization, etc. etc. At the same time, these schools do not have clear explanations of what obsessive thoughts are, what are the laws of their appearance and the mechanism of influence.

Meanwhile, there is an effective way to combat obsessive thoughts in a mentally healthy person! Answers to questions and successful solutions the problems have been known for thousands of years.

Please tell us more about this.

The strength of intrusive thoughts is that they can influence our consciousness, and our weakness is that we have almost no influence on intrusive thoughts. That is, behind these thoughts there is an independent will that is different from ours. The name itself, “obsessive thoughts,” already suggests that they are imposed by someone from the outside.

This external imposition can be confirmed by the paradoxical content of these thoughts. That is, we understand that the content of these thoughts is not entirely justified, not logical, not dictated by a sufficient number of real external circumstances. Obsessive thoughts may be absurd and devoid of common sense, but despite this, we cannot resist them.

When such thoughts arise, we often ask ourselves questions: “How did I come up with this?”, “Where did this thought come from?”, “How did this thought get into my head?”, “Why doesn’t this wild thought seem terrible to me?” . And, although we cannot find answers to these questions, for some reason we still continue to consider these thoughts our own. And obsessive thoughts continue to have a huge impact on us.

A person haunted by obsessive thoughts understands their absurdity and alienness to reason, and therefore, in most cases, evaluates these thoughts critically. But at the same time, he is not able to get rid of them by force of will. And this is another proof that we are dealing with an independent mind.

Who owns this mind and will directed against us?

Holy Fathers Orthodox Church they say that in such situations a person is dealing with an attack by demons. I want to clarify right away that none of them perceived demons as primitively as people who never thought about their nature. These are not those funny hairy ones with horns and hooves! They have no visible appearance at all, which allows them to act unnoticed. They can be called differently: energies, spirits of evil, essences. There is no point in talking about their appearance, but we know their main weapon is lies.

So, according to the holy fathers, it is evil spirits are the cause of obsessive thoughts that we take for our own. Habits are hard to break. And we are so accustomed to considering all our thoughts, all our internal dialogues and even internal battles as ours and only ours. But to win these battles, you need to take your side against the enemy. And for this it is necessary to understand that obsessive thoughts are not our thoughts, they are imposed on us from the outside by a hostile force. Demons in this case act like banal viruses, while they try to remain unnoticed and unrecognized. Moreover, these entities act regardless of whether you believe in them or not.

Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov) wrote about the nature of these thoughts: “The spirits of evil wage war against a person with such cunning that the thoughts and dreams they bring to the soul seem to be born in itself, and not from an evil spirit alien to it, acting and trying together.” take cover."

How can you determine which thought is obsessive and where it comes from?

The criterion for determining the true source of our thoughts is very simple. If a thought deprives us of peace, it is from demons. “If, from any movement of the heart, you immediately experience confusion, oppression of the spirit, then this is no longer from above, but from the opposite side - from the evil spirit,” said Righteous John of Kronstadt.

Isn’t this how obsessive thoughts act that torment us when experiencing loss?

True, we are not always able to correctly assess our condition. Famous modern psychologist V.K. Nevyarovich in the book “Soul Therapy” writes about this: “The lack of constant internal work on self-control, spiritual sobriety and conscious management of one’s thoughts, described in detail in ascetic patristic literature. One can also believe, with a greater or lesser degree of obviousness, that some thoughts, which, by the way, are always almost felt as alien and even forced, violent, actually have a nature alien to humans, being demonic. According to patristic teaching, a person is often unable to discern the true source of his thoughts, and the soul is permeable to the demonic elements. Only experienced ascetics of holiness and piety, with a bright soul already purified by prayer and fasting, are able to detect the approach of darkness. Souls covered with sinful darkness often do not feel or see this, because in the dark the dark is poorly distinguished.”

What do alien thoughts lead to?

Thoughts “from the evil one” support our despair, unbelief, pessimism, addictions, passions. Thoughts that we mistakenly take to be our own push people to suicide, resentment, unforgiveness, false guilt, unreasonable fears, unwillingness to admit your mistakes before God. Masquerading as our thoughts, they obsessively push us to commit bad deeds. Obsessions prevent us from taking the path of spiritual development, urge us not to waste time on correcting ourselves, instill in us a terrible feeling of guilt, etc. It is precisely such thoughts that are “spiritual viruses.”

The spiritual nature of such thought-viruses is very simply confirmed by the fact that it can be incredibly difficult for us to do a godly deed, pray, or, for example, just go to church. We feel internal resistance, we make incredible efforts to resist seemingly our own thoughts, which find a huge number of excuses not to do this. Although, it would seem, what’s so difficult about getting up early in the morning and going to church? But no, we will get up on time to go, for example, to the cemetery, but we will not do this in order to go to church. We can cry all evening, but it is much more difficult to force ourselves to pray during the same period of time. These are just some examples. Our condition was wonderfully described by the Apostle Paul: “I do not understand what I am doing: because I do not do what I want, but what I hate, I do... The good that I want, I do not do, but the evil that I do not want, I do... But if I do What I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that lives in me.” (Rom 7, 19, 20, 22, 23).

Throughout our lives we choose between good and evil. And, having analyzed the choice made, each of us can see the effect of these “viruses”.

This is exactly how spiritually experienced people viewed the nature of obsessive thoughts. And their advice on overcoming these thoughts has worked and continues to work flawlessly for many centuries!

And pride, envy, alcoholism, overeating, condemnation and all other passions - they are also born from obsessions. Aren't these the same thoughts behind them?

Yes, exactly them. And this, too, has been known to many devotees of piety since ancient times. They explained to us how to deal with such thoughts. Our susceptibility to passions and sins - special case the influence of entities that masquerade as our thoughts. It is they who rape the soul, push it where it is beneficial for them, while very often corrupting our personality.

But I would not like to talk today about the connection between such thoughts and passions. This is the topic of a very long and serious conversation that deserves a separate conversation.

What is the mechanism of introduction and influence of obsessive thoughts?

These thoughts are embedded directly into the emotional sphere. Have you ever noticed how they overwhelm our emotions? A thought has arisen, and emotions are overflowing, although nothing can be explained logically. Moreover, logic often says the opposite, but the control of logic over us has already been lost, and emotions rage and control us.

The point is that our emotional sphere most vulnerable to such intrusions. By and large, we cannot control it. Everyone knows how tears well up in our eyes at the most inopportune moment, and this happens against our will. Our emotional reactions often interfere with business, and then we can rarely explain to ourselves the reasons why they arose. How many times have we been unable to cope with our emotions, although we really wanted to? How much trouble has our own emotionality already brought us? Isn’t it true, we have to admit that we have no control over our emotions.

It is known that emotions can only be restrained by logic and reason, which protect us from falling into the power of emotions. This is confirmed by the fact that it is easier for a person whose logical thinking prevails to resist overwhelming emotions. Conversely, a person’s emotions in an inappropriate state - for example, when he is drunk, under the influence of drugs, very sick, tired, upset - are much more pronounced. It is in such states that great stupid things are done, which one later has to regret.

What keeps obsessive thoughts going?

Refusal of God's help, idleness, laziness, self-pity, apathy, despair, depression are the most nutritious substrates for the cultivation and multiplication of obsessive thoughts.

Is it possible to prevent such thoughts from arising?

Many saints could, but we sinners cannot. This happens because our spiritual state does not allow us to distinguish between these entities. People, for the most part, do not know how, and often do not even try to do this, because they consider any thought that comes to mind to be their own. And, of course, if a person cannot separate thoughts directed against him from his own thoughts, then he is vulnerable. Such a person can be likened to a small child who opens the door to everyone, without suspecting that “bad guys” also exist. Adults, as a rule, understand that letting everyone into the house indiscriminately is dangerous.

But don’t we ourselves open the door of our soul to all thoughts in a row? Isn’t this how entities enter into us, disguised as our thoughts and feelings? Needless to say, without trying at least a little to recognize unnecessary thoughts and protect ourselves from them, we doom ourselves to suffer from the violence that obsessions inflict on our soul. After their attack, only bedlam and nightmare remain in my soul. But the most interesting thing is that even after this we do not understand how the disaster occurred. And we are waiting for the next one...

How to protect yourself from them?

You must understand that defense is impossible if you do not know your enemies. People who do not live a serious (and not superficial, exclusively external ritual) spiritual life do not know their enemies. And even if they realize their existence, they have no means of self-defense.

If the enemy is known, then, first of all, you should learn to distinguish him from friends, even if he tries to disguise himself. If you see an enemy, then you must try not to let him in, not to open the door for him. And if you let him in, then try to get rid of him using certain means. We, instead of understanding what thought, desire, feeling we let into ourselves, invite everyone to us, indiscriminately: “Come in whoever you want - we always have the door wide open!”

But that is not all. We know how people should protect themselves, for example, from compulsive drunks: for more weak person It’s best not to get involved in a conversation with him, but simply not to pay attention to the pester and walk past him. It's the same with obsessive thoughts. But instead, we not only let them in, but also begin to have an internal conversation with them. We don't realize that they are stronger than us (until we use the algorithm, which we'll talk about in more detail below). And this “conversation” traditionally ends in our defeat.

Look how exactly Elder Paisius the Svyatogorets said about us: “A thought, like a thief, comes to you - and you open the door for it, bring it into the house, start a conversation with it, and then it robs you. Is it possible to start conversations with the enemy? Not only are they avoiding conversations with him, but the door is also tightly locked so that he does not enter.”

Are there psychotherapeutic techniques to get rid of such thoughts?

There are few such techniques. An accessible means combating obsessive thoughts, fears and anxieties that appear during periods of crisis is muscle relaxation. Removal muscle tension, complete relaxation of the body reduces anxiety and helps get rid of fears, and, accordingly, in most cases, the intensity of obsessive thoughts decreases. I often recommend this method to my patients.

Doing a relaxation exercise is quite simple: lie down or sit down, relax your body as much as possible, mentally transport yourself to some beautiful place, to nature. Start by relaxing the muscles of your face, then relax the muscles of your neck, shoulders, torso, and complete this process with your fingers and toes. Imagine that every muscle in your body is completely relaxed. Feel it. If you were unable to relax any part of the body or muscle group, then try to tense them as much as possible and then relax. Do this several times, and the desired muscle group will definitely relax. You should be in a state of complete relaxation for 15 to 30 minutes.

Don't worry about how successfully you have relaxed. Don't suffer or stress - let relaxation occur at your own pace. If you feel that extraneous thoughts are visiting you during the exercise, try to push them out of your consciousness, switching your attention to visualizing nature.

If you relax properly several times a day, this will definitely help you get rid of obsessions. However, I want to emphasize that with the help of this technique you can only reduce the influence and intensity of obsessive thoughts, but not fight the cause that causes them.

What should you do to completely get rid of obsessions?

In order to build your life in the future without these nasty viruses, first of all, we must acknowledge the presence of obsessive thoughts and the need to get rid of them!

Secondly, we need to take responsibility. I would like to note that if we accept these obsessive thoughts and then, under their influence, commit certain actions, then we are the ones who are responsible for these actions and their consequences. It is impossible to completely shift responsibility to obsessive thoughts, because we were the ones who accepted them and acted in accordance with them. It was not thoughts that acted, but ourselves.

Let me explain with an example: if an assistant tries to manipulate his manager, as a result of which he makes an erroneous decision, then it is the manager, and not his assistant, who will bear responsibility for this decision.

Third, You shouldn’t consider intrusive thoughts your own! Pay attention to the contradiction between your interests, your logic and those thoughts that are trying to take over you! Evaluate their paradoxicality, inappropriateness, and logical inconsistency. Assess the consequences and disadvantages of the actions that following these thoughts may lead to. Ponder this. Think about whether you see in these thoughts a direct discrepancy with what your consciousness tells you. You will probably find many inconsistencies.

Recognize that these thoughts are not yours, that they are the result of an external attack of other entities on you. As long as you consider obsessive thoughts to be your own, you will not be able to oppose them with anything and take measures to neutralize them. It is impossible to neutralize yourself!

Don't get into an argument with obsessive thoughts. If they appear, try to switch your attention, do not conduct internal dialogues with them!

Obsessive thoughts have one feature: the more you resist them, the more forcefully they attack. Psychology describes the “white monkey” phenomenon, which proves the difficulty of dealing with external influences within the mind. The essence of the phenomenon is this: when one person says to another: “Don’t think about the white monkey,” then that person begins to think about the white monkey. Active struggle with obsessive thoughts also leads to the same result. The more you tell yourself that you can handle it, the less you can handle it.

Understand that this condition cannot be overcome by willpower alone. You cannot resist this attack on equal terms. If we continue the analogy with the situation about alcoholics given earlier, then the most the best way getting rid of a compulsive drunkard will not be by actively resisting his attack, but by ignoring his words and actions. In our case, you just need to switch your attention from obsessive thoughts to something else (more pleasant), without coming into conflict with the obsessions themselves. As soon as we switch our attention and begin to ignore obsessions, they lose their power for a while. The more often we ignore them, the less they bother us.

This is what the holy fathers say about this: “You are used to talking to yourself and think about arguing with your thoughts, but they are reflected by the Jesus Prayer and silence in your thoughts” (Reverend Anthony of Optina). “A crowd of tempting thoughts becomes more persistent if you allow them to slow down in the soul, and even more so if you also enter into negotiations with them. But if they are pushed away the first time by strong tension of will, rejection and turning to God, then they will immediately withdraw and leave the atmosphere of the soul pure” (St. Theophan the Recluse).

Of course, it is better to switch attention to what helps effective fight with these obsessive entities. You can switch your attention to helping people, creative or social activities, or housework. Our ancestors believed that in order to expel obsessive thoughts it is very good to occupy yourself with useful physical work. But prayer helps better in this case. When a person switches his attention to prayer, these essences quickly lose their power. The combination of physical labor and prayer gives the most top scores. It is no coincidence that since ancient times in monasteries, prayer and work have gone hand in hand.

You should always remember that under no circumstances should you allow intrusive thoughts to cause an emotional response. Do not support obsessive thoughts with fantasies and imagination.

We also often reinforce obsessive thoughts with our own imagination and vivid fantasies. V.K. Nevyarovich writes: “Obsessive thoughts often arise in response to the question posed: “What if?” Then they become automated, take root in the mind and, with repeated repetitions, create significant difficulties in life. The more a person struggles to get rid of these obsessive thoughts, the more they take possession of him. An important reason development and the very existence of neurotic fear is a developed sensory imagination. After all, a person, for example, is not only afraid of falling from a height, but also imagines in horror that he will die, “inflames” the fictional situation in every possible way, imagining, say, his funeral, himself lying in a coffin, etc.” What does this mean? That we strengthen the powers of obsessive thoughts with our imagination.

Moreover, the better we imagine what we are afraid of, the clearer we see the result achieved through obsessive drives, as well as the consequences of actions performed as a result of the influence of obsessions, the more vividly we revive obsessive memories, the more we reinforce these thoughts in ourselves. We must not allow obsessive thoughts to influence us and our behavior through our own emotions, fantasies and imagination.

Do not engage in self-hypnosis by repeating these thoughts to yourself . Everyone is well aware of the power of self-hypnosis, which sometimes helps in very difficult situations. Self-hypnosis can relieve pain, treat psychosomatic disorders, and significantly improve psychological condition. Due to its ease of use and pronounced effectiveness, this method has been used in psychotherapy for a long time.

Unfortunately, those grieving often experience self-hypnosis of negative statements. A person who finds himself in a tragic situation constantly, silently and out loud, unconsciously utters statements that not only do not help get out of the crisis, but also worsen the condition.

For example, a person constantly complains to friends or suggests to himself:

– Life ended with the death of a loved one;

– I won’t have anyone else;

– I don’t want to live;

– Life will no longer bring joy;

- There is no need to live now;

And other similar thoughts.

In this way, the mechanism of self-hypnosis is activated, which actually leads a person to certain feelings of helplessness, melancholy, despair, and subsequently to diseases and mental disorders.

It turns out that the more often a person repeats these negative attitudes, the more negatively they affect the thoughts, feelings, sensations, emotions, and ideas of this person. There is no need to repeat them all the time. By doing this, you not only do not help, but also drive yourself deeper into the crisis swamp.

If you find yourself repeating these spells often, then do the following:

Change the setting to the exact opposite, and repeat it throughout the day.

For example, if you constantly think and say that there is no joy after the death of a loved one, then clearly say 100 times that life will bring joy and every day your condition will improve. It is better to make such suggestions to yourself several times a day. After some time you will feel the effect of this exercise. When writing positive statements, avoid the prefix “not.” You should not say “in the future I will not be lonely,” but “in the future I will definitely be with my loved one.” Remember that this is very important rule drawing up statements. Do not make statements about something that is obviously unattainable or unethical.

Are there other methods of dealing with obsessive thoughts? Which ones do you think are the strongest?

As I already said, the most powerful weapon against obsessive thoughts is prayer.

Worldwide famous doctor, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on vascular suture and transplantation blood vessels and organs, Dr. Alexis Carrel said: “Prayer is the most powerful form of energy emitted by man. It is as real a force as gravity. As a doctor, I have seen patients who were not helped by any therapeutic treatment. They were able to recover from illness and melancholy only thanks to the calming effect of prayer... When we pray, we connect ourselves with the inexhaustible vitality, which sets the entire Universe in motion. We pray that at least some of this power will come to us. By turning to God in sincere prayer, we improve and heal our soul and body. It is impossible for at least one moment of prayer not to bring positive result any man or woman."

The spiritual explanation for the help of prayer in this situation is very simple. God is stronger than Satan, and our prayerful appeal to Him for help drives out evil spirits who “sing” to us their deceitful, monotonous songs. Everyone can verify this, and very quickly. You don't need to be a monk to do this.

In a difficult moment of life

Is there sadness in the heart:

One wonderful prayer

I repeat it by heart.

There is a power of grace

In the consonance of living words,

And an incomprehensible one breathes

Holy beauty in them.

From the soul, as a burden rolls away,

Doubt is far away

And I believe and cry,

And so easy, easy...

(Mikhail Lermontov).

Like everyone else good deed, prayer must be practiced with reasoning and effort.

We need to consider the enemy - understand what he inspires in us, and direct the weapon of prayer against him. That is, the word of prayer should be the opposite of the obsessive thoughts that are instilled in us. “Make it a law for yourself, every time trouble happens, that is, an attack from the enemy in the form of a bad thought or feeling, not to be content with just reflection and disagreement, but to add prayer to this until opposing feelings and thoughts form in the soul,” says Saint Theophan.

For example, if the essence of obsessive thoughts is reluctance to accept circumstances, despair, then the essence of prayer should be humility: “God’s will be done!”

If the essence of obsessive thoughts is despondency, despair (and this is an inevitable consequence of pride and grumbling), a grateful prayer will help here - “Glory to God for everything!”

If we are tormented by anger at the culprit of the tragedy, then simply pray for him: “Lord, bless him!” Why will this particular prayer help? Because you will benefit from praying for this person, and evil spirits do not wish good for anyone. Therefore, seeing that good comes from their work, they will stop tormenting you with images of this person. One woman who took advantage of this advice said that prayer helped a lot, and she literally felt next to her the powerlessness and annoyance of the evil spirits that had overcome her before.

Naturally, we can be simultaneously overcome by different thoughts (there is nothing faster than thought), so the words of different prayers can also be combined: “Lord, have mercy on this person! Glory to You for everything!”

You need to pray continuously, until victory, until the invasion of thoughts stops, and peace and joy reign in your soul. Read more about how to pray on our website.

Do the Sacraments help in overcoming obsessive thoughts?

Of course, the Sacraments of the Church are a huge help, a gift from God for getting rid of these entities. First of all, this is, of course, confession. It is at confession, contritely repenting of our sins, that we seem to wash away all the dirt that has stuck to us, including obsessive thoughts.

Let's take the same grumbling about the situation (and this is nothing more than grumbling against God or resentment towards Him), despondency, resentment towards a person - all these are sins that poison our soul.

By confessing, we do two very useful things for our soul. First, we take responsibility for our current state and tell ourselves and God that we will try to change the situation. Secondly, we call evil evil, and evil spirits do not like reproof most of all - they prefer to act on the sly. In response to our deeds, God, at the moment the priest reads the prayer of permission, does His work - He forgives us our sins and drives out the evil spirits that besiege us.

One more the most powerful means in the struggle for our soul is the sacrament. By partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ, we receive the grace-filled power to fight the evil within ourselves. “This Blood removes and drives demons far away from us and calls Angels to us. Demons flee from where they see the Sovereign Blood, and Angels flock there. Shed on the Cross, this Blood washed the entire universe. This Blood is the salvation of our souls. The soul is washed by it,” says St. John Chrysostom.

“The Most Sacred Body of Christ, when well received, is a weapon for those who are at war, a return for those who move away from God, strengthens the weak, cheers the healthy, cures illnesses, preserves health, thanks to it we are more easily corrected, in labor and sorrow we become more patient, in love - more ardent, more refined in knowledge, more ready in obedience, more receptive to the actions of grace,” says St. Gregory the Theologian.

I cannot assume the mechanism of this deliverance, but I know for sure that dozens of people I know, including my patients, got rid of obsessive thoughts precisely after the Sacraments.

In general, hundreds of millions of people felt grace after the Sacraments. It is they, their experience, that tells us that we should not ignore the help of God and His Church with these entities. I would like to note that after the Sacraments some people got rid of obsessions - not forever, but for a while. This is natural, since this struggle is long and difficult.

And the last question... Obsessive thoughts often give rise to fears: fear for the future, fear for the soul loved one, fear of communication, fear of misunderstanding and others. These sticky fears haunt a person, and it seems that it is obsessive thoughts that sow their seeds. What should be done in this case?

We, who are subject to fear, are addressed to the words of St. Theophan the Recluse, which I would like to quote at the end of our conversation: “You write: I’m sad, there’s no peace anywhere. Something is pressing on me, my heart is heavy and dark...- The power of the cross is with us! This enemy... greets you with such tightness and languor. You are not alone, everyone experiences such attacks, but not everyone is the same. You are tormented by tightness; others are filled with fears; For others, it piles up such obstacles in their thoughts as if they were mountains... It happens that it creates streams of thoughts, disturbs the heart, and disturbs it inside. And all of a sudden, like a gust of storm. Such are the tricks of our enemies... You just don’t need to agree with anything (with thoughts inspired by demons - approx. M.Kh.), but endure it - and everything will pass... And everyone fall before the Lord. And call upon the Mother of God.”

Probably every person has encountered obsessive thoughts at least once. It could be a line from a random song or more serious problem: obsession with some idea. Let's pay attention to the latter. Find out from the article how to deal with persistent ideas arising from the desires and anxieties of the individual.

The pathological manifestation of a phenomenon in psychology is called a syndrome obsessive states, or (OCR). However, there is no need to be scared right away. I'm sure this is not your case.

Healthy people They also get stuck sometimes. We are not talking about the fictitious rituals characteristic of OCD. Healthy people become hostage to their desires, needs, phobias, and expectations. Surely you have encountered something similar: you could not sleep peacefully or think about something else until an important event occurred.

Why is it dangerous?

Even the healthy manifestation of obsessive thoughts is dangerous for a person. Obsession interferes with life, distorts life, and prevents work. Any obsession, even a pleasant one, gradually depletes the body. In addition, when talking about pleasant anticipation of something, it is worth mentioning such a possible option as disappointment.

Reasons for obsession

Negative thoughts take over the mind more often than positive ideas. The most popular obsessive thoughts:

The world is dangerous, people are antisocial.
Nobody loves me.
I don't know what's best to do.
This is a hopeless situation.
What if I make things worse?
I can't get what I want.
Maybe they'll take advantage of me.
Everyone only wants benefits from me.
Why did I do this?

Behind every negative thinking like this is a psychological problem, anxiety and . “No one loves me” usually means one specific person. “I won’t succeed” is a typical attitude of a person with low self-confidence. “The world is dangerous” is a consequence of personal negative experience.

The media also contribute: crime news, scary advertising. Thus, adequate concern about one’s health first develops into an obsessive thought, and then into hypochondria. Or a healthy fear for your life - first into an obsessive thought, and then into social phobia.

How to get rid

It will sound banal and ridiculous, but you don’t have to think about it. The more fixated you are on the idea of deliverance, the more fixated you are on the obsessive thoughts themselves. And yes, “how to get rid of it” is a new obsession. What to do? If the problem is real, then solve it. If it is far-fetched or you cannot influence the situation, then accept and worry.

Action plan:

You will have to suffer a little more, since you need to disassemble the thought into its components. Determine the basis of thought: need, condition. After that, work in the identified direction. There is no point in describing all possible options here. As for the need, make a plan to meet it. What tools do you have, which ones do you need to purchase, where can you get them.
Distract yourself by getting your brain to work. Connect. It is better to engage in neutral activities, but if thoughts interfere, then engage in playing with them. The brain has drawn only one scenario for you. Take a piece of paper and a pen, draw or write down a few possible options developments of events. Special attention Focus on the positive scenario, but don’t build castles in the air. Have a healthy assessment of your capabilities and adaptive abilities.
Analyze the thought using four questions: “How true is this?”, “Am I 100% sure that this is true?”, “How do I react to these thoughts?”, “Who would I be without these thoughts?” This will help you realize the irrationality of what is happening.
Obsessive thoughts are the result of the work of the subconscious. Analyze whether the situation is so scary: write everything down real facts and your actions in response to each of them. If you find a hole, then think about whether the result depends on you. If yes, then determine where to get the missing knowledge, skills, and abilities. If not, for example, you cannot bring some event or meeting closer, then you just have to wait and live for your own pleasure.
Try to see the winning conditions for yourself. And think about whether the situation itself will be important in 5 years. Let's say you're nervous about a conversation with your boss. You may be fired. But can't you find another place? You might even get promoted there faster.
Write down on paper everything that brings you joy and satisfaction. currently. This will help overcome negative thinking.
If you doubt something, do not dare to act, then think about whether your current situation will change in a situation of failure. If you have nothing to lose, then you need to try. If you can lose, then prioritize, determine the value of all the pros and cons.
Think about whether and are bothering you. If this is the case, then it's time to get rid of them.
Is your obsession based on negative past experiences? Find the cause of the fear and get rid of it. Think about a situation from the past that affects you in the present. Analyze it. What has changed in you and your life since then? Are you sure you still can't cope? similar situation? Think about it, you've probably learned a lot and changed a lot since then.

If you are reading this article, it means that obsessive thoughts regularly torment you. Understand deep reasons. Determine which thoughts bother you most often and give them a name. For example, “what if I make a mistake, what if it doesn’t work out” is a fear of failure. And “why did I say that” is excessive self-criticism, a tendency to self-examination. Sometimes you don’t even need to catch thoughts. They speak for themselves: I am ashamed, scared, offended, sad.

Learn to perceive obsessive thoughts as a signal, an indicator of a problem. Determine the main emotion and its cause, fight it. Gradually the thoughts will go away on their own. If you can’t cope on your own, consult a psychologist. He will professionally study your subconscious and help you find the hidden emotion-cause.

Afterword

An obsession is accompanied by a stressful state. – excitement of the body, accumulation of energy. Spill it out. Physical activity helps you think clearly, frees up your consciousness, makes you work more actively and find new ways to solve problems. In addition, sport increases self-confidence and stimulates the production of joy hormones and anti-stress hormones.

In addition to this, try to get plenty of rest. A tired brain is capable of various pranks, including obsessive negative thoughts. Try meditating in the morning. To make the task easier, concentrate on the rhythm of the clock or pendulum. As soon as you catch yourself thinking the same thoughts, forcefully return to the metronome. Gradually it will become easier to concentrate, and your psychophysiological state will improve.

Obsessive thoughts (obsessions), unlike ordinary ones, “besiege” a person’s brain, unsettle him, and even frighten him. Often this condition is accompanied by depressed mood, apathy, feelings of guilt, and when compulsive actions appear along with obsessive thoughts, psychiatrists suggest obsessive-compulsive disorder.

What are obsessive thoughts?

IN initial stage diseases obsessive thoughts manifest themselves in difficult, emotionally costly situations, for example, before public speaking and important dates, on new job. Over time, the syndrome “captures” ordinary everyday situations and a person can remember all day long whether he turned off the kettle or the iron. The biological purpose of intrusive thoughts is to remind you of something, but what longer person is under the influence of the syndrome, the more irrational and emotional the obsessions become.

Obsessive thoughts syndrome occurs when several factors combine, for example, severe life shocks combined with weakness nervous system. Obsessions are often compared to chewing gum - they “overwhelm” the brain, causing it to work slowly and unproductively. To combat “mental chewing gum,” a person comes up with various rituals, for example, knocking and counting. However, it is impossible to get rid of obsessive thoughts through an effort of will; this is also one of the symptoms of the condition.

Obsessive thoughts - reasons

To understand where obsessive thoughts come from, psychiatrists have identified a number of biological and neuropsychiatric factors that provoke the appearance of obsessions:

abnormalities in the structure and functioning of the brain;
disruptions in the metabolism of neurotransmitters, deficiency of dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine;
mutations in the hSERT gene that transports serotonin;
PANDAS syndrome – exposure to streptococci;
children's complexes;
frequent traumatic situations;
exhaustion of the nervous system;
some are epilepsy, schizophrenia, alcoholism.

Types of obsessive thoughts

It is very difficult to describe and classify all the existing variety of obsessions. This was done as accurately and completely as possible by Jasper, who divided obsessive thoughts into two large groups:

Distracted – not causing anxiety, relatively safe. These include arithmomania - the desire to count everything, the desire to break sentences into words, words into syllables, the habit of telling memories about something to others.
Figurative obsessive thoughts are ideas that cause. These include obsessive blasphemous thoughts, doubts about one’s actions, fear of doing something wrong, a desire to commit indecent acts, difficult experiences of the past that the patient lives over and over again, and transfer of personality into virtual space.

How to live with obsessive thoughts?

People who are tormented by obsessive thoughts can be divided into several categories:

"Raccoon Raccoons"- these are individuals who are tormented by the fear of infection, contamination, so they endlessly wash, clean and disinfect.
"Pedants"- people who strive for ideal order, a clear sequence, they always put everything in its place, by color, symmetrically, etc.
"Reinsurers"- individuals who are afraid of any mortal danger constantly check appliances, gas, and locks on the front door.
"Atheists"- people who do everything perfectly out of fear of sinning.
"Keepers"- persons convinced of the need to preserve everything that reminds of the past, this ritual is intended to ward off trouble.

People who are tormented by obsessive thoughts and fears predominantly choose two lines of behavior. In the first case, they deliberately act contrary to their fears, for example, if they are afraid of getting into a car accident, they deliberately break the rules traffic. In the second case, a person carefully avoids situations that are traumatic for him, and does not even come close to objects that are dangerous to him.

How to get rid of obsessive thoughts?

When an endless internal dialogue with oneself completely tires a person, he begins to think about how to deal with obsessive thoughts. Moreover, obsessions are very often accompanied by insomnia, depression, anxiety, chronic fatigue, panic attacks. The first and most logical step to getting rid of obsessive thoughts is good rest, preferably with a change of scenery. But if this does not help, you need to consult a doctor.

How to treat obsessive thoughts?

Complex therapy prescribed by doctors for obsession includes medications and psychotherapy. The main “pills for obsessive thoughts” are antidepressants: Phenazepam, Relanium, Diazepam, Elenium, Napoton. The psychotherapist, working with the patient, helps eliminate neurotic symptoms, instill the skill of self-control, increase self-esteem and emotional state. Used to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder and hypnosis.

Obsessive thoughts - treatment with folk remedies

With anxiety disorders, a person’s internal dialogue constantly torments him, so he often asks himself the question - how to remove obsessive thoughts from his head on his own, folk remedies. It is useless to argue with the inner voice - obsessive thoughts always return, often capturing “friends”. A technique consisting of several successive steps that you can use independently will help you get rid of obsessions:

The first step is to observe obsessive thoughts without delving into their meaning. You need to learn to understand that it is not the mind, but obsession that forces you to endlessly check whether the door is closed.
The second step is observing the sensations caused by obsessions, experiencing these emotions, even if they cause unpleasant feelings. If, in addition to thoughts, a person has compulsive movements, it is necessary to resist the desire to perform them. At this stage, you need to understand that all “saving” rituals are just the result of a malfunction in the brain.
The third step is focusing on the surroundings, on the smallest details - textures, sounds, etc. It is advisable to switch to something that brings pleasure.
You can make these steps easier with the help of sedative herbal teas (with valerian, chamomile, lemon balm) and breathing exercises.

Intrusive Thoughts - Christianity

Christian priests consider any obsessive thoughts to be evil, because... obsession with any topic, especially blasphemous, is unacceptable for them. Christianity advises how to cope with obsessive thoughts using the power of prayer. It is necessary to read the prayer at moments when obsessions appear thoughtfully, without rushing. This process in this case produces a distracting effect and the person switches his attention to thoughts about God.

Thoughts that a person cannot control are considered obsessive. He does not want to “think them” at all, but they “think” on their own. How to overcome obsessive thoughts? To get rid of obsessive thoughts, you need to understand the behavior of a person suffering from obsessive thoughts and the causes of this condition.

How to get rid of obsessive thoughts and anxiety

The life of a person suffering from obsessive thoughts and the actions that he commits as a result of these thoughts is significantly disrupted. It is very difficult for a person to lead a normal life. The family begins to suffer from this, and troubles appear in the social aspect.

Most people with such mental disorders do not want to seek help from doctors, because they themselves are at a loss, and there is also a fear that they will be labeled as crazy or are ashamed to admit their thoughts. Do not forget that symptoms of obsession have the ability to develop, and this leads to a worsening of the condition. Don't be scared, but start fighting your thoughts.

Healing painting

Surely many people know that creativity is a good way to adjust a person’s mood and emotions. And if obsessive anxiety arises, start drawing, try to put your obsessive thoughts and experiences on paper. Perhaps there will be a desire to portray something completely opposite from obsession and thus the person will be distracted from anxiety and worry. You can also use any other type of creativity, for example, singing or needlework - embroidery, knitting.

Exercise – “Twenty Years Later”

With this exercise you can easily get rid of negative emotions and obsessive thoughts about a bad event that happened the day before, which for a long time gives no rest. You need to sit comfortably, close your eyes, relax, breathe regularly and try to imagine the event down to the smallest detail, as if it were happening here and now. In this case, the person will experience all the feelings and emotions that he experienced during the event and after it. This could be: fear, anger, resentment, anxiety or complete apathy. Then you need to try to imagine how this event will affect your future life and what will happen in a year, five years and twenty.

Everything will happen later

Good method- put off an obsessive thought or idea of actions and behavior “for later.” You need to convince the person that the obsessive thought that has visited him can be dealt with, for example, in an hour or after some events. Then put it off again and again until the obsessive thoughts go away on their own.

How to deal with an obsessive thought

There is another way. But I warn you right away - its implementation requires perseverance and fortitude. If you want to get rid of obsessive thoughts, you need to keep in front of your eyes the picture that you cannot get rid of. A picture of what you are afraid of. You need to look at it with all the details, experience all the emotions. At first, of course, it will be difficult. But you have to get over it.

You need to not suppress your emotions and continue to look at this picture. After a certain period of time, there will be a peak of unpleasant emotions, as well as a weakening, which will be accompanied by a feeling of relief.

Dealing with any fear is not easy. The “obsessive thoughts” stage, as a rule, occurs when the fear has already become powerful and expanded, making it quite difficult for a person to cope with it on his own. Sometimes it is better to seek help from specialists.

Remember that the described methods of dealing with obsessive thoughts are only temporary help. And people with obsession simply need qualified help from a psychologist.

Treatment of obsessive thoughts

The main cause of obsessive thoughts is fear. These are uncontrollable and uncontrollable thoughts. When a person doesn’t want to “think them,” but they still “think.” Why? The answer is obvious - because in a person’s subconscious there is a reason why they can appear. This is fear.

A person is scared and decides to simply not think about it. He only has the emotion of fear, but no solution to the situation. Consciousness does not allow thinking on this topic, but the fear is so great that it breaks the prohibition imposed by consciousness and breaks through in the form of obsessive thoughts. They arise as an attempt to find a solution on a subconscious level.

If you want to get rid of obsessive thoughts, you should know that obsessive thoughts have both a negative and a positive side. On the positive side obsessive thoughts are that they loudly signal the fear that sits deep inside.

It is not a person who controls fear, but vice versa. Fear limits a person’s actions, his decisions, can force him to act illogically, inappropriately, and at the same time fear can insidiously hide. As a rule, a person extremely rarely realizes that the reason for his action or decision was fear.

Such situations can usually be clearly seen from the outside. Sometimes we think about someone, “If I were him, I would do such and such.” And it seems that everything is extremely clear. And the person will suffer, commit stupid and illogical actions. Why is it that we can see from the outside what is right, but he can’t see it from the inside? All because he is hampered by a fear he does not realize.

How to deal with an obsessive thought? In this case, a “by contradiction” approach is required. There is no need to push them away, but rather to “think more” in order to understand what exactly we are afraid of. After you discover fear, you need to figure out why exactly you are so afraid of it?

What from the past, perhaps not only yours, but also that of your loved ones, can cause or intensify your fear. Then you should simply remove the fear itself, as an emotion, and understand on a rational level that you would not want this to happen to you, but at the same time the fear would not fall on you. Once you can achieve this result, obsessive thoughts will bother you much less.

Life without obsessive thoughts

Quite often, we cannot distract ourselves from negative thoughts; in our souls we experience the same situation a dozen times. As a result, we become nervous and cannot concentrate on any task. Therefore, it is very important to be able to switch thoughts. How to switch thoughts from negative to positive?

Chat with friends and loved ones

This helps a lot to distract yourself a little and think about something else. Just don't talk about your problems. Take a break, talk about unrelated topics. Immerse yourself in someone else's problem, maybe you can help with something, you can give advice.

Physical work

Perfectly helps to get rid of obsessive thoughts. When the muscles work, the brain begins to participate less thought processes. At least do some cleaning. Better yet, go in for sports. Muscle fatigue will relieve obsessive negative thoughts.

Think about something good

Think about something good that happened to you recently. Think about something vital - what dinner to cook, what to wear to work tomorrow, where to go on vacation... It’s important not to think about painful things.

Do things you just can't get around to

Perhaps you wanted to clean out your closet? Go through photos? Do some handicrafts? In general, speaking, do painstaking and long work. There simply won’t be time to think about bad things.

Watch a movie, read a book

Immerse yourself in another world. You will observe other people's experiences, live someone else's life. And you will forget about your problems for a while. And if you also like the plot, you will spend some time thinking about the actions of the characters, thinking about what you yourself would do in this situation.

Look at the photos that will bring positive emotions

Everyone has a bunch of photos from vacations, weddings, birthdays. The ones that haven't been looked at in years. Look through them, briefly immerse yourself in the past, relive memories, impressions, feelings. In addition, you will be able to discover that life is not a continuous black streak, that there are joyful moments in it.

You have received tips on how to get rid of obsessive thoughts that are so difficult to get rid of. As you can see, there is nothing complicated - you just need to do something else so that you don’t have time to sit and feel sorry for yourself. There are a lot of options for this, so if you want, you can fill more than one day with things to do. And when you return to your problem again, you will understand that nothing so terrible is happening.

In the worst cases, obsessive thoughts can cause a lot of trouble. In simpler cases, they are physically and mentally exhausting. A negative thought that doesn’t let go poisons life and can lead to depression. Man having lost vital energy, becomes a downtrodden creature with a hunted gaze.

How to get rid of obsessive thoughts and regain your joy in life?

Where do they even come from? Science cannot yet give an exact answer to this answer. Some talk about brain overload, some talk about incomprehensible processes in the subconscious, others blame mental instability. However, confirming or refuting any of these hypotheses will not help in any way to get rid of obsessive thoughts.
In the modern era, the brain is subjected to colossal loads: huge amounts of information that come from outside lead a person to stress. A night's rest doesn't always help. The same negative thought can swirl around in your head for months.

Effective ways to get rid of obsessive thoughts

It’s not so easy to calm down a wild fantasy that goes against logic and common sense. To “reach out” to the subconscious and neutralize a negative attitude, you will need the help of an experienced psychologist, as well as work on yourself. However, few people who do not know how to get rid of obsessive thoughts go to a specialist with complaints of “mess in the head” and depression. If we are talking about deeply personal or intimate experiences for which you have to blush, there will be no visit to the doctor: to a stranger It's a shame to say this.

You will have to do the main work yourself. For example, like this:

— set yourself up to be completely indifferent to negative thoughts. There is no point in fighting them, but you can live. Of course, they will return, but over time they will visit you less and less.

The main thing is patience. With the help of an experienced psychotherapist, you should have enough willpower to remain completely indifferent;

— get rid of negative language, replace them with positive statements;
- don’t try to fight obsessive thoughts: it’s useless. They can be neutralized by indifference. Try switching to active activity. Fill your consciousness only positive emotions- and you will see how your life will be filled with bright colors, and there will simply be no room left for destructive obsessive thoughts!