Understanding the Relationship Between Anxiety and Intrusive Thoughts

Have you ever just been enjoying time with loved ones or watching a game, and intrusive thoughts make their way into your mind? Perhaps the thought was disturbing, emotionally painful, or even provoked anxious thoughts inside of you. This can happen to anyone from time to time, but, for some, this is a daily struggle.

There is a relationship between intrusive thoughts and feelings of anxiety. Being able to understand this relationship and knowing how to handle both can make the difference between being constantly on edge or being at peace.

Intrusive Thoughts Explained

If you use the word “intrusive” to describe someone or the questions they’re asking, you usually mean that the person or their questions are putting themselves where they ought not be. Intrusive thoughts are invasive thoughts that are difficult to dismiss or control. You don’t want them, but they intrude into your conscious mind. Often, these thoughts, as well as images and urges, recur, and can be distressing.

One reason they are so distressing is that they can be polar opposites and quite contradictory to your beliefs, values, or desires. In other words, it can feel as though your mind is being invaded by thoughts, images, or desires that feel quite foreign to who you are. It can be shocking to experience an intrusive thought, especially if it pops up again and again.

Intrusive thoughts can be caused by a variety of things, including:

• Sleep deprivation or fatigue.
• Stress or trauma.
• An imbalance in neurochemicals such as dopamine and serotonin.
• Neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder and ADHD.
• Anxiety disorders such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, or generalized anxiety disorder.
• Certain medications.
• Substance abuse or withdrawal.

Some people also have intrusive thoughts because they are prone to negative patterns of thinking or rumination. Experiences of social stressors such as being isolated or bullied can also contribute to intrusive thoughts. Exposure to violent or disturbing content via the media, or a genetic predisposition such as a family history of obsessive-compulsive disorder or anxiety may also be contributing factors to why these thoughts may occur.

Common Examples of Intrusive Thoughts

Intrusive thoughts can take various forms, and there are many common examples of them. Some may include unwanted sexual thoughts including sexual fantasies and images. One may have harmful or violent thoughts, whether it’s simply violent imagery or thoughts of losing control and causing harm to oneself or others.

Intrusive thoughts may be related to traumatic experiences, whether reliving memories of traumatic events or thoughts of being in danger. Other intrusive thoughts may be about your health, including fears of getting ill or contracting specific diseases. There may be excessive concern for your health or that of your loved ones.

Likewise, work, relationships, or even one’s existence may be the prompt behind unwanted thoughts. A person may have intrusive thoughts about the loss of personal identity, death and the unknown beyond, or even about life and whether it’s ultimately meaningless. Intrusive thoughts can be centered around fear of rejection by loved ones, your significant other being unfaithful, or doubts about the relationship itself.

Lastly, these thoughts can also be rooted in worry about the tasks a person performs. There may be recurring and intrusive fears of making a mistake or neglecting an important detail. Some worries are about specific tasks being completed, or about everything being orderly and just so. Thus, intrusive thoughts can relate to every area of life, and they can be quite disturbing.

The Relationship Between Intrusive Thoughts and Anxiety

What connection, if any, exists between anxiety and intrusive thoughts? There are several ways these two are connected, and they include the following:

Intrusive thoughts worsen anxiety

Intrusive thoughts can reinforce fears you may have that cause you anxiety. For instance, if you’re anxious about your relationship, intrusive thoughts about your partner cheating on you can make that anxiety worse. Not only that, but these thoughts can trigger intense emotional reactions that exacerbate anxiety, generating avoidance behaviors that worsen anxiety.

Anxiety contributes to intrusive thoughts

When you’re feeling anxious, you become more sensitive to possible threats, and this can make you more prone to this type of thinking. Negative thought patterns are more prevalent when you’re anxious and that also increases the likelihood of having intrusive thoughts.

Anxiety and intrusive thoughts can feed into each other, making a vicious cycle that’s hard to break. The connection between the two is evident when considering that several anxiety disorders are associated with intrusive thoughts, including social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder.

Breaking the Cycle

The vicious cycle where anxiety and intrusive thoughts feed into one another and worsen the situation can be broken. It’s possible to overcome both anxiety and intrusive thoughts. There are several strategies that can help effectively.

Some of these strategies include the following:

Self-help strategies

These include getting regular exercise to reduce the symptoms of anxiety, creating healthy sleeping habits to improve your ability to regulate your emotions, eating a healthy and balanced diet to support mental and emotional health, and journaling to help you process your emotions and thoughts better.

Grounding techniques can also help you be more present. Other means of self-help include mindfulness and meditation, which can help not only increase your self-awareness but reduce stress levels too. Other practices like progressive muscle relaxation enable you to relieve the physical tension anxiety causes, while deep breathing exercises help to calm you when anxiety hits.

Shifting your mindset

Often, intrusive thoughts worsen anxiety because they can be taken as reflective of who you are. It’s shocking to have thoughts that go against your cherished values and beliefs. A shift in your mindset can help you to accept your thoughts are not reality and avoid criticizing and judging yourself harshly for those thoughts.

You can also grow in your awareness of what triggers your intrusive thoughts and anxiety. Understanding these patterns, you can anticipate intrusive thoughts and prepare yourself to deal with them. Being aware can also help you to be patient and kind toward yourself throughout the whole process.

Restructure your thinking

Another aspect of shifting your mindset is cognitive restructuring. You don’t have to accept the thoughts that intrude into your life. Rather, you can challenge these, particularly where they are unrealistic, replacing them with healthy and more realistic thoughts.

In other instances, what’s required is for you to take those thoughts and choose to reframe them. Instead of giving them credence and weight, you can view them as fleeting and harmless thoughts, not as reflections of who you are.

Seeking help and support

You don’t have to face life challenges on your own. Others have faced similar struggles, and you can learn from their experiences. There are support groups, as well as other sources of information such as podcasts, books, websites, blogs, and online forums. Educating yourself about what you’re facing can provide you with strategies to deal with it. You can also seek the help of a mental health professional to deal with these concerns.

Working with a counselor or therapist can help you understand the cycle. They can help you to find healthy coping mechanisms as you learn how to break the cycle.

Various therapeutic interventions are available, including Cognitive Behavioral therapy (CBT), which challenges your negative thought patterns, or exposure and response prevention (ERP), which helps you manage your intrusive thoughts. Through therapy, you can grow in your ability to be mindful and regulate your emotions.

Part of your treatment plan may also include medications, which are prescribed when anxiety is severe and prevents you from living life unhindered. These medications can reduce the symptoms of anxiety.

If you are ready to start your journey to healing, contact our office today. We will arrange an appointment with a therapist near you. They will work with you to overcome the threats of anxiety in your life.