Intrusive Thoughts Could Be Tackled With Therapy And Creative Manifestations
Imagine that while watching an important presentation at work, you are struck by a thought: you start to see yourself standing up in the middle of the room and shouting inappropriate and embarrassing things to your colleagues and superiors. And it’s so real that you can visualize the expression of shock and disapproval, feel the tension in the air and the ensuing embarrassment. And you understand that it’s inappropriate behavior for a professional environment, so you struggle to push that thought away.
This is a familiar situation, many people have these involuntary and unwanted thoughts that occur repeatedly, causing discomfort and distress. This phenomenon is called intrusive thinking. Psychology professor Sérgio Kodato, from the Faculty of Philosophy, Sciences and Letters at USP in Ribeirão Preto, explains that these thoughts can range from aggressive and violent to thoughts of a sexual nature or even disturbing thoughts about future events.
Roots of the Subconscious
The professor comments that intrusive thoughts have their origin in the subconscious and that is why they appear in a random and unwanted way. The subconscious is the sphere of the mind that houses repressed, forgotten or not fully conscious contents. “The subconscious is a vast repository of experiences, emotions and desires that are not immediately accessible to our consciousness”, explains Kodato. “These contents can be elements repressed throughout our lives, such as traumatic memories or desires that resurface in the form of intrusive thoughts”, he continues.
“Thus, the mind seems to betray us with ideas that defy our rational understanding.” But for Kodato, it is important to understand that the occurrence of intrusive thoughts is not necessarily related to any mental health problem: “These thoughts are universal and can affect anyone.”
Mind control
Although these thoughts arise unpredictably, the professor says they can be controlled. “The first step in dealing with intrusive thoughts is to allow yourself to express them, whether through speaking, writing or other forms of art. This expression can help to understand what these thoughts mean and why they are appearing”, advises Kodato.
In addition, therapeutic treatment can be an effective tool for working with persistent intrusive thoughts. The academic comments that, in a therapeutic environment, “the person can explore the origin of these thoughts, as well as learn strategies to face and challenge them. Therapy, for example, has proven useful in treating intrusive thoughts associated with anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders, OCD.”
Kodato gives an example: “Intrusive thoughts in the realm of anxiety can unfold in mentally exhausting scenarios, such as the persistent conviction that a common cold is going to turn into a serious illness, or the prospect of losing your job, precipitating an endless succession of restlessness. With OCD, the individual has concerns about soiling or disorganizing the environment around them”.
The professor observes that these thoughts, although inevitable on certain occasions, can gain ground and become a constant presence and, therefore, suggests, in addition to the search for therapies, other channels of expression, such as the creation of illustrations, artistic productions or creative manifestation as a means of addressing, confronting, channeling, and restructuring these thought patterns.
When the mind betrays
Kodato also correlates the amount of intrusive thoughts with the level of aggression in individuals. The professor analyzes that aggressive and violent people tend to accumulate aggressive ideas from childhood, which can lead to the repression of these ideas. “These overworked minds can lead to violent attitudes. It is as if there is a force within the person that drives them to perform such acts”, he points out.
To illustrate, the professor cites the case of Fyodor Dostoevsky, Russian writer, philosopher and journalist, who had a cruel and violent father and who, therefore, was burdened with aggressive ideas, “but who, instead of committing them, he turned into literature” .
Kodato points out that this can act as a healthy outlet. “There are cases where people with violent or forbidden sexual ideas used art to process and transform these intrusive thoughts into creative expressions and thus found a way to deal with their inner uneasiness.”