#irrational thinking

[menolderthan29]

Link to current Shutdown

[creature-wizard]

Conspiracy thinking and believing you can use your preferred socio-economic theory to suss out why that random person posted a thing that pissed you off are two sides of the same coin. It makes you feel really clever, but you're basically just spinning a tale out of broad assumptions rather than actual evidence.

[magdolenelives]

(via)

[serenityquest]

[hello-darling-dino]

The paranoia is unbearable tonight.

[ashleyphoenix]

What Can Help With Irrational Thinking

It’s not uncommon for you to find yourself thinking the most absurd things as possible explanations for certain events. In fact, everyone does it. It’s like we were born to pull assumptions from the sky. Filled with clouds. Where giants dwell. There is a certain principle that can be applied whenever you believe you might not be 100% correct. It’s called the Occam’s razor.

It states that with any contrasting ideas, the one which has the least assumptions should be accepted. 

Therefore if you are home alone and hear a bump downstairs, the most appropriate explanation would be that there is a robber/potential murderer come to rob/kill you, and not that there may be a ghost downstairs. Applying the Occam’s razor can help put things in perspective and prevent unnecessary worrying. With it as a guideline, you are one step closer to efficient living.   

[free--therapy]

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[free--therapy]

+ it's anon! I've divided this ask into sort of two parts talking about intrusive thought and the association but separately! I hope you don't mind and I'm sorry for the trouble 😭

to explain the intrusive thought more clearly, the intrusive thoughts that the ceiling fan or any attached ceiling object reminds me of just seems very 3D or real this time. it affects me more than other intrusive thoughts is because su*cide is kinda a triggering topic to me.

usually, if it's an image popping up only in my head, then if I stop overthinking about it then it goes away and doesn't return. if I do end up remembering it again once in a while, it's still "just" in my head so it's okay.

but this is more realistic so it's harder to not get reminded of it again and again. for example, if there is an image of a headless doll or soft toy, then if it's just an image someone remembers in their head it's easier to think nothing of it. but instead, if you imagine a real doll like that placed on a couch or chair or table near you or attached to any wall near you, like as in your real life, the image seems realistic right? as if it's there really so it seems scary.

that's what I mean. it's like when I'm in a room with any ceiling objects like a ceiling fan, my mind ends up creating that realistic image related to it and obviously it's triggering.

on top of that, even if I'm not necessarily looking at the fan or in that general direction, even so it's like it's there in the background even if I'm not looking at it. which is crazy because I know it's just an image. I mean, I feel like what if it ends up being some ever present image/thought? I mean, no one wants to have that disturbing of an image always popping up in the room right? like even if I look away, what if I keep feeling or imagining it to be there? something like that. but what can I do about it?

I think this is because when that image first popped in my mind, I reacted to it in a very anxious way. I had all sorts of what if thoughts in mind like "what if this image always stays there?" "as in whenever I'm in a room, even if I'm doing something on my phone still what if I always keep feeling like that image is always there hanging over my head?" "what if it never goes away, then will I always imagine this being there in every room I'm in?" etc.

Right from when I first had it, I've sort of, in a way, already ended up convincing myself that this intrusive thought was "different" than others and it was a huge problem that could make me miserable or something. because just the idea of getting that disturbing image everytime I get conscious of a ceiling fan/object sounds so scary to me right now.

and this makes me scared of it becoming another association. what I mean is, in case of those pet videos, I only remember the intrusive thoughts when I saw cute pet videos or pets in real life so it wasn't a constant reminder. and it didn't bother me anyway because I didn't get bothered or triggered by that association.

but in this case, most times I'll be sitting in some sort of room, so will I constantly remember that thought too? and unlike those other thoughts, here it doesn't simply look like a thought in my head. but it's more like an actual image happening in the room. the moment I look even in the direction of the fan or ceiling, my mind picture it there which is scary. so I really don't want it to be an association. but is it even in my hands?

I mean, it's not like I can choose whether it ends up being an association or not right? so what can I do?

how do I respond everytime my mind makes up that intrusive thought? even if I end up remembering it when I see a ceiling or a closed room or even if I'm reminded of all the worries and what ifs that I've attached to that intrusive thought, either way, how should I respond whenever I remember any of it?

I mean, you've read this but you aren't affected or scared of having that image or association when looking at ceiling fans or ropes right? so how can you do that?

when I tell myself "this is just a thought, it'll pass" it takes my attention off the thought temporarily but the moment I'm free, I think of it again involuntarily. I mean, how can I not? because it's not something that's just popping in my head anymore, it's an image/thought that I imagine in real life in the room I'm in every time I look at or even think of closed room ceilings or ceiling fans or the like. it's as if it's there in real life.

it's like my mind purposely creates that image again and again to see how much I can really not be bothered by it.

how can you or anyone else be unaffected by the idea or not get reminded of it again and again everytime they look at it too? is it because you're not scared of having the image all the time?

how do you rationalise this?

oh and I had some questions about the association in general too!

so umm like I've already mentioned that any pet videos online or even when seeing any pet offline reminds me of something or other. by something or other, what I mean is sometimes it might put a random intrusive thought/image in my mind but most times, all it reminds me of is just the thought that I used to worry about it? something like that. like many times, it's not even an image, I simply just get conscious in a way that's all.

I mean, many times when I watch any pet video on social media or anyone with their pets irl too or something, all that happens is I'll simply remember the vague thought that "oh I had worries over this" or something.  sure once in a while, it can be an intrusive image too but again its a vague thing that comes and goes without me bothering because I don't engage with it in any way.

what I mean is there's nothing about the association that triggers me as such. it's just a pointless association that just makes me conscious but I let go immediately because it doesn't affect me.

which brings me to the point, if I can shrug it off so easy and if I'm not bothered by it at all, then why does the what if bother me? I mean, when I think "what if those contents always remind me of something or anything about the topic?" or even simply "what if I always keep getting conscious whenever I see something that reminds me of it?" these what ifs bother me. 

what I mean is the content of the thoughts that I remember is not bothering me at all because it literally doesn't even stay in my mind for a few seconds even, I can easily dismiss it and move on and it doesn't trigger me at all but still the idea of having that "association" for a long time is so bothersome.

maybe it's because I think of the association as an inconvenience so while I'm okay with it when it pops up, the idea of having it that for a long while is scary to me. how can I deal with this?

even if I did want to get rid of the association, what can I even do? it's not like I can tell my brain "don't remember xyz even if you see something that reminds you of it" so what do I even do? I mean to ask, what should my goal be here? should it be to learn to not be bothered or anxious even if something reminds me of something I don't wanna remember? or should it be to not remember it at all? but is the latter even possible?

we cannot control what thoughts we have or what reminds us of something but we can control how we respond to it right? so is that the goal? as in not to try to stop the association but to learn to be okay even if I do have associations?

like can any person have negative or unwanted associations that they get reminded of from time to time? as in, is it normal for anyone and everyone to have associations? I've had it about those let videos maybe someone else has it about something else....but either way, is it common for any person? that's what I wanted to ask.

can any person have unwanted associations like these about any xyz thing? and what do people normally do when their association reminds them of that thought/memory? how are we supposed to deal with them? how do you deal with your negative or unwanted association thoughts?

what do you think about this?

and if anyone can have associations about anything which can be unique to them, then is it that what differentiates me right now and anyone else is that maybe normally people who aren't as anxious don't overthink their associations or worry about "how long they'll have that association" and just let it be?

because I was like that the past year and half too, never used to overthink my associations and never wondered "if I'll have them for years? or how long I'll have that association?"

it's just the past three-four weeks I've started thinking about all this out of nowhere. so I've been wondering what separates the two situations and also, how I can learn to move on from it?

Hey Anon,

It sounds like your anxiety is worse when you're thinking about the thought coming back up again rather than the thought itself. I understand why that would be a concern because it's obviously disturbing to a point where you don't want it to come up, but worrying about it almost seems like it's likely to be brought up again, which continues your cycle.

how do I respond everytime my mind makes up that intrusive thought? even if I end up remembering it when I see a ceiling or a closed room or even if I'm reminded of all the worries and what ifs that I've attached to that intrusive thought, either way, how should I respond whenever I remember any of it?

I mean, you've read this but you aren't affected or scared of having that image or association when looking at ceiling fans or ropes right? so how can you do that?

I suppose it's because my mind already knows that there is no associated harm or danger to me and sees that ceiling fans serve a positive purpose rather than a negative one. Of course I can also picture what you're associating with it, but I guess because I no longer have thoughts about harming myself that I don't make the connection affect me in the same way either. Objectively I'm able to see a different perspective aside from one that can be disturbing and my mind chooses to go with the safer one because it knows that I wouldn't do something like that and that even having a disturbing thought like that has no affect on my actions. Knowing that I can choose to think more positively about something helps me to let go of the need to hang onto something negative or disturbing.

I mean, I used to have a loooot of irrational fears growing up as a child and my parents never validated or comforted me when I used to go to them with them. I would get made fun of for them and I hated it. I hated that I had to deal with my fears on my own, but once I was able to figure it out, I was able to apply it to so many of them. Fear/anxiety can come from just not knowing about something, so trying to understand why something is bothering you or affecting you so much helps you to no longer be afraid of it. In your case, I would ask myself why something like that is bothering you. Could it be something you've thought of doing? Is it something you hope you never do? Are you worried that it being in your mind will make you want to do that? And then go from there.

which brings me to the point, if I can shrug it off so easy and if I'm not bothered by it at all, then why does the what if bother me? I mean, when I think "what if those contents always remind me of something or anything about the topic?" or even simply "what if I always keep getting conscious whenever I see something that reminds me of it?" these what ifs bother me.

I think it's because you're worried about going back to that mental state again that you were in when it was a big deal for you. Your mind is always going to be testing you to see if certain things are still a reason to have your survival mode activated because it did at some point. You just have to keep reminding your mind that it's not a threat and to continue on. You have to ease your mind by reminding it that once it's determined something is no longer a reason to kick into survival mode anymore (activate anxiety), then you can let it go now.

we cannot control what thoughts we have or what reminds us of something but we can control how we respond to it right? so is that the goal? as in not to try to stop the association but to learn to be okay even if I do have associations?

Yes! We can only control our mind and how we react and look at things. You cannot change the situations themselves. A lot of the time anxiety is a result of people wanting to control certain situations or outcomes because they haven't realized that the only thing they can control is their mindset and how they think about something (shifting perspectives)

and if anyone can have associations about anything which can be unique to them, then is it that what differentiates me right now and anyone else is that maybe normally people who aren't as anxious don't overthink their associations or worry about "how long they'll have that association" and just let it be?

I think that everyone at some point has some sort of irrational thought or fear that haunts them for certain periods of time, based on their ability to challenge them and rationalize them. Some people know how to tackle them and disprove the thoughts right away, while others may need help from someone else (they need another perspective), and others just don't know any better or are afraid to tell anyone about it, so they sit with the same irrational fear for a long time until they finally get to a point where they do something about it. The associations and fear ends when you want it to end and when you want to start taking action against it. Some are easier to handle than others, but it doesn't mean that you'll be dealing with it forever. You're already making way to figuring out how to handle them and that's better than a lot of people who are still afraid to do anything about it because they think they have to be stuck living with them forever.