How To Stop Obsessive Thoughts - The White Bear Syndrome

[ad_1]

Nothing can be more frustrating that to have a thought in your head that you can't get rid of. Worse off is when the thought is something negative or violent and causes you to feel scared or deep anxiety.

For some people this is a daily occurrence and it needs to be treated before it gets worse. The longer it goes on the longer it can take to end the cycle. Obsessive thoughts is a form of OCD, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

So how do you stop obsessive thoughts?

The first step is to stop trying to get rid of them. What ever you tend to think about you will continue thinking about it even if it's something you don't want to think about. What do I mean?

Well, if I were to tell you not to think about a white bear. What would you do? Inevitably you would think about a white bear. What if you were to tell yourself over and over to stop thinking about the white bear. What will happen? Nothing. You will continue to think about it because you are telling yourself "white bear".

Psychologists call this "The White Bear Syndrome". You see, your mind can't visualize the word "not" so all it hears is "white bear". Try it yourself. Say the term "don't think of a white bear" or any other term and see what picture enters your mind. What you will see is the thing but you can't see the word "not".

This is why the Law of Attraction has become so popular. What you focus on you will get. Another example is debt. If you focus on getting out of debt you will still have debt. Why? Because you are still focusing on debt.

When you focus on compulsive thoughts you don't want and try to get rid of them you are still going to continue to have those thoughts. The point is to stop trying to end those thoughts. I know it can be easier said than done especially when you've had the same thoughts over and over for a period of time as they tend to come back. But you need to understand that trying to get rid of them won't work.

The next thing you can do to stop obsessive thoughts is to change your perception about the thought. If a thought gives you anxiety then try to picture the thought on a movie screen and see yourself watching a movie while eating popcorn. When you take yourself out of the direct role you take away its power over you.

[ad_2]

Source by Tom Gosselin