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What Intrusive Thoughts Really Are
It is not what bothers you, it’s how it bothers you.
I’m a therapist who has noticed more and more people use the term “intrusive thoughts” to embody any undesirable thought. I scrolled through TikTok the other day, and it seems that people are using it as a catchall for everything that bothers them.
It has embedded itself into pop culture, deviating away from the clinical interpretations of the term.
Intrusive thoughts are a legitimate phenomenon, where a person exhibits unwanted and repetitive thoughts, sounds, or statements that pop up without warning. They are repetitive and unwanted, which makes them annoying (and sometimes disturbing too).
It’s like the mental health equivalent of a musical earworm. It usually gets stuck in your head until it doesn’t.
Intrusive Thoughts Can Be Surprisingly Normal
Each person in the world has probably had one, a few, or even many in their lifetime. Since they are fleeting, they often go away in seconds, and most people forget their own intrusive thoughts.
There are others who have them to the extent that it interferes with their daily function, impacting their social relationships, work life, and many more.