How To Get Rid of Crippling Uncomfortable Thoughts
All of us are plagued by uncomfortable thoughts on occasion and have a hard time getting rid of them. You can learn to get them under control with a simple technique called “Imaginal Flooding.” You need to deliberately think the uncomfortable thoughts, starting with an easier type of these thoughts before thinking about the most extreme thoughts. The exercise needs to be done on a daily basis, each session lasting at least 10 minutes. Twenty minutes is preferable if you can tolerate the discomfort. Depending on the severity of this disorder, it can take as long as three weeks of consistent practice before you find that the thoughts become boring rather than anxiety-provoking. Lesser obsessive thoughts take a shorter time to control. Imaginal Flooding is, hands down, the most powerful tool for getting rid of uncomfortable thoughts.
Before You Start
This technique does not work unless you are able to keep your body in a very relaxed state, while breathing gently from your diaphragm.
You should only try this exercise after you have thoroughly mastered the skills of gentle belly breathing and relaxation.
Getting Started
Follow these steps to rid yourself of uncomfortable and crippling thoughts:
- Lie down on your back on your bed, or in a comfortable recliner.
- Spend at least 2 minutes getting relaxed and breathing with your diaphragm.
- Now bring to mind one of your less scary thoughts.
- Keep the thought in your mind and make it as vivid as possible.
- Now focus on the feelings of fear that the scene is producing while staying relaxed and breathe gently as you can.
- Keep the thought and the fear that accompanies in mind for at least 10 minutes, but no more that 20 minutes.
- It is extremely important that you keep all physical movements to a minimum. If you can’t stay still, try the process again with a less scary thought.
The Daily Routine
To do this exercise correctly, you need to repeat the “Getting Started” steps above, but aim for doing closer to 20 minutes each session. You must stay completely relaxed the whole time while trying to scare yourself by making the thought as vivid as possible.
You will find that the thought gets less and less scary each day. As it becomes less scary, introduce other scarier thoughts, trying to scare yourself as much as possible. The key through all of this is to stay relaxed.
What Results Can You Expect?
With continued practice of this new habit of acting as if you are safe you will override the old habit of preparing to flee. This habit will be replaced by a new habit of acting as if the thought is unimportant. And by definition, unimportant thoughts are precisely that, unimportant.
In a few weeks, you will begin to find it more and more difficult to scare yourself and with further exposure, you will begin to get bored by the whole process.
Why The Exercise Works
Chances are you felt quite uncomfortable during this exercise. However, by feeling the fear, yet acting as if that feeling is unimportant, you sent a message to the worry center that you no longer will run away from this type of scary thought.
Fear is a mechanism that prepares you to defend yourself from something that you defended yourself in the past. This becomes a well-practiced habit. Breaking this habit involves two parts. First, you must feel the fear (which is a preparation to escape), and then you must surprise the fear by acting in a non-defensive way.
“It is living with the mismatch of feeling scared, but refusing to run away from the thought, that teaches the worry mechanism that these thoughts are not dangerous.”
Dr. Ball
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