Glad more media is normalizing intrusive thoughts.
Accepting and ignoring them is important.
this post was submitted on 28 Dec 2024
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When moderate, they’re actually healthy.
Intrusive thoughts like this, stabbing someone when you hold a knife, or dropping a baby are very normal and believed to have been developed in humans as a way to foresee and prevent danger.
People with OCD, such as myself, get two scoops of this shit and it can be totally overwhelming or even scary at times. It turns out it’s not normal to need to always stand at the front edge of the subway platform so I’m not barraged with terrifying thoughts of accidentally yet repeatedly pushing people onto the tracks until my chest gets tight and I have to close my eyes. Lol
Your thoughts are of pushing people in onto the subway tracks? Mine are of being pushed. YOU WILL NEVER GET ME, YOU HEAR! My back is always to the wall!
My intrusive platform thoughts are always accidental. They didn’t mean to bump into your intrusive thoughts! I promise!
"two scoops of this shit" hit deep. I think I'll start using that when describing my struggles with ADHD
That does indeed sound very scary, to not have control over what you want to do
Oh the lack of control is very much noted. It’s compensated for by compulsive cleaning, organizing, or any other tasks that allow me to exert control over my environment. It’s my tell when I’m struggling to accept something in my life that I can’t control.
Mine kick in around heights. They're easily dismissed and usually only pop in if I'm not occupied with something. It's probably why I can both work in high places regularly and yet have a fear of heights outside work. I'm called overly cautious, but maybe my intrusive thoughts are me just seeing alternate futures where I rush or don't double check.
Worst case I ever had was at Chimney Rock in NC. I could not get near the edge to look, I kept imagining how easy it would be to just run off. And it didn't help parents were letting their kids run around as if it was a playground.
Same thing here. When we're on vacation, my wife can fearlessly walk up to the edge of a cliff, but I just can't. I'm afraid that I'll get disoriented and lose my balance!
When I consider the risk (death or dismemberment) versus the reward (standing several feet closer to the edge), it just doesn't seem worth it at all. Maybe I'm just rationalizing my fear, but these sharp drops really seem like a uniquely dangerous situation in my life.
I can do work high up on a swaying scissor lift or even drive the fucker around extended no problem. If I'm clipped in or there's a fence high enough I'm good.
But you better believe if I had to go to a cliff edge I'd be crawling towards it. Similarly- 30 foot cliff above a lake, sure I'll jump off it. 30 foot cliff above dirt, not going near the edge.
I get mine whenever I pick up anything that could be used as a weapon. Annoying side effect to making food.
I hate this one. Every time I pick up a knife it's like "man you could totally slit your wrist and bleed out and die, wouldn't that be wild??"
Mine are about harming others, which makes it even worse imo
Maybe this is your brain's way of telling you to design weapons.
I was always made fun of for my fear of heights, but now that I'm older I am very glad I'm scared of heights. Just falling from standing height can kill you if youre unlucky. A fall from 6 feet is very likely to result in permanent spine or head injuries and broken bones.
It's just your brain's way of saying, "Hey, there's actually a life-threatening situation that could happen here. Just be aware."
I've found that 'thanking my brain for reminding me' lets me stop thinking about the intrusive thought itself and continue on with my day.
It makes you feel better, it's safest, and it's the most correct!
I'm faced with a very similar senario almost daily. Almost daily I have to walk for a lot of meters near such a fence which is a little shorter than me and I keep wondering how dangerous this is. I'm about one slip away from being stabbed to the head or neck on that fence.. Probably a lot of other people too. Why would they ever pick that design ("intruders" will easily get over that, they might not even need a carpet, besides there are open passages to the fenced area nearby).. (That fence is public property too.) I also wonder if anyone has ever died or has been severly damaged from that, but I dont think I've heard anyone else being worried of this.
I had a similar situation where a fence of this style was placed directly next to a bike path. At walking height, it would have been hard to land on, but on a bike at speed? It would have been way too easy to be impaled, and it was terrifying.
Once in awhile I hear stories of deers uhh... Living that intrusive thought
They are nonfiction. I've seen it not once but twice. Entrails draped out along the bottom of the fence. Pretty horrifying. I have these thoughts now around such fences but with good reason to be cautious.
It happened to a person 2 decades ago. The pictures are still up on Snopes.
I'm not sure if I'm just not looking for it but it seemed truly fucked up shit was more readily available in decades past.
Isn’t there something else going on with those deer.
Well, my first thought was that she was going to sit on it, so that's how my morning brain works.
With you. Stupid Internet.
I had a recurring nightmare when I was a kid about a fence like that where all my friends got impaled on it trying to climb over.
I used to walk over a bridge that had a face like this below.
I had those exact same intrusive thoughts.
Those are called, the faces of death.
Its nice to know its not just me being crazy.
The Nicholas Cage film, Bring Out The Dead (which is a very good film) has that happen to someone. Cage plays a mad Ambulance Driver.
Jack Hammer: “Hi, Producer? I’d like to speak to you about my role here at Global Studios. You see, I’ve felt dissatisfied playing the villain in a children’s’ cartoon, and…”
Dee Vasquez: Intrusive thoughts
Ah, the ol’ Blind Mag.
As told by a friend of mine, one time her and her friends were trying to get into the school yard at night. They were a little drunk and were jumping over a fence similar to the one in the picture.
One of them fell and the pointy head of the fence punctured his arm from somewhere right above the joint. The fence got as deep as 5-7 centimeters (2-3 inches) and hooked him under the skin. He stayed shocked in fear for a few seconds before he started screaming.
They unhooked his skin from the fence and took him to a hospital. Doctors said he was lucky to not bust a vein