To anyone that thinks intrusive thoughts are a sign someone actually wants those things and is dangerous:
Everyone’s brain says stupid stuff sometimes. A lot of the time, people just forget those thoughts because they know it’s just a passing thought and not what they really want.
Have you ever held your favourite mug and your brain said ‘smash it’? Did you automatically do it? Did you then become a serial mug smasher? No? It’s almost like just because your brain says something, you don’t actually want or have to do it.
Have you stood near the edge of somewhere high or a tarin station as the train comes in and your brain said ‘jump’? Did you?
In the first example, everyone thinks like that sometimes. Mostly people don’t act on those thoughts. You know that even if you did break the mug, you’d only be breaking an object, not hurting a person. People forget those thoughts and don’t dwell on them.
In the second example, you are more likely, but not guaranteed, to remember those thoughts. When people think those things, they often immediately feel fear. They don’t really want to die. Why would they think that if they want to live? Because brains are stupid sometimes.
Have you ever seen a puppy and your brain said ‘kick’? Have you ever held a baby and your brain said ‘drop it’? Have you ever been chopping vegetables with someone else in the kitchen and your brain said ‘stab them’? You might say no. But you have.
You might not remember but, at some point, you will have thought something like that. Like the thought about smashing your favourite mug, you might have gone, ‘no, why would I do that? I don’t actually want that.’ Then you moved on and forgot. It was just a passing thought after all.
People who struggle with intrusive thoughts don’t just forget and move one. They feel a rush of fear and horror after such a thought. They wonder why they’d think something like that. They worry they might be a bad and dangerous person.
The thing is, if a person has the second reaction, they are going to focus on those intrusive thoughts more. As I’ve said, brains are stupid sometimes. The more you think about something, the more your brain will bring it up.
Having intrusive thoughts about hurting people and sexually abusing children dose not mean a person actually wants or will do those things.
TL;DR Intrusive thoughts the brain’s version of predictive text. They are not what the person thinking them really wants. In fact, the intrusive thoughts that upset or worry someone the most are the ones that are the most antithesis of their true self.
