Are intrusive thoughts normal?
Intrusive thoughts are normal: many people get sudden, unwanted thoughts or images that feel shocking or completely out of character.
Common ones include picturing a loved one being hurt, an urge to shout in a quiet room, or a sexual or religious thought that feels wrong. Having a thought is not the same as wanting it or acting on it. The distress it causes shows it goes against your values.
They become a problem when they keep returning, cause real distress, and lead to rituals such as checking, asking for reassurance or mental counting to cancel them out. If that takes more than an hour a day or gets in the way of life, it may be OCD. OCD responds well to a type of CBT called exposure and response prevention.
Source: American Psychiatric Association: What is obsessive-compulsive disorder?
See a doctor promptly if
- Obsessions or compulsions taking up more than an hour a day, or stopping you working, sleeping or seeing people
- Avoiding children, kitchens, driving or other parts of normal life because of feared thoughts
- Low mood, hopelessness, or thoughts of suicide or self-harm. Call your local emergency number or a crisis line today
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Answered by the AskDoc Medical Team · Medically reviewed under our Medical Director, MBBS · How we review
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