The Truth About "Scary Thoughts": Why Your Brain Generates Violent or Bizarre Images

The Secret Symptom

There is a symptom of anxiety that people rarely discuss, even with their doctors. It is too frightening. It is too shameful.

It is the sudden, flashing image of pushing a stranger into traffic. It is the fleeting thought of hurting a child while chopping vegetables. It is the bizarre, sexually inappropriate image that pops into your head during a church service or a business meeting.

If you deal with these thoughts, you likely live in terror that you are secretly a "monster" or that you are on the verge of a psychotic break.

Here is the truth: You are not a monster. You are not going crazy. You are experiencing Intrusive Thoughts, one of the most common symptoms of a sensitized nervous system.

The Brain as a Noise Generator

To understand why this happens, you have to understand how the brain processes data.

The human brain is a thought-generating machine. It produces tens of thousands of thoughts per day. Many of these are "junk data"—random firings, associations, and "what if" scenarios.

• The Non-Anxious Brain: A calm brain produces a weird thought ("What if I jumped off this bridge?"), recognizes it as junk, and discards it instantly. The person barely notices it happened.

• The Anxious Brain: Your nervous system is on high alert. You are hyper-vigilant for threats. When a weird thought pops up, instead of discarding it, your brain grabs it and analyzes it: "Oh my god. Why did I think that? Does that mean I want to do it?"

The "Pink Elephant" Effect

Once you react to the thought with fear, you trap yourself in the Obsessive-Worry Cycle.

Psychologists call this "Ironic Process Theory." If you tell yourself, "Whatever you do, don't think about a Pink Elephant," the very first thing you will visualize is a Pink Elephant.

By being terrified of the scary thought, you are desperately trying to push it away. This effort tells your brain: "This thought is important. This thought is dangerous. Keep an eye on it." Consequently, the brain serves the thought up to you more frequently.

Why You Are Safe (The Concept of "Egodystonic")

The most reassuring piece of science regarding intrusive thoughts is that they are Egodystonic.

This means the thoughts are directly opposed to your true character, values, and desires.

• The fact that the thought makes you sick to your stomach is proof that you are not capable of acting on it.

• True sociopaths do not agonize over whether they are bad people. They don't care.

Your fear is actually evidence of your morality. You are so protective of your loved ones (or your sanity) that your brain has latched onto the one thing that would be the "worst case scenario"—and is tormenting you with it.

How to Stop the Thoughts

You cannot stop the thoughts from entering your head (that is the Pink Elephant trap). You can only change how you react to them.

You must learn to strip the thought of its power. When a bizarre image flashes in your mind, instead of gasping in horror, you must practice a reaction of boredom.

You must say to the thought: "That was a weird one. Thanks, brain. Whatever."

When you stop reacting with adrenaline, the brain eventually realizes the thought is not a threat, and it stops sending it.