Dealing with Intrusive Thoughts: Tips and Tricks

I think different things work for everyone so try out different methods. For me personally I usually start laughing at them as if they were a person trying to trick me and say something like “oop you almost got me” silly but works when I can think of it on time

One way my therapist has taught me to help deal with them is by saying "its happening again" when they come up. Its a way of acknowledging their existance without delving to deeper into the thoughts themselves. A couple other exercises involve imaging a pen with the thought writting on the side, and then dropping the pen. (You can also physically drop a pen). Another one involves imagining a truck with the thought driving off into the sunset until you can't see it. A more physical one is writing the thought on a white board and then wiping it away, (but it can be stressful to see it physically written out).

For me personally I struggled a lot with viewing myself as a bad person because of the thoughts I was having. What’s helped me is addressing my intrusive thoughts as if they’re a different person.