Junior English major
To this day, whenever I hear someone say the words “the game,” I immediately cringe and think, “Crap, I just lost the game.” This stupid little line has plagued me since middle school — when it was so popular — and no matter how much I try to keep the thought out of my head, it just keeps coming back.
This is an incredibly tame example of an intrusive thought: one of those inappropriate feelings or urges that comes through our minds, and we just can’t understand where it came from. We all have them, and they can take many forms (though we may not always realize why or how), and can be completely irrational.
It’s like when you’re driving and think, “What would happen if I turned the wheel and ran into that tree?” or when you randomly consider pushing someone you have no actual interest in harming, or hooking up with someone you find unattractive. They aren’t suicidal thoughts or realistic physical urges — they just run through your head, making you wonder what’s wrong with your brain.
These aren’t reasonable, thought-out beliefs; most of the time, they are just a fleeting annoyance, and we are able to dismiss them. But some randomly resonate more than others.
Researchers at Harvard University did a study on these thoughts. They asked participants not to think of a white bear — to think of anything else but a white bear. Subjects found the problem was that if they were trying not to think of the bear, their minds wanted to check and see how they were doing on not thinking about it. Then, they would be thinking about the white bear again. In fact, the very act of trying to forget an intrusive thought proves we don’t want to act on these urges.
Harping on intrusive thoughts can often be attributed to mental disorders or health issues. People with anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder or post-traumatic stress disorder don’t let these thoughts go, and it can severly affect their states of mind. But often, if we avoid thinking of these issues, it can make us more balanced, relaxed people.
Sometimes, we have intrusive thoughts simply because they are the most inappropriate things our mind can imagine. Sometimes it’s because there is no way we would ever act in a certain manner — our minds imagine what would happen, then we obsess about it because of its sheer absurdity.
Bottom line: These thoughts are normal. There is a very low chance you will actually act on any of these inappropriate urges, and the very point of having them may just be as an outlet for our minds — so our brains can imagine ridiculous scenarios without taking the insane route of physically going through with them.
Intrusive thoughts can make amusing anecdotes, too. Just make sure not to take them too seriously, and understand that our minds are just a little strange most of the time. We must learn to accept it, and we will be better for it.
Maria Romas is a junior English major. She can be reached at mromas3@gmail.com.
