Do You Have Repetitive, Undesired, or Intrusive Thoughts and Urges?

When you’re driving, do you obsessively imagine ramming your car into the one ahead of you? Do weird sexual images pop into your head at the most inappropriate times? Every time you walk into a store, do you envision yourself shoplifting something? Even though you may never intend to actually follow through on these actions, the unwanted thoughts can be very distressing. Why can’t you just stop thinking repetitive, undesired, or intrusive thoughts? It likely has to do with an area of the brain called the anterior cingulate gyrus.

Why can’t you just stop thinking repetitive, undesired, or intrusive thoughts? It has to do with an area of the brain called the anterior cingulate gyrus.
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The Anterior Cingulate Gyrus and Intrusive Thoughts

Deep in the middle of the frontal lobes in your brain rests the anterior cingulate gyrus or ACG. This part of the brain and surrounding areas of the frontal lobes were found to be involved with shifting attention in a 1991 study. The brain imaging work at Amen Clinics shows that when the ACG is overactive, people tend to struggle to shift their attention and are more prone to obsessive thinking patterns and getting stuck on intrusive thoughts.

The problem is that an overactive ACG also makes you more likely to focus on those thoughts, increasing their intensity and ramping up anxiety. This kind of obsessive thinking can be immensely destructive to a person’s emotional well-being. Repetitive, intrusive thoughts are some of the hallmark signs of obsessive compulsive spectrum disorders (OCSD), more commonly known as obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).

In some people, obsessive thinking leads to performing compulsive behaviors as a way to cope with anxiety-inducing thoughts. People can get stuck on behaviors such as hand-washing (stuck on fears about germs), eating disorders (stuck on food issues or poor body image), or addictions (obsessively drinking or doing drugs).

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Obsessive Thinking

While many people experience intrusive thoughts from time to time and may even be concerned about it, they have the ability to put these thoughts aside and move on. Some may even experience looping thoughts regularly or everyday routines, but they don’t interfere with work, school, or home life.

People with OCD have repetitive, undesired, or intrusive thoughts (obsessions) and urges (compulsions) that cannot be controlled. In the U.S., about 1 in 40 adults and 1 in 200 children are affected by OCD. The obsessive thoughts often are thematic in these areas:

• Germs and contamination
• Symmetry
• Religion
• Sexual ideation
• Aggressive impulses
• Fear of harming or killing others

Getting Unstuck from Obsessive Thinking

The good news is that you can get unstuck from obsessive thoughts. Calming an overactive ACG can help. Taking nutritional supplements that boost serotonin (a brain chemical that is often low in people with too much activity in the ACG) and eating a diet that is higher in complex carbohydrates and lower in protein are strategies that can help restore the ACG to healthy function. Managing your day-to-day thoughts and behaviors can also have a powerful effect on your brain chemistry.

One study conducted by UCLA psychiatrist Jeffrey Schwartz used PET scans (similar to brain SPECT imaging) to measure treatment with obsessive disorders. It revealed that when patients were treated with anti-obsessive medication, the overactive parts of their brains tended to calm down. It showed that medications help heal the dysfunctional patterns of the brain. Yet even more remarkable, it showed that patients who were treated without any medication but with behavior therapy had normalization in the ACG and basal ganglia. In other words, changing behavior can also change brain patterns!

At Amen Clinics, an exercise that helps patients to overcome “stuck” thought patterns is called “thought stopping.” Here’s how it works:

• Notice when you are stuck and say “STOP!”
• Distract yourself and come back to the problem later.
• Thinking through answers before automatically saying no.
• Writing out options and solutions when you feel stuck.

There’s no need to suffer from repetitive, obsessive, or intrusive thoughts, and you can learn additional strategies to get control of your thinking from a qualified mental health care professional.

Obsessive thinking, OCD, and other mental health issues can’t wait. At Amen Clinics, we’re here for you. We offer in-clinic brain scanning and appointments, as well as mental telehealth, clinical evaluations, and therapy for adults, teens, children, and couples. Find out more by speaking to a specialist today at 888-288-9834 or visit our contact page here.