WHY DO WE GET AWLFUL INTRUSIVE THOUGHTS

[[ba...]]

for me the awlful intrusive thjoughts  started about  2 months being benzo free and  are awlful they are  mostly on the same theme  about  death and  dying does  anyone else get these thoughts and what causes them, would love to have some input  thank  you!! healing thoughts to  all  bando

[[JO...]]

hi Bando,

Sorry you are suffering from the intrusive thoughts. I get these often even as I taper. I believe it is just part of the process of us getting off the drugs and withdrawal. The good news is every day brings healing that you remain benzo free. I hope you get some relief soon. my motto is the best action is distraction.

[Guest [Pf...]]

I tapered twice, and got intrusive thoughts both times.

 

The first time I did not know about benzos, so it wasn't so much tapering, as being in tolerance withdrawal.  That is why I did not know not to start them again.  Anyway, that was terrible because I did not know why I was getting these thoughts and how it was that I didn't have them before and why no one else had them. I used to think about why the sun rose, but not in a good way, but in a scary way.  I thought pictures were looking at me.  Really awful stuff.

 

The second time, which started back in 09, but involved two unsucessful attempts, but a third successful one, gave me these thoughts before I stopped and then continued for a few months afterwards.  They eventually went away, and I think that these symptoms tend to go away relatively soon, but it is individual.

 

Tell yourself that the thoughts are the result of withdrawal.  That will not solve the problem entirely, but it will make it more manageable as you have a basis for not believing them.

 

It is not clear why people have them.  I suspect it is because when the nervous system is not damped down enough the ability to block things out is compromised.  All the thoughts are things that are theoretically possible.  The types of things that one sees in horror movies.  People often like those movies because we know it is not true:  apes are not going to take over the world, we are not going to be attacked by a race of people from the planet zocar, you are unlikely to just drop dead (think about it, how often have you ever seen anyone drop dead), your plane is unlikely to crash, the earth is not going to move too close to the sun in our lifetime etc.  Everyone knows those things, but we cannot prove that it is not true, and who knows, maybe the sun won't rise tomorrow, but I would not bet on that. 

 

I expect that a well regulated gaba system inhibits these thoughts from intruding all the time.  That's why some people are so bored that they need to watch horror.  But if the gaba system is compromised, the brain cannot completely block them out.

 

It will get better. 

 

 

 

[[WT...]]

I tapered twice, and got intrusive thoughts both times.

 

The first time I did not know about benzos, so it wasn't so much tapering, as being in tolerance withdrawal.  That is why I did not know not to start them again.  Anyway, that was terrible because I did not know why I was getting these thoughts and how it was that I didn't have them before and why no one else had them. I used to think about why the sun rose, but not in a good way, but in a scary way.  I thought pictures were looking at me.  Really awful stuff.

 

The second time, which started back in 09, but involved two unsucessful attempts, but a third successful one, gave me these thoughts before I stopped and then continued for a few months afterwards.  They eventually went away, and I think that these symptoms tend to go away relatively soon, but it is individual.

 

Tell yourself that the thoughts are the result of withdrawal.  That will not solve the problem entirely, but it will make it more manageable as you have a basis for not believing them.

 

It is not clear why people have them.  I suspect it is because when the nervous system is not damped down enough the ability to block things out is compromised.  All the thoughts are things that are theoretically possible.  The types of things that one sees in horror movies.  People often like those movies because we know it is not true:  apes are not going to take over the world, we are not going to be attacked by a race of people from the planet zocar, you are unlikely to just drop dead (think about it, how often have you ever seen anyone drop dead), your plane is unlikely to crash, the earth is not going to move too close to the sun in our lifetime etc.  Everyone knows those things, but we cannot prove that it is not true, and who knows, maybe the sun won't rise tomorrow, but I would not bet on that. 

 

I expect that a well regulated gaba system inhibits these thoughts from intruding all the time.  That's why some people are so bored that they need to watch horror.  But if the gaba system is compromised, the brain cannot completely block them out.

 

It will get better.

 

Good explanation, Pfeff.  I actually get some horrifying thoughts about the sun myself.