Jeremy and the Huge, Ugly, Horrible Thought. For kids (and adults)

Jeremy had a lot of thoughts. He liked to think about fun things. But often, thoughts that he really hated tried to take over. He thought that one thought was especially HUGE, UGLY, and HORRIBLE! Sometimes he wondered what kind of a person he was to have such awful thoughts! Many times, the thoughts wouldn’t shut off. He wished they would leave him alone.

Jeremy would tell those unwanted thoughts to STOP! They usually wouldn’t listen, or they would just get louder and bigger.

One day, Jeremy was talking to his friend, Sam, and complained, “My brain does a lot of stuff I don’t want it to do! There are so many crazy thoughts I can’t stand!”

Sam’s face lit up with understanding, “Oh! Those are intrusive thoughts.”

Sam explained, “Everyone has thoughts they don’t like, but intrusive thoughts grow bigger the harder you try to get rid of them.” He said, “This problem can run in families sometimes. Me, my sister, and my brother have had to deal with intrusive thoughts.”

Sam explained that it wasn’t Jeremy’s fault for having unwanted thoughts. “With counseling and a few tricks, your mind can be quieter.”

Then Jeremy explained, “Intrusive thoughts used to bother me a lot. It was so frustrating. Now I have learned ways to deal with them. I’d recommend going to counseling, but I’ll share one idea that has helped.

Sam Recalled, “I used to think that my unwanted thoughts made me a bad person, or a weird person. Now I realize that they are just “Brain Hiccups.” They don’t mean anything. When they come up, I give them some silly name, like “Harold the Hiccuper.”Then I say, “Harold the Hiccuper is making a lot of noise, but it’s just a brain hiccup that doesn’t mean much. I don’t have to be afraid of or hate the thought. This thought isn’t who I am.”

Then Sam continued, “When I used to think those thoughts made me bad or weird, then I put too much attention on them. In counseling, I learned they didn’t need a lot of attention. After I gave them less importance, they stopped bothering me so much.

That night, a HUGE, UGLY, HORRIBLE … Wait!!

Jeremy remembered speaking with Sam and told himself, “It’s just a hiccup! It’s meaningless! It’s so meaningless that I don’t have to fight it, hate it, be afraid of it, or do anything because of it!”

The thought didn’t go away, but Jeremy noticed it wasn’t forcing him to do anything. It didn’t change who he was. It still bugged him a bit, but it definitely seemed less powerful.

He wanted to learn more. Before falling asleep, he asked himself, “What will it be like when all my intrusive thoughts are meaningless?”

NOTE TO ADULTS

Adults and Children can have intrusive thoughts. It can be a pretty challenging thing to be fighting with your mind. I offer counseling to adults and children for intrusive thoughts, among other challenges like anxiety, depression, stress/trauma, OCD, and ADHD

See my HOME PAGE about scheduling information, or call our office at 524-0133 to set up an appointment