thought stopping / thought flooding???

[strawberrie]

hi, i have been given 2 bits of completely contradictory advice and i was wondering if anyone had any suggestions about this.

my mental health person has told me i should try 'thought stopping' - basically, think up my feared thought until it is very clear then shout 'stop' and ping an elastic band on my wrist and conjure up a good thought and focus on that. i am supposed to keep practising this so that i can eventually conjure up a good thought whenever i need to. to be honest, im not convinced as i feel that if i get rid of a bad thought it is still there somewhere in my mind just waiting to get at me again.

however, i am reading a book at the moment called 'the worry cure' which says whatever you do, do not pratice 'thought stopping' as the more you try not to think of something the more important it becomes in your mind. They specifically criticise the elastic band method.

Instead they suggest 'flooding' which seems to be that when i have my feared thought e.g. 'its possible i have cancer' i need to repeat it in my mind 200 times so that i eventually get bored of it and no longer give it any importance. To be honest, i actuallly feel this would be more beneficial, in the same way that if you say a word over and over again to yourself it no longer makes sense. I did try it last night and actually fell asleep repeating it over and over again, although i woke up feeling awful, so who knows???

anyway, does anyone have any experience of these methods or have any advice?

thanks, mag

[shiv]

Yep. Flooding- That's generally considered the most effective way to stop this. Takes time and practise but I have this on very good authority that it works. The other method you describe may work for some but I doubt if it's a majority. Sounds a bit weird to me!!

Shiv x

[jodie]

hi strawberrie

i think this is very interesting and after some thought i think that thought flooding is a very good way of dealing with scary thoughts .
i get lots of panics and get eptopic heart beats all the time i know when they are realy bad and i am thinking about them all the time i endup getting sick and start to foret about the problem so it dose work i am sure .
jo x

[jackie]

mag i reall ybelieve that to stop it in its tracks is wrong. claire weekes says tho practice the letting it come in all its power and let it pass through method. ie do not stop it or try to prevent it from coming as this will only reinforse its strengh

i havent got the answers but i really think this is the better form

jackie

[Karen]

Hi Mag

Have a read through some of these posts for inspiration and suggestions wjhich have helped others.

Thoughts
Lets try to keep our thoughts in perspective
Mind Games
obsessive thoughts & anxiety
Still suffering this damn "suggestive" thing..
How to CURE yourself ! The definitive guide here..
Its happening again !
Things to consider for success!
[Link removed as post deleted]
Thoughts
image projection in my mind

weird thoughts
odd thoughts...
Strange thoughts....Anyone else?
Silly thoughts
strange things!
worried...
scared and down!

Negative thoughts – dealing with
Dealing with negative thoughts

Freedom from thoughts
Have you ever achieved freedom from your thoughts

Scary thoughts
obsessional negative thoughts
what if I kill someone?
Horrible thoughts
Morbid thoughts
just needing some reassurance i'm not alone
Feeling lonely
What's happening to me?



Karen



Happiness is not a state to arrive at but a manner of travelling.

You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough ~ Christine Cagney, Cagney & Lacey

[Coni]

Hi Strawberrie,

i agree with the others, I think flooding may work better. I think if you try to stop thinking about something, you need to actually think about it first in order to stop thinking about it
(does that make any sense?????)

Coni X

[darkangel]

I would also agree with the flooding method - try saying "well so what" it also takes the edge of the thought.
I also do flooding instead of gradual when facing my fears - it doesnt work for everyone but it does for me. Its all about finding out what works best for you and trying different things until you find something you can work with.
Good luck
Darkangel

........life is for living not just for surviving

[strawberrie]

hi all,

it is interesting that nobody so far has seemed too impressed by thought stopping, even though that is what was recommended by the mental health people.

i think flooding must be a better method, as surely it is easier to think a thought over and over again, rather than try to stop it. To be honest, if i could stop my negative thoughts whenever i wanted i dont suppose i would need much help anyway!

thanks for your advice,
mag xx