Let’s Talk About Intrusive Thoughts (Yes, Even the Weird Ones)

Okay, deep breath—let’s dive into intrusive thoughts. Yep, those thoughts. We all have them, and it doesn’t make you a terrible person or some strange outlier. Intrusive thoughts are just the brain doing its thing. Personally, the ones that hit me hardest are about my kids. For a while, I couldn’t shake this constant worry that they would die EVERY SINGLE DAY. I was so freaked out by my own thoughts that I hesitated to say anything. Then, one day, I took a leap and told my husband. His response? “Yep, that’s normal. Intrusive thoughts are just part of life.” And perhaps the most important thing he shared: "I have them too". That was the nudge I needed. Now, we've made it a thing to talk about these thoughts out loud. Why keep them bottled up?

Own them for what they are—ridiculously uncomfortable, sometimes messed up, and hilariously random. Take this: I can’t even walk to the car without imagining some out-of-nowhere disaster, like tripping and dropping my kid or something equally absurd. Messed up, right? But here’s the thing: it’s normal. I know you’ve probably had those random “what if” thoughts, too. Ever been driving and wondered, "What if I just… swerved off the road?" Not that you want to, just that your brain decided to go in the what-if direction. Fun, right?

Intrusive thoughts can be anything, really. I've gone down the path of violence, sexual thoughts involving things I'd never actually want to do, accidentally or even intentionally hurting a loved one and those nagging doubts that I'm leaving tasks unfinished or messing up somehow (this is a daily for me).

They’re uncomfortable and can be downright strange, but most importantly, they’re normal. The truth is it can be freeing to talk about them. If you have someone you trust, try it. Share your weirdest intrusive thoughts, the ones you’d never normally say out loud. Think of it as a way to take control, to stop letting them sit in the dark and fester.

Here’s the beauty of it: it’s okay to just let those intrusive thoughts exist without feeling pressured to act on them, analyze them, or fix them. You don’t have to chase them down or try to change them into something more acceptable. There’s no rule that says every thought needs a solution or that it even has to make sense. It’s actually freeing to acknowledge a thought and then simply let it go, like noticing a strange ad that pops up online and thinking, 'Well, that’s not for me' and moving on.

You’re not expected to solve anything here or fix these thoughts. They’re not a puzzle to be worked out or a signal that something is wrong with you. They’re just mental noise, and it’s completely okay to leave them as they are. It’s enough to acknowledge them, maybe even give a little mental shrug, and say to yourself, 'Well, that was bizarre. I don’t want to do that, and I’m probably not going to do it either.' By giving yourself permission to let them be, you’re allowing them to lose their grip over you. The thought can just float by without sticking or spiraling into more stress or guilt.

When you can see these thoughts for what they really are—brief, irrelevant blips—it becomes easier to move on from them. They don’t define you, they don’t predict your actions, and they certainly don’t make you a bad person. It’s enough to think, 'That’s a strange one, but I don’t need to do anything about this thought.' Sometimes, letting a thought just exist is the most peaceful approach we can take.

Good luck, people! Let those thoughts fly. It is what it is.