What can cause repetitive thoughts?

While it’s most common in anxiety, there are other conditions that can cause racing thoughts, too.

• Anxiety. Anxiety is a common cause of racing thoughts.
• ADHD.
• Obsessive compulsive disorder.
• Bipolar disorder.
• Agitated depression.
• Medication side effect.

Why do I have repetitive intrusive thoughts?

Unwanted, repetitive thoughts could be a sign of OCD. With this type of anxiety disorder, you have recurring, unwanted thoughts you can’t control. You may also have the urge to repeat certain behaviors or actions over and over again.

How do I stop intrusive repetitive thoughts?

The only way to effectively deal with intrusive obsessive thoughts is by reducing one’s sensitivity to them. Not by being reassured that it won’t happen or is not true. Unwanted intrusive thoughts are reinforced by getting entangled with them, worrying about them, struggling against them, trying to reason them away.

Does anxiety cause disturbing thoughts?

According to the National Institute of Mental Health , intrusive thoughts are among the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). They can also be a feature of anxiety, depression, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Intrusive thoughts are unwanted thoughts that seem to occur out of the blue.

Why do I repeat numbers in my head?

Compulsive counting is a common symptom of obsessive-compulsive disorder. People with counting compulsions may count because they feel that certain numbers have a special significance, and therefore specific actions must be performed a certain number of times.

What is the difference between repetitive and repetitive thought?

Some people equate repetitive thought (i.e., thought characterized by repetition) with repetitious thought (i.e., thought characterized by unnecessary and tedious repetition), but there are many forms of repetitive thought that are not tedious and are perhaps even necessary.

Is repetitive thinking bad for your health?

Those two people could have the same score on a type of repetitive thought (worry), but the larger pictures of their mental lives would be quite different. It is clear that negatively valenced repetitive thought has bad consequences for mental and physical health (see Watkins, 2008, for a review).

What types of repetitive thought have positive valence?

There are a number of types of repetitive thought that have positive valence. In the Figure, different flavors of savoring (reminiscing, savoring, and anticipating) reflect positively valenced repetitive thought about the past, present, and future, respectively.

How do I stop ruminative thinking?

Letting go of stress and anger can help with ruminative thinking. Properly dealing with negative emotions can also help with rumination and the feelings of stress that come with it.