If you’ve ever had a thought pop into your head and immediately thought, “What the hell was that?” – welcome. You’re in the right place.

Intrusive thoughts are one of the most misunderstood parts of OCD and anxiety. They’re scary, unwanted, random, and wildly convincing. And for a lot of people, the moment an intrusive thought shows up, the spiral begins:

“Why did I think that?”

“What does this say about me?”

“Normal people don’t think this… right?”

“Do I need to fix this or make it go away?”

Take a breath. None of that means what you think it means.

Let’s break down what intrusive thoughts actually are, why your brain produces them, and why trying to fight them usually makes them louder, not quieter.

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What Intrusive Thoughts Really Are (In Plain English)

Intrusive thoughts are random mental noise. They’re not intentions. They’re not desires. They’re not warnings. They’re not clues.

They’re just thoughts that show up without your permission.

Everyone has them. Truly. The difference with OCD and anxiety isn’t having intrusive thoughts – it’s what happens next. An anxious brain treats the thought like a threat instead of a passing blip. It grabs onto it, analyzes it, argues with it, checks how it feels, and tries to neutralize it.

That’s when the problem starts.

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Why Your Brain Produces Intrusive Thoughts in the First Place

Here’s the unsexy truth: your brain throws out thousands of thoughts a day. Most of them are weird, irrelevant, or nonsense, and you never notice them.

But when a thought hits something you deeply care about (your values, your safety, your loved ones, your morality), your brain goes, “HEY. HEYYYY. Pay attention to this.”

Not because it’s important, but because your brain is bad at sorting relevance from threat.

This is especially true for people who are conscientious, empathetic, responsible, and self-aware. (Yes, those are strengths, even though OCD loves to weaponize them.)

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Why Fighting Intrusive Thoughts Backfires Every Time

This is the part that trips most people up.

When an intrusive thought shows up, your instinct is to:

• push it away
• argue with it
• reassure yourself it’s not true
• figure out why it happened
• check how you feel afterward

Totally understandable. Also… totally unhelpful.

Every time you engage with the thought, you’re accidentally telling your brain, “Good catch. This was important.” So your brain files it away as something to send again later – louder, faster, and with more urgency.

That’s why intrusive thoughts don’t respond to logic. You can’t out-think something that isn’t a thinking problem.

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“But What If This One Is Different?”

Ah yes. The most convincing sentence OCD has ever produced.

Here’s a Jenna truth bomb: OCD doesn’t care about the content of your thought. It cares about your reaction to uncertainty. The theme can change – harm, relationships, health, morality, postpartum fears – but the process stays the same.

If your brain is demanding certainty, proof, or reassurance, it’s playing the same game in a different costume.

This is exactly why learning the OCD/anxiety cycle matters more than memorizing subtype labels. If you haven’t seen it laid out clearly yet, my OCD and Anxiety Cycle Masterclass is a great place to start.

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What Actually Helps When Intrusive Thoughts Hit

Here’s the shift that changes everything:

Instead of asking, “How do I make this thought go away?”

Ask, “How do I respond differently when it shows up?”

Helpful responses sound like:

• “Maybe, maybe not.”
• “Thanks brain.”
• “I don’t need to solve this.”
• “I can feel uncomfortable and keep living my life.”

Not because these phrases magically calm you down, but because they stop feeding the cycle.

And sometimes, especially when you’re tired or overwhelmed, it helps to have those reminders outside your head. That’s why visual grounding tools are so powerful. A sticker on your phone, a card on your desk, or even an air freshener in your car can interrupt the spiral before you’re ten thoughts deep.

That’s the intention behind everything in the Break Free Shop. They’re not reassurance. They’re reminders of who’s in charge when your brain is being… dramatic.

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A Quick Reality Check (Because We’re Not Doing Perfectionism Here)

You are not supposed to respond perfectly every time. You will get hooked sometimes. You will analyze sometimes. That does not mean you’re failing.

Progress looks like:

• noticing the spiral sooner
• staying in the room even when anxiety shows up
• choosing action over analysis more often than not

That’s it. No gold stars for “never having intrusive thoughts again.”

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If You Want a Clear Plan (Not Just Reassurance)

If reading this gave you that quiet “oh… this makes sense” feeling, I don’t want you to stop here.

If you want a step-by-step system for responding to intrusive thoughts, resisting mental compulsions, and actually breaking the cycle long-term, this is where I want you – inside my course and community (featuring weekly access to me) – The OCD and Anxiety Recovery Blueprint.

It’s the full roadmap – not just education, but application, community, and ongoing support.

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Final Thought

Intrusive thoughts don’t mean you’re broken. They don’t mean you’re dangerous. And they definitely don’t mean you’re secretly the worst person alive.

They mean your brain is misfiring, and you can learn how to respond without letting it run the show.

You don’t need to win the argument with your thoughts.

You just need to stop taking the bait. Let’s do it together <3.