Advice

[blarney]

Hello,

I´ve lately been experiencing occasional violent thoughts that appear in my mind out of nowhere. For example I´ll imagine a friend of mine or someone I love very much being hurt or attacked. I don´t desire these thoughts... in fact, they horrify and disgust me. But I can´t seem to make them go away. The odd thing is, I feel very sane in all other respects. I am a postgraduate student in a committed relationship. I´m physically fit and have a lot of friends and a supportive family. I´m generally a funny, likeable person who is troubled by things like poverty and violence. In fact, I can barely got through "Slumdog Millionaire". So I don´t think I´m psychotic .. from what I´ve read, that would mean I have a lack of empathy with others.

So much in my life seems fine, which is why I can´t understand these thoughts. I think sometimes I may just ahve an overactive imagination ' and it´s not like I have these thoughts all the time. I´m usually able to control them by saying "STOP" to myself. But all they same, the thoughts are there.

I´d value any suggestions.

Thanks

 

[Dollit]

Those thoughts are so frequent in people they can be considered just about normal. I don't know a single person who hasn't had those sort of thoughts at one time or another. I was discussing this with a friend who's a GP with psychiatric experience recently and he's had them. We waxed lyrical on the subject for a long time as we'd been discussion how complex and intricate the brain is and while it's sophisticated it's also a bit stupid. Anyway the conversation turned to these type of thoughts and it's almost as though you're preparing yourself when things do go wrong. I wouldn't worry about it, I certainly don't worry about those sort of thoughts. What is reality and what is part of an "extended" imagination bear little resemblance to one another.