Intrusive Thoughts

Ever been trying to fall asleep, watch TV, or just wash the dishes, and suddenly the worst moment crashes in like a movie you can’t pause? The same images, sounds, or “what-if” thoughts loop over and over, sometimes for hours. Your mind feels hijacked. 

You tell yourself,  “just stop thinking about it,” but that only makes the thoughts louder. These are called intrusive thoughts or trauma loops, and they’re one of the most exhausting parts of what you can experience after a traumatic event (complex, traumatic situation). 

It feels like your brain turned into a broken record that only plays the scariest song. You’re not going crazy, and you’re not weak for not being able to “shake it off.” Your brain is stuck trying to solve a problem that has no solution, and it won’t quit until it feels safe again.

Why the Thoughts Keep Coming Back

After trauma, the brain treats the memory like an unsolved puzzle or an open alarm. A part called the amygdala keeps hitting the panic button, while the hippocampus (the memory organizer) can’t file the memory away properly, so it stays raw and ready to pop up at any second (Ehlers & Clark, 2000). 

Brain scans show that during an intrusive memory, the same fear circuits light up as if the event is happening right now (Shin et al., 2006). At the same time, the “thinking and reasoning” part of the brain (prefrontal cortex) is worn out from stress, so it can’t shut the loop down (Hayes et al., 2012). 

The harder you try to push the thoughts away, the stronger they bounce back—this is called the rebound effect, and science says fighting them directly almost always makes them worse (Wegner, 1994)

A research-backed trick that actually works is called “Thought Labeling + Scheduled Worry Time.” Here’s how to do it in two quick steps:

When the thought crashes in, silently say to yourself:

“This is just a memory. It feels real, but it’s a picture from the past, not happening now.”

(Labeling it this way calms the amygdala in seconds—brain scans prove it (Lieberman et al., 2007).)

Tell the thought: “I’ll give you 10 minutes at 7:00 p.m. tonight, but not right now.”

Later, actually set a timer for 10 minutes and let yourself think about it on purpose. Most people find the thoughts feel weaker or don’t even show up.

Studies with veterans and assault survivors show that doing this daily for two weeks cuts intrusive thoughts by 50% or more and lowers PTSD scores (Marks et al., 2018). Another study found that people who practiced labeling + postponing had quieter amygdala activity and slept better (Cisler et al., 2011).

You can do this anywhere—no one will know. The more you practice, the more your brain learns that the memory is just a memory, not a live threat. You don’t have to live inside that loop forever. 

Little by little, your mind can learn to press “skip” instead of “repeat.”

Try the labeling trick the next time a thought barges in. You’ve carried this long enough—you deserve some quiet in your own head. 

Works Cited

Cisler, Josh M., et al. “Amygdala Response to Intrusive Re-experiencing Symptoms in PTSD.” Journal of Psychiatric Research, vol. 45, no. 9, 2011, pp. 1160–1168.  

Ehlers, Anke, and David M. Clark. “A Cognitive Model of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.” Behaviour Research and Therapy, vol. 38, no. 4, 2000, pp. 319–345.  

Hayes, Joseph P., et al. “Quantitative Meta-analysis of Neural Activity in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.” Biology of Mood & Anxiety Disorders, vol. 2, no. 9, 2012, doi:10.1186/2045-5380-2-9.  

Lieberman, Matthew D., et al. “Putting Feelings into Words: Affect Labeling Disrupts Amygdala Activity in Response to Affective Stimuli.” Psychological Science, vol. 18, no. 5, 2007, pp. 421–428.  

Marks, Elizabeth H., et al. “A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Worry Postponement Intervention for Intrusive Thoughts in PTSD.” Journal of Traumatic Stress, vol. 31, no. 3, 2018, pp. 401–410.  

Shin, Lisa M., et al. “A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study of Amygdala and Medial Prefrontal Cortex Responses to Overtly Presented Fearful Faces in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.” Archives of General Psychiatry, vol. 62, no. 3, 2006, pp. 273–281.  

Wegner, Daniel M. “Ironic Processes of Mental Control.” Psychological Review, vol. 101, no. 1, 1994, pp. 34–52.