Intrusive thoughts are like words. If you think of a word hard enough/long enough, it starts to sound funny. It becomes distorted in your mind. The more you say it to yourself, the more you think of this word, the more meaning it loses. The funnier it sounds. It’s hard to reconnect it to its meaning. Later, when you happen to think of it again after taking space from it, you can see it for what it is. It’s clear again and the meaning is back. This is how I feel about intrusive thoughts. The harder I repeat them/think about them, the more distorted and unclear they become. It’s hard to make sense of them. When I take space from them by avoiding compulsions, they make more sense and I can see them for what they are: just random thoughts.

I need advice for intrusive thoughts. I used to feel like I could handle them. They weren’t nearly as bad as the things that related to my actual life. But now, I’m suffering. I haven’t had a sexual experience in over a year that didn’t involve constant intrusive thoughts. Most are somehow related to kids and I keep chasing off the thoughts but it’s so bad. I know you’re supposed to ignore them but I don’t know how I can just ignore that and continue what I’m doing. But they’re coming on stronger. I had one earlier I could not get rid of just as things finished so the thought came on strongly just before my orgasm hit and now I feel absolutely disgusting. I hated the thought and I know it’s not me and it was not enjoyable but it still feels like I was getting off to it. I feel sick. I’m so fucking tired of these thoughts. They’re in my every day life too and it’s all the time. I just want it to stop but ignoring it feels so wrong. What should I do?

for me, it's like there's two folders of my thoughts, 'main thoughts' and 'sub thoughts' and it's like a background voice of my background voice, you know? like so quiet and irrelevant but it's still here and i can try to ignore it but not fully and it feels like it's just really nasty, like it's warring with me, never shuts up and just keeps nagging me with those thoughts

Please how can an intrusive thought be distinguished from our own thoughts ?