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Doom Thinking/Fantasising

Galaxy42

Hi folks.

I wanted to ask if this is a trait of Autism, just a me thing, or something that everybody does.

I spend a lot of my time imagining the worst things possible & how I would react/behave in those circumstances and I do mean the more dreadful things imageable including to my wife/children. I tell myself that I am preparing myself for if a terrible thing were to happen, but at the time they feel more like fantasising and I feel like I have zero control over these thoughts invading my mind.

I love my family, I want them to be safe & would dearly love to block these thoughts.

Does anyone else suffer with similar dreadful thought and do you have any techniques for stopping them?

Parents

  • I don't think it's a specifically autistic thing. People that struggle with anxiety etc will experience similar. Perhaps not about them doing something terrible to other people but thinking about the worst that can happen. Maybe all people do to some extent, I don't know. I think the thing with neurodivergency is though that we find it difficult to switch off or redirect our brains, making it really easy for these loops of endless thought.

    My thoughts are more worse case scenario rather than imagining myself doing anything. I'd love to have an answer that I can guarantee works. I've never had much luck with the usual suggestions of mindfulness and worry journals etc. Grounding techniques can help. Some people like the 54321 technique which is 5 things I can see, 4 things I can touch, 3 things I can hear, 2 things I can smell and 1 thing I can taste. I personally don't find this enough to change my thoughts. What helps me sometimes is to go through the alphabet and name things for each letter. I try to go for things that I'm interested in or things I find a good challenge so for me it's usually Harry Potter characters or countries. This isn't a long term fix, but can sometimes distract my thoughts away from the loop for a little while. Other than that trying to find something that will really engage my brain is the only other thing that ever helps. But it is again only a temporary solution, the thoughts always come back. 

    I'm currently waiting for further therapy on NHS. I've already done CBT which was not useful. So I can only hope that whatever is next can help some more. It may be worth looking into what therapy is available to you?

    I'm by no means qualified to diagnose anything but I just wonder from how you've described your thoughts whether you have any symptoms of OCD? I only ask as intrusive thoughts such as those you've described where you imagine yourself doing terrible things to those around you and those that experience say it feels very real at the time. I may be way off base but I just wonder whether it's something worth looking into?

Reply

  • I don't think it's a specifically autistic thing. People that struggle with anxiety etc will experience similar. Perhaps not about them doing something terrible to other people but thinking about the worst that can happen. Maybe all people do to some extent, I don't know. I think the thing with neurodivergency is though that we find it difficult to switch off or redirect our brains, making it really easy for these loops of endless thought.

    My thoughts are more worse case scenario rather than imagining myself doing anything. I'd love to have an answer that I can guarantee works. I've never had much luck with the usual suggestions of mindfulness and worry journals etc. Grounding techniques can help. Some people like the 54321 technique which is 5 things I can see, 4 things I can touch, 3 things I can hear, 2 things I can smell and 1 thing I can taste. I personally don't find this enough to change my thoughts. What helps me sometimes is to go through the alphabet and name things for each letter. I try to go for things that I'm interested in or things I find a good challenge so for me it's usually Harry Potter characters or countries. This isn't a long term fix, but can sometimes distract my thoughts away from the loop for a little while. Other than that trying to find something that will really engage my brain is the only other thing that ever helps. But it is again only a temporary solution, the thoughts always come back. 

    I'm currently waiting for further therapy on NHS. I've already done CBT which was not useful. So I can only hope that whatever is next can help some more. It may be worth looking into what therapy is available to you?

    I'm by no means qualified to diagnose anything but I just wonder from how you've described your thoughts whether you have any symptoms of OCD? I only ask as intrusive thoughts such as those you've described where you imagine yourself doing terrible things to those around you and those that experience say it feels very real at the time. I may be way off base but I just wonder whether it's something worth looking into?

Children
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