HomeLifestyleHealth & FitnessUnwanted Thoughts: What To Do When They Pop Into Your Head -...

Unwanted Thoughts: What To Do When They Pop Into Your Head – This Is What Experts Say

Published on

When trying to get rid of an unwanted thought, people often reject it and think of something else after it has already happened.

According to a recent study by Isaac Fradkin and Eran Eldar of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel, proactively avoiding an association in the first place can be significantly more effective and help stop the recurrent looping of Intrusive thoughts.

Most people know what it’s like to try to stop having unwanted, repetitive thoughts. Often, a trigger can make you think or remember something you don’t want to.

People must not only reject bad associations from their minds, but they must also ensure that these unwanted associations do not return in an endless loop, becoming stronger and stronger over time.

The new study looked at how 80 English-speaking adults made new associations with popular words.

Each participant had to type the word that went with the word they saw on the screen.

People in one group were informed beforehand that they would not earn monetary prizes if they repeated associations, so they actively suppressed their memories of previously supplied phrases.

The researchers employed computational methods to model how people were avoiding repeating associations based on reaction times and how successful participants were at creating new associations.

They discovered that the majority of people employ reactive control, rejecting undesirable connections after they have already formed.

“This type of reactive control can be particularly problematic,” the authors write, “because, as our findings suggest, thoughts are self-reinforcing: thinking a thought increases its memory strength and the probability that it will recur.”

“In other words, every time we have to reactively reject an unwanted association,” they add, “it has the potential to become even stronger. Critically, however, we also found that people can partially preempt this process if they want to ensure that this thought comes to mind as little as possible.”

“Although people could not avoid unwanted thoughts, they could ensure that thinking an unwanted thought does not increase the probability of it coming to mind again,” they point out. 

“Whereas the current study focused on neutral associations, future studies should determine whether our findings generalize to negative and personally relevant unwanted thoughts.”

Image Credit: Getty

You were reading: Unwanted Thoughts: What To Do When They Pop Into Your Head – This Is What Experts Say

Latest articles

Here’s How and When Mount Everest-sized ‘Devil Comet’ Can Be Seen With Naked Eye

Mount Everest sized Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks, also known as "devil comet" which is making its...

Something Fascinating Happened When a Giant Quantum Vortex was Created in Superfluid Helium

Scientists created a giant swirling vortex within superfluid helium that is chilled to the...

The Science of Middle-aged Brain and the Best Thing You Can Do to Keep it Healthy, Revealed

Middle age: It is an important period in brain aging, characterized by unique biological...

Science Shock: Salmon’s Food Choices Better at Reducing Risk of Heart Disease and Stroke

Salmon: Rich in Health Benefits, Yet May Offer Less Nutritional Value - This is...

More like this

Here’s How and When Mount Everest-sized ‘Devil Comet’ Can Be Seen With Naked Eye

Mount Everest sized Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks, also known as "devil comet" which is making its...

Something Fascinating Happened When a Giant Quantum Vortex was Created in Superfluid Helium

Scientists created a giant swirling vortex within superfluid helium that is chilled to the...

The Science of Middle-aged Brain and the Best Thing You Can Do to Keep it Healthy, Revealed

Middle age: It is an important period in brain aging, characterized by unique biological...