Myths and Facts About the Meaning of Thoughts

Overview of Thought Myths and Facts

• There are $9$ primary myths regarding our thoughts that contribute to intrusive thoughts becoming "stuck."

• Busting these myths with psychological facts is essential for changing one's attitude towards their mind.

• Many individuals erroneously believe that the content of their minds dictates the story of who they are "underneath."

• Modern research in psychology contradicts long-held ideas about what thoughts mean and what qualifies as "normal."

• There is conclusive evidence from psychological research proving each of the following nine myths is false.

• Helpful Fact: Understanding the reality of how thoughts work makes intrusive thoughts less "sticky."

Myth 1: Our Thoughts Are Under Our Control

• The Myth: Many believe thoughts are under conscious control and that we should be able to dictate what we think.

• The Fact: Many thoughts, and potentially most of them, are not under conscious control.

• Examples of Uncontrolled Thoughts:

  • Positive: Insights or inspirations for solving problems, lyrics coming to a poet or songwriter.

  • Neutral/Negative: Thoughts popping up like a "mental tic" or "hiccup," or the wandering mind experienced during meditation or boring lectures.

  • External Interference: A noisy room interrupting a train of thought.

• Capacity vs. Control: Just because one can think a specific thought on purpose does not imply total control. You cannot make thoughts go away at will or through sheer force of discipline.

• Dialogue on Control:

  • Worried Voice: Expresses a wish to control bad thoughts and fears being "sick."

  • False Comfort: Suggests mental discipline and "trying harder," which often makes the situation worse.

  • Wise Mind: Observes that the mind goes everywhere naturally and there is no need to stop it. Thoughts are just thoughts.

• Negative vs. Positive Thinking: The myth of control leads to the unhelpful suggestion of replacing negative thoughts with positive ones. While one can temporarily distract themselves, the original unwanted thoughts tend to return more forcefully when pushed away.

Myth 2: Our Thoughts Indicate Our Character

• The Myth: Thoughts reveal an individual's underlying character, intentions, or a hidden "dark side."

• The Fact: Thoughts have nothing to do with character. Character is defined by how one leads their life and the choices they actually make. Thoughts are things that simply pass through the mind without choice.

• Cultural Metaphors and Media:

  • Popular culture uses metaphors like werewolves, demonic possession, or the story of Jekyll and Hyde to suggest innocent people can be taken over by internal evil.

  • Movies like The Exorcist, American Psycho, and Forbidden Planet fuel the idea of an "inner demon."

  • Post-apocalyptic themes in Lord of the Flies and Mad Max suggest survival instincts make us "moral monsters" and that civilization is precarious.

• Self-Judgment vs. Others: People often apply this myth only to themselves while being more rational with friends, recognizing a friend's repugnant thoughts as "capricious" or meaningless.

• Dialogue on Character:

  • Worried Voice: Fears having perverted thoughts about children means being a "bad person deep down."

  • False Comfort: Reassures the person they are good but suggests "crowding out" the bad thoughts, which may lead to more self-doubt.

• Helpful Fact: Character is determined by chosen actions, not by the thoughts that pop into the mind.

Myth 3: Our Thoughts Indicate the Inner Self

• The Myth: Thoughts are paths to an "inner self" or "windows to the soul," representing hidden truths about a person's feelings or motives.

• The Fact: Everyone has passing "weird, aggressive, or crazy" thoughts. Psychological data indicates that approximately $90\,\%$ of people acknowledge having intrusive thoughts of this nature.

• The Creative Comparison: Horror movies and TV shows features gruesome scenarios, but these are created by normal, creative people simply writing scripts.

• Implications of the Myth: Believing this myth leads to fears of mental illness or being a perverted/disgusting person. People with violent intrusive thoughts may falsely believe they have hidden anger or a need to exercise extreme control over themselves.

• The Reality of Mental Activity: While mental activity occurs outside of awareness, "blips" of intrusive thoughts do not reveal meaningful motives or messages that differ from conscious intent.

Myth 4: The Unconscious Mind Can Affect Actions

• The Myth: The unconscious is a powerful, dark force that can cause someone to act impulsively against their conscious will (e.g., acting out in anger or violence).

• The Fact: While Freudian slips, dreams, and automatic associations are studied, the momentary thought of a taboo action (e.g., dropping a baby or jumping off a balcony) does not indicate an unconscious wish.

• Doubts as Warnings: Some believe doubting a decision is a warning from the "wiser" unconscious. This is false; feared thoughts are not fueled by underlying wishes.

• The Fallacy of "The wish is father to the fear": This is an old assumption with no scientific support, serving only to increase the anxiety of those with intrusive thoughts.

• Dialogue on the Unconscious:

  • Worried Voice: Worries that a daily thought of pushing someone under a train means the unconscious mind will eventually force the action.

  • False Comfort: Advises distraction and prayer, which are coping skills that offer only temporary relief and reinforce the idea that the thought is dangerous.

Myth 5: Thinking Something Makes It Likely to Happen

• The Myth: Having negative thoughts creates negative outcomes (e.g., "negative attracts negative").

• The Fact: This is known as Thought-Action Fusion (Rachman $1993$, Salkovskis $1985$) or Magical Thinking.

• Predictions vs. Reality: Thoughts are not predictions, warnings, or premonitions of plane crashes, accidents, or disasters. A premonition is just a feeling attached to a thought, not an accurate reading of the future.

• Causality: Thoughts do not move objects, change physical probabilities, or hurt people. Thinking about someone dying does not increase the probability of their death.

• Impact on Behavior: While thoughts/beliefs can influence choices (e.g., avoiding a scary task or calling in sick to avoid a boss), they do not influence external physical occurrences.

• Helpful Fact: Thoughts do not change probabilities in the real world.

Myth 6: Thinking Something Makes It Unlikely to Happen

• The Myth: Worrying about a loved one provides protection, shows loyalty, or keeps bad things from happening. This is the idea of "vigilance" as a safeguard.

• The Fact: Thinking/worrying does not change real-world probabilities. Constant worrying only trains the brain to reinforce a cycle of anxiety. Feelings are not facts.

Myth 7: Only Sick People Have Intrusive Thoughts

• The Myth: Only disturbed or mentally ill people experience weird or repugnant thoughts.

• The Fact: No one is free of these thoughts. This includes friends, teachers, doctors, and figures like Mother Teresa ($2009$), pastors, and celebrities.

• The Difference in Experience: The difference between an average person and someone distressed by these thoughts is "stickiness." Stickiness is not caused by character defects or illness, but by how much effort is spent trying to rid oneself of the thoughts.

Myth 8: Every Thought Is Worth Thinking

• The Myth: All thoughts crossing the mind are significant enough to explore or analyze.

• The Fact: The brain operates on multiple "channels" simultaneously, similar to cable TV.

• The Junk Channel Metaphor: Some channels are full of "junk," like infomercials or local school announcements. It is impossible and unnecessary to focus on every channel.

• Attention Hijacking: If one believes all thoughts are meaningful, they may allow their attention to be hijacked by the "junk channel," granting the intrusive thought a status it does not deserve.

• Dialogue on Junk Channels:

  • Worried Voice: Distracted by a thought about whether she will be proposed to, believing she should be "prepared."

  • Wise Mind: Points out that they are listening to the junk channel. Just because a thought is "lobed" at you like a football does not mean you have to catch it.

Myth 9: Thoughts That Repeat Are Important

• The Myth: If a thought recurs, it must be significant or have a message.

• The Fact: Repetition is linked to resistance, not importance. Thoughts repeat because they are being pushed away or "squished."

• The Law of Resistance: "What you resist persists." Examples include trying not to think about an itchy spot, a commercial jingle, or food stuck in someone's teeth.

• Neural Connections: Investing energy into a thought (even resistance) builds up neural connections, making the thought more likely to recur (Pittman and Karle $2015$).

• Sleep Analogy: Trying to "stop thinking" to fall asleep actually makes thoughts more elaborate and repetitive. One must let the mind wander to fall asleep.

• Helpful Fact: Thoughts that repeat are merely "stuck," not important.

Citations and References

• Winston, S. M., & Seif, M. N. ($2017$). Overcoming unwanted intrusive thoughts: A cbt-based guide to getting over frightening, obsessive, or disturbing thoughts. New Harbinger Publications.

• Rachman ($1993$) and Salkovskis ($1985$) regarding Thought-Action Fusion.

• Teresa ($2009$) regarding the intrusive thoughts of Mother Teresa.

• Pittman and Karle ($2015$) regarding energy investment and neural connections.