What to Do About Intrusive Thoughts

Thu Nov 07 2024

Some people brush off intrusive thoughts. But others are haunted by them. If you're having serious issues with intrusive thoughts, first understand that this is normal and part of the human experience. That being said, if you need to combat them, you have options. Today, Fr. Mike gives you some solid advice and steps to take towards greater freedom from unwanted and unwelcome thoughts.

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Fr. Mike Schmitz Catholic Podcast – "What to Do About Intrusive Thoughts"

Episode Information:

Title: What to Do About Intrusive Thoughts
Host/Author: Ascension Presents featuring Fr. Mike Schmitz
Release Date: November 7, 2024
Description: Fr. Mike Schmitz explores the nature of intrusive thoughts, their origins, and offers both natural and supernatural strategies to manage and overcome them.

Introduction to Intrusive Thoughts

In this episode, Fr. Mike Schmitz delves into the challenging topic of intrusive thoughts—those unwanted, often distressing thoughts that can cause significant anxiety and self-doubt. He begins by acknowledging the confusion that many experience when grappling with these thoughts, questioning their own mental and spiritual well-being.

Defining Intrusive Thoughts

Fr. Mike defines intrusive thoughts comprehensively:

"These intrusive thoughts can be intrusive sexual thoughts. They can be intrusive thoughts of anger or of violence. They can be intrusive thoughts about harming others, harming themselves..."
— Fr. Mike Schmitz [01:30]

He emphasizes that intrusive thoughts are not indicative of one's character flaws but are a common human experience, particularly among those who are "good and broken."

Understanding the Natural Explanation

Fr. Mike explains that on a natural level, our brains are incredibly active and dynamic:

"Our brains are amazingly always working. They’re always moving. They’re always changing."
— Fr. Mike Schmitz [02:10]

He highlights that the constant activity of the brain means thoughts are perpetually in flux, making it natural for unwanted thoughts to arise. Distractions during prayer, work, or daily activities are normal due to this inherent brain activity.

The Role of External and Internal Prompts

Fr. Mike discusses how both external influences and internal states contribute to the emergence of intrusive thoughts:

"Am I inviting any unwanted external prompts? Maybe I've been listening to a bunch of angry people online..."
— Fr. Mike Schmitz [04:45]

He suggests that consuming negative or impure content can lead to the proliferation of unwanted thoughts, encapsulated in the adage "garbage in, garbage out." By identifying and reducing exposure to such content, individuals can mitigate the frequency and intensity of intrusive thoughts.

The Supernatural Dimension: Grace and Brokenness

Transitioning to the supernatural level, Fr. Mike introduces the concept of original sin and concupiscence—the inherent inclination towards sin that affects all humans:

"We experience ourselves, our minds being brought to this place where there's thoughts that are intrusive, thoughts that are unwanted, thoughts that even we would say are evil."
— Fr. Mike Schmitz [07:15]

He reassures listeners that these intrusive thoughts are part of human brokenness and not a reflection of one's true self. Recognizing this brokenness is essential in seeking divine grace and support.

Practical Steps to Manage Intrusive Thoughts

Fr. Mike outlines actionable strategies to handle intrusive thoughts effectively:

Attend to the Thoughts:
- Examine if the intrusive thoughts signal underlying issues.
- Determine if they indicate physical needs such as rest or nourishment.
"Attend to them to see, like, is this teaching me or telling me anything?"
— Fr. Mike Schmitz [14:20]
Acknowledge and Seek Divine Help:
- Recognize that these thoughts are unwanted and seek Jesus' assistance.
- Utilize simple prayers to invite divine protection over one's heart and mind.
"Jesus, just surround my heart."
— Fr. Mike Schmitz [16:05]

"Lord Jesus, in your name, I invite you, please surround my mind."
— Fr. Mike Schmitz [16:25]
Surrender and Protect:
- Surrender the intrusive thoughts to God, asking the Holy Spirit to guard against them.
- Maintain peace by not giving these thoughts undue importance.
"Father, send your Holy Spirit to wrap my heart in your protection. Send your Holy Spirit to guard my mind."
— Fr. Mike Schmitz [17:10]

Maintaining Peace Amidst Intrusive Thoughts

Fr. Mike emphasizes that peace is attainable even when intrusive thoughts persist:

"You can be at peace even in the midst of intrusive thoughts, when you know there's a natural explanation, there's a supernatural explanation, and there's a natural and supernatural solution."
— Fr. Mike Schmitz [18:40]

He encourages listeners to refrain from letting these thoughts dominate their emotional state, advocating for continual prayer and reliance on God's support to maintain inner tranquility.

Conclusion and Encouragement

Wrapping up, Fr. Mike offers reassurance:

"Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything with prayer and petition, make your request known to God..."
— Fr. Mike Schmitz [19:30]

He invites listeners to embrace both the natural understanding of their mental processes and the supernatural aid provided through faith, fostering a balanced approach to managing intrusive thoughts.

Key Takeaways:

Intrusive thoughts are a common human experience and do not reflect one's character.
Understanding the natural activity of the brain can alleviate self-blame for unwanted thoughts.
Reducing exposure to negative external influences can lessen the occurrence of intrusive thoughts.
Recognizing inherent human brokenness necessitates seeking divine grace and support.
Practical steps include examining the source of thoughts, seeking Jesus' protection through prayer, and surrendering control to maintain peace.

Notable Quotes:

"Our brains are amazingly always working. They’re always moving. They’re always changing."
— Fr. Mike Schmitz [02:10]
"Jesus, just surround my heart."
— Fr. Mike Schmitz [16:05]
"Father, send your Holy Spirit to wrap my heart in your protection. Send your Holy Spirit to guard my mind."
— Fr. Mike Schmitz [17:10]
"Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything with prayer and petition, make your request known to God..."
— Fr. Mike Schmitz [19:30]

This episode provides a compassionate and faith-based perspective on managing intrusive thoughts, blending psychological understanding with spiritual practice to offer listeners both relief and actionable strategies.

Transcript

A (0:00)

Before we get started, I just wanted to take a minute and ask for your help. So, since 2014, Ascension has been producing YouTube videos and podcasts and articles free online. In fact, every week, there are 18 different Ascension Presents videos or podcasts that are offered to the world for free.

B (0:16)

And in fact, millions of people have.

A (0:17)

Been reached by the message of God's love. While these podcasts, and while this content, these videos are free to consume, they're not necessarily free. Free to make. And with the rising costs of everything here, we are needing to ask for your help and your support. If someone you love, if you yourself have been blessed by the content that's been produced by Ascension, would you prayerfully consider supporting this ministry by going to ascensionpress.com support or even following the link in the Description below, that's ascensionpress.com support. And even if you're not able to support this ministry financially, we are begging that you please support this ministry spiritually. Please pray for us. Pray for the entire Ascension team and ahead of time. Thank you and God bless.

B (1:05)

If you struggle with intrusive thoughts, thoughts that are unwanted and unbidden that just come to you, people could say, like, no, I'm at peace with them. But other people can find a lot of anxiety in the reality of intrusive thoughts. Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and this is Ascension Presents. I did a video on. On what we call intrusive thoughts. And yet at the same time, I don't know that I actually even use that phrase. I probably should have known that those were technically called intrusive thoughts, but now I do. And those intrusive thoughts can be intrusive sexual thoughts. They can be intrusive thoughts of anger or of violence. They can be intrusive thoughts about harming others, harming themselves, can be intrusive thoughts of, like, what if I just said this thing? What if I went out and just revealed this secret about myself or about someone else? Like, sometimes those intrusive thoughts can be paralyzing for some people. Even more, I think sometimes those intrusive thoughts can be really demoralizing for someone, and they ask themselves the question. They say, okay, so what's wrong with me? What's so broken with me that these thoughts that I find horrifying are in my own brain? This is one of those moments. We just have to remember a couple of things. Number one, on the natural level, just recognize our brains are kind of amazing. And our brains are always working. Our brains are always moving. Like there's. I mean, when it comes to prayer, people say, get so distracted when it comes to real life, people get distracted when it comes to some of these intrusive thoughts. They just. They just happen. Like. Right. They happen in many ways. They happen to us. And the real reality, of course, on a natural level is our brains are constantly active. There's. I don't think any such thing as a static mind or a static brain that even to hold the thought. Like, you know that phrase, to hold a thought in one's mind, you're repeatedly thinking that thought. It's ongoing. You're not just meditating on one thing and just holding it there. You are constantly choosing and re choosing and re choosing. Why? Because your brain's dynamic. Your brain is organic. Your brain is always moving. It's always changing. Because it's always changing. You always have new thoughts, right? And some random thoughts can spark new random thoughts again, I know, Shocking. But the reality, of course, is our brains are constantly moving. That's one of the reasons why we should never get discouraged by distraction. I'm in prayer. I'm trying to focus on work or whatever the thing is, and I'm distracted. Like, okay, that makes sense. Why? Because your brain is like my brain. It is always moving. So we're always kind of collecting that attention and redirecting it back to the task at hand. Along similar lines, our brains are constantly moving. Because of that, there are going to be thoughts that like, oh, I did not want that thought. Where did that thought come from? And you might not know. It's an intrusive thought, a thought of anger, thought of violence, whatever the thing is. And you'd be able to say, okay, I can be at peace. Because why? Because my brain's really moving. It's all moving all the time. And there's a gajillion inputs all throughout the course of the day. Now, that's where you can pay attention to the natural side of our brain. Right? The natural side is if it's always moving, always evolving, always active, it's always responding to internal and external prompts. The question I get to ask myself is, okay, am I inviting any unwanted external prompts? Like, am I inviting any unwanted external prompts in the sense that, okay, why have. Why do I have such violent thoughts? Well, you know, I've been listening to a bunch of angry people online. Maybe that's one of the reasons why I have some violent thoughts. I have these, like, impure, lustful thoughts. Like, why. Maybe what a person is exposing themselves to is they're ingesting A lot of impure and immoral kind of things. You know, garbage in, garbage out. So there's a certain sense where I can say, okay, I have this angry, violent, vengeful, whatever the thing is, thought. Yeah, that's because I've been listening to people who are angry, people who are vengeful. I've been exposing myself intentionally to these kinds of things. Now, that's not always the case, but if that's the case, then I've narrowed it down to a part of the problem. One part of the problem, our brains are always moving. Another part of the problem, we're also always responding to external and internal prompts. So what do I do? Well, cut down on some of those external prompts. If there are things that you and I are ingesting that are inviting unwanted thoughts, then how about I cut off those things that I'm ingesting? The second thing keep in mind is, okay, my brains are all. Our brains are always moving. We're responding to internal and external prompts. On the level of grace, on the supernatural level, this recognition of. Yeah, and I know I have this intrusive thought really, really bothers me. How about this? How about just pausing for a second and acknowledging the truth? I don't want this thought. We call it intrusive because it's unwanted. It just has invaded our mind. It's invaded our mental space. And it's not something that I would want if I was completely free. But I recognize I'm not completely free. Every single one of us experiences this thing called original sin, which involves this fancy term called concupiscence, which is an attraction to evil, an attraction to sin. So it's there. It's one of those things like, okay, on a natural level, our brain's always moving. On a supernatural level, we experience a brokenness that is real. And that part of that brokenness is. There are some times where you, who is good and broken, me, who's good and broken. Every person in the world who's good and broken, we experience ourselves, our minds being brought to this place where there's thoughts that are intrusive, thoughts that are unwanted, thoughts that even we would say are evil. In that moment, we just acknowledge, okay, yeah, this is God. This is part of my brokenness. And yet maybe I should stop listening to these angry people online. And so I would not have these angry thoughts as much. This is a reminder that I need your grace. Just be able to do this again. This is a reminder, God, that I need your grace. I'm not going to Give these intrusive thoughts any more weight than they deserve. I get to pause on them for a moment and do two things. I get to pause and say, is this coming from anywhere? Am I responsible for this is coming? Is this trying to tell me something? Right? Sometimes these angry thoughts are like, oh, wow, yeah, I realize what's going on. I am so stressed, so anxious right now that I'm really angry. I'm just angry. And to be able to let that be a prompt, that intrusive thought of anger, to be able to signal, ooh, something else is happening. I really need to take this to prayer. What? Not the anger, not that intrusive thought of, like, vengeance or whatever, but I need to take. I've been stressed, I've been worried, I've been uncomfortable. Here's what's made me nervous. And when I'm nervous, I have these angry thoughts. So, number one, attend to them to see, like, is this teaching me or telling me anything? It might also tell you the angry thoughts. You need to eat something or you need to take a nap. Like, those literally could be the things. So don't, like, just discard them. And secondly, acknowledge that I don't want these thoughts. Jesus, please come help me. This is this simple prayer like that. Just, I don't want these thoughts. Jesus, please, and help me. Come and help me. And one of the things I will typically do is if, when those intrusive thoughts are in me, where that. That again, thought of anger, thought of vengeance, thought of lust, thought of whatever. The thing is, one of my prayers is just Jesus. And I pray in the name of Jesus, say, jesus, just surround my heart. Jesus, just guard my heart in that. In that sense of, okay, I just invoke the name of Jesus and say, jesus, just surround my heart. Or, Lord Jesus, in your name, I invite you, please surround my mind. Just protect my mind from these intrusive thoughts. Protect my heart apart from these intrusive thoughts. Because I know my mind's always moving. I know my mind is responding to external and internal stimuli. I know that sometimes in my brokenness, these are the ways those things can be manifest. And so I know that I can also call on the name of Jesus. And sometimes immediately it's like, okay, gone. And sometimes it's not immediate. Sometimes I need to take a while, and I just say, okay, Lord, Lord, I'm not. I'm not owning this, and I'm not choosing this. I am surrendering this. In the name of Jesus, Father, send your holy spirit to wrap my heart in your protection. Send your Holy Spirit to guard my mind. So, yep, if that intrusive thought stays okay, I'm guarded. If that intrusive thought is there, I'm not going to let it bother me. You can be at peace even in the midst of intrusive thoughts, when you know there's a natural explanation, there's a supernatural explanation, and there's a natural and supernatural solution. But do not be afraid and do not let it steal your peace. Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything with prayer and petition, make your request known to God and God who hears you will come and be with you. Anyways, from all of us here, Ascension presents. My name is Father Mike. God bless.