Intrusive thoughts and ongoing problems

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Footprints

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I’m not completely sure where this topic should go.
A few weeks ago, I had this intrusive thought about Our Lady that really bothered me and I tried to reason with myself that it was NOT a thought I wanted nor did I purposefully make it happen.
Well, that thought started to move onto other holy topics and I was getting really frustrated. My mind has been driving me crazy with blasphemous thoughts that I KNOW I don’t want and I KNOW are wrong.

However, I’m really having trouble ignoring them. I try to just tell myself to ignore it and forget it but then I find myself enjoying some peace of mind and BAM! I remember that I’m not thinking those thoughts at the moment, my mind wonders “what thoughts”, and then they’re back and I’m distressed.
I mentioned it to my psychologist and she thinks it could be a spiritual attack and I’m thinking that it’s that as well as the fact that I’ve had anxiety and scruples. My scruples seem to be disappearing after much prayer but it also worries me that I’m not worried about sinning because I don’t feel nervous about things anymore. I still know right from wrong though so it’s annoying to have that feeling.

I’m just wondering if any of you have any tips or experience in having intrusive thoughts. How did you forget them or ignore them? I find myself co scantly asking Mary to pray for me and Jesus I give e the grace and strength to get through this. It’s all just very frustrating because I’m trying to be a better Catholic!!!
 
I suffer from intrusive thoughts as well. Especially when trying to pray the Rosary. I have ADHD and OCD. My best advice is to watch a lot of videos, and go to church. Really get yourself immersed in church teaching.

Remeber that Jesus loves you, and that Mary is praying for you. <3
 
Saying the prayer to theHoly Spirit or to St Michael work as a stopper to stupid thoughts for me Footprints .And being out in beautiful nature .
I can offer my day up for you and remember you in mass tomorrow .God bless and try and be at peace that you are doing your best 🙂
 
@love4christ911 I find that they’re REALLY bad after Confession and before/after Communion.
I actually have become somewhat afraid of quiet because then I don’t have something else to focus on. 😦

@Greenfields Is there any Holy Spirit prayer you particularly like?
Thank you so much. That is very kind of you <3
 
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Saint Terese of Avila [from Interior Castle IV.1 13-14]: Distractions are “unavoidable … and should not be a disturbance or affliction for you … Pay no attention to these thoughts … and let’s not blame the soul for what a weak imagination, human nature, and the devil cause. I consider [distractions] an incurable disease.”

My thoughts follow: we all deal with the affliction of thoughts that we do not desire at times. For example, I suffered a bad concussion recently and had quite a battle with plaguing thoughts that involved some of my worst, psychological fears. I got my wife to pray for me, and I rebuked them in the name of Jesus and redirected my focus on something else. I am not saying that it was easy; it wasn’t. However, I think that, if we focus upon the intrusive thoughts and fret [worry] about them, we tend to give into an obsessive/compulsive focus on these intrusions. Better to simply pray, refocus the mind upon what is good, and continue in faith and reliance upon God to bring these things to an end in due season. I had two types of fears that kept popping up: one has left me completely, the other has abated, except for rare occasion [once in a while]. P.S. God showed me something natural I could do that was psychologically calming; that helped too. Peace and grace
 
@theLordsvassal Thanks for the encouragement!
 
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I used to have very disturbing mental pictures of Our Lady every time I prayed the rosary. They were visual in nature, and I was at my wit’s end on how to get rid of them. Then one day it hit me: Since I am unworthy of looking her in the face, I should lower my gaze to the ground. I tried it and it worked! That was almost ten years ago, and those disturbing images are a thing of the past, thank the good Lord!
 
@kill051 Did those thoughts ever happen when you dawn an image of the Blessed Mother? Or only during the Rosary?
Normally, I find myself trying to focus on something like an image to keep my mind from straying or panicking.
 
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I struggle with this sometimes as well. I have a youth history of ocd. Thoughts just repeat in my mind like a broken record. Continue to pray
 
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