# "The thoughts that come" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 25, 2005, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-thoughts-that-come/286504 "2005-01-25T00:19:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2005, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-thoughts-that-come/286504/21 "2005-01-25T21:19:23Z")
> [@Chotii](#): > > Yet, a very small number of people _do_ act on their thoughts. And clearly, _some_ people cannot be trusted to differentiate between ‘just thoughts’ and 'thoughts I will act. So I guess the next question is - how do we know which people really need intervention? And how to get it for them? I think in a large number of cases (certainly in many I have heard of through pop culture) these dangerous people tend to start out small, and show signs of their abberant self before they do anything catastrophic. It is I believe common for such people to torture animals, to put their thoughts into art or writing, to be withdrawn and to be socially innept. All these signs should be looked for in Children, but what must not happen is what we see in schools today. If someone writes a poem about murder they must not be expelled from school and disciplined and made more of an outsider than ever before. It requires subtlety, there will usually be someone grown up whom a child trusts and gets allong with, that person should ade the child in getting psychological help. This must not be seen as punnishment, or a sign that the child is strange/ill, but as a trip to the doctors for a minor complaint might be seen. Then the child should receive monthly or so visits to a psychiatrist to help them sort out their feelings. To aid this all children should be taught that expressing their feelings is not a sign of weakness. And that they should all have someone to whom they can talk freely safe from repercussions or blame. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2005, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-thoughts-that-come/286504/22 "2005-01-25T22:17:07Z")
Personally, I distrust anyone who says they only have nice thoughts, and never give rise, even for a moment, to a violent thought. I can’t conceive of the calmness that must encompass that person’s mind. It seems as unnaturally wrong as a mind that dwells only on evil. Not only do perfectly norma…er, “functioning” individuals entertain dark thoughts, some think they see an element of humor in them. The cartoonist that created Salad Fingers has another flash video about the milkman. Browse [Fat-Pie.com](http://Fat-Pie.com) (don’t forget the hyphen or you’ll end up at an obesity porn site!) and you’ll find it. I didn’t laugh too much at it, but I’ll admit that this cartoon entertained me because it was completely wrong in just about every day. I doubt it is autobiographcal in any way, so the cartoonist also saw some value in expressing these thoughts in this medium. I have come to accept, reluctantly, that some people are repulsed by their darker impulses and feel bad about having them, let alone look for humor in them. I view it as part of being human, and that you cease to be human when you cease to want to limit the fantasies to within the confines of your cranium. Of course, I’m pretty much nuts anyway and I have no right to surmise what goes on in other peoples’ heads. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2005, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-thoughts-that-come/286504/23 "2005-01-25T22:32:49Z")
> [@Emony Dax](#): > > Hmm. I’ve never thought of that possibility. I actually do have some OCD-ish traits, just never severe enough to get treatment. And since having kids, my obsessive need to clean has been greatly diminished. I’m lucky if I get all the dirty dishes into the sick at night, much less actually washing them 😃 > > But you raise an interesting point. It looks like the DSM says the thoughts have to “cause marked distress, are time consuming (take more than 1 hour a day), or significantly interfere with the person’s normal routine, occupational (or academic) functioning, or usual social activities or relationships” in order to qualify as OCD. I guess if your thoughts become that distracting, you should probably seek professional help. The reason I mention it is that OCD often includes these “horrible, intrusive thoughts”. Of course, **Chotii** said her’s are triggered by anger, or depression, but sometimes they just pop into your head. Such as when I’m standing in the kitchen and say, one of my cats walks in. I might suddenly think, “Oh my god, what would happen if I ever HURT my cat! Like if I hit her, or stabbed her!” And I’m horrified, and it won’t go away. Or just something equally disturbing. It’s very distressing, but knowing that it’s part of my condition makes it easier to cope with. ---
**Author:** ![look\_ninjas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@look\_ninjas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/look_ninjas)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-thoughts-that-come/286504/24 "2005-01-26T00:30:28Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > Health care is just that…health care. It isn’t a moral issue. It isn’t anything nasty or shameful. And I don’t separate mental or physical care. Excellently said. I’ve had intrusive thoughts since childhood - every time I was on the ferry to or from Mackinac Island (and we went there a lot, because it was historic and nearby and made for good field trips), I’d always feel an impulse to drop my glasses down into the water. Nowadays, it’s mostly car accidents - every time I go through an intersection, I picture a car careening through and smashing into mine. The fantasies are so vivid that I can almost feel the impact. And, for what it’s worth, I do have problems with anxiety and depression, for which I am being treated. So. Does that mean that you, **Chotii** , must also have anxiety and/or depression? Nope. The thoughts are a symptom, not a disorder in and of themselves. Unless you have other symptoms that correlate to an actual psychiatric disorder, I wouldn’t worry about it. If you do have other symptoms, or feel that things are getting worse, then maybe seek treatment. But I don’t think random intrusive thoughts in and of themselves make you crazy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-thoughts-that-come/286504.md?page=1)