Impulses and intrusive thoughts are complete opposites. People with impulses act first and think later. People with intrusive thoughts have control over their behaviors and are over thinkers.
What are they? Intrusive thoughts include unwanted thoughts, images, urges, or impulses that pop into your head outside your control.
How intrusive thoughts differ from impulsive thoughts. A key difference between intrusive and impulsive thoughts are effect that it has on the individual. For the person with OCD, intrusive thoughts cause great anguish and torment. They are more repetitive and scarier than impulsive thoughts.
Impulsivity is the tendency to act without thinking, for example if you blurt something out, buy something you had not planned to, or run across the street without looking. To a degree, this kind of behavior is common, especially in children or teenagers, and isn't necessarily a sign of trouble.
Why causes intrusive thoughts? Intrusive thoughts are more common in individuals with anxiety disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and other mental health conditions. Intrusive thoughts can cause significant distress and interfere with daily life if left untreated.
While most people associate ADHD with hyperactivity and impulsivity, it can also manifest in more subtle ways, such as through intrusive thoughts and overthinking. Intrusive thoughts are unwanted and repetitive thoughts that can be distressing or disturbing.
Impulsivity, a primary symptom of ADHD, may impair your ability to stop and think about the consequences before speaking or acting.
ADHD is a neurodevelopmental condition that's characterized by hyperactivity, impulsivity, and difficulty focusing attention. ADHDers—people with ADHD—can also experience intrusive thoughts that are repetitive, distressing, or just flat-out strange.
Impulsivity is a characteristic of a number of mental health conditions, including borderline personality disorder (BPD), bipolar disorder, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). People who experience impulsivity may make hasty decisions, get into arguments, and engage in risky behaviors.
Intrusive thoughts don't typically result in any kind of behavior done to reduce the anxiety they cause or prevent some bad event associated with them from occurring. People with OCD, however, are likely to respond to obsessions by performing compulsions.
When you feel uncomfortable with or shocked by such thoughts, you may fixate on them and try hard to push them away. Experts say it's best to remind yourself that these are just passing, automatic thoughts. They don't define you in any way.
Impulsivity as a Symptom
For example, anxiety can create desperation, especially as the disorder gets more severe and takes more control over the way you feel. Desperation causes poor decision making, and so people with anxiety tend to make very impulsive moves towards their treatments and coping choices.
Individuals may have overwhelming intrusive thoughts related to psychosis, hallucinations, or acting outside of their control. These intrusive and unwanted thoughts are called “obsessions.” They can involve intrusive thoughts, images, or urges, and can be extremely unpleasant, provoking anxiety or other distress.
It's when your thoughts get caught in a loop, and you go over and over the same thoughts without feeling better or finding a resolution. Your thinking might get stuck on day to day worries or on future events.
People with symptoms of impulsivity often: Are impatient with waiting their turn or waiting in line. Blurt out answers before questions have been completed. Interrupt or intrude on others, such as butting into conversations or games.
Anxiety is a prominent symptom of ADHD, but it is also the main symptom of PTSD, phobias and panic disorder. Now, worrisome and intrusive thoughts are two cognitive features of anxiety, hence they are already part and parcel of ADHD spectrum of symptoms.
OCD and ADHD: Treatment Considerations
As stimulants increase attention and focus, they may also lead an individual with comorbid OCD to focus more on the obsessive thought. However, there are cases when stimulants can help treat OCD, especially if symptoms are triggered by inattentiveness and other ADHD symptoms.
People with ADHD have passionate thoughts and emotions that are more intense than those of the average person. Their highs are higher and their lows are lower. This means you may experience both happiness and criticism more powerfully than your peers and loved ones do.
Behavior signaling the possible presence of ADHD, hyperactive-impulsive type: The child is often talking and interrupting, cannot sit still at mealtimes, is often fidgeting when watching television, makes noise that is disruptive, and grabs toys or other objects from others.
Stimulant meds, like Ritalin, that are prescribed for ADHD aren't effective for OCD. SSRI anti-depressant meds prescribed for OCD aren't usually helpful for ADHD symptoms although they might be prescribed if there is a co-exsisitng condition of depression.
Obsessing and ruminating are often part of living with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). No matter how hard you try to ignore them, those negative thoughts just keep coming back, replaying themselves in an infinite loop.