![]() ![]() If you have been told that your thoughts are worrisome to others, but they seem real to you or you feel that your thoughts make sense where others’ do not, let someone close to you know how you are feeling and tell them it’s an emergency.If at any time you feel you or your baby are not safe, please call 000 or have someone take you to an emergency room.If you feel that your thoughts are out of your control or that you cannot manage them, contact your healthcare provider immediately or call 000.Please contact Gidget Foundation Australia at 1300 851 758 or for more information. If more specialised professional help is needed, Gidget Foundation Australia offers free ongoing specialist counselling to expectant and new parents. Founder and Director, The Postpartum Stress Centre You can be anxious beyond belief and still experience joy.” Karen Kleiman, MSW. You can have scary thoughts and be a wonderful mother. You can be uncertain and still do things that help you feel more in control. “You can be scared and still take care of your baby. Join a helpful virtual support parents group such as ‘Gidget Virtual Village’.Seek social support, talking about these thoughts can offer some relief from the ruminations.Getting validation of the distress, reassurance about what they are and educating yourself about intrusive thoughts can also help.If possible, continue moving through the day’s activities allowing anxiety to co-exist.puzzles/music and steer it in another direction. Keep your brain busy with other activities e.g.Distract yourself if they become too much with another task, walk in fresh air or read a book or watch TV.Expect thoughts to return, notice them and reassure yourself that they are only thoughts and will pass.Accept the intrusive thought, try not to push it away.We get countless amounts of thoughts every day but because they are distressing, we pay more attention to them which in turn makes them more powerful. Remember that intrusive thoughts are unprompted and uncontrollable.Remind yourself that it is NOT about who you are, it’s just a symptom of anxiety.Know that you can try to work out how much attention you pay to it and then how you respond to that thought.When an intrusive thought arises, label it as an ‘intrusive thought’.It is recommended to seek professional support if any of the above is being experienced by you or someone close to you. ![]() More persistent, obsessive thoughts could be a sign of obsessive-compulsive disorder. In more severe cases, intrusive thoughts may suggest a parent is suffering from perinatal depression and anxiety. They may make expectant and new parents feel like they are going crazy, but they are not. When anxiety levels become elevated it causes uncomfortable symptoms like scary thoughts and they are NOT usually an indicator of psychosis. They know they are usually a sign of overwhelm and increased anxiety and there is no need to worry that this expectant or new parent will act on them. Health professionals who understand perinatal related intrusive thoughts know they are just thoughts. People experiencing these thoughts often feel confused, ashamed and guilty for having them. The distress is clinically relevant – a strong indicator that these thoughts are driven by anxiety and nothing more serious. The thoughts or impulses are often inconsistent with who they normally are they make no sense and are totally out of character. ![]() Having an intrusive thought does not mean the person will act on it. ![]() For example: “what if I drown my baby in the bath” or “what if they never wake up from their sleep”. Among new parents, these thoughts can relate to harming or witnessing harm to their baby or others. The nature of them can be violent, sexual and/or disturbing. The intensity of the thoughts can be mild or more unbearable. They can happen at any time and be fleeting or more consistent. Intrusive thoughts are images, thoughts or impulses that are negative, unwanted and often upsetting. The often overwhelming, exhausting nature of early parenthood means scary and intrusive thoughts are particularly common. Research suggests that more than 80% of expectant and new parents experience intrusive thoughts from time to time. ![]()
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