How pushing a thought out of consciousness can bring it back with a vengeance

'ironic processes theory'

when I want to stop a recurrent thought in its tracks: First I distract myself by intentionally thinking about something else. Secondly, and here comes the irony, my mind starts an unconscious monitoring process to check if I'm still thinking about the thing I'm not supposed to be thinking about

to check if the conscious process is working or not

The trouble comes when I consciously stop trying to distract myself and the unconscious process carries on looking out for the thing I was trying to suppress

Anything it sees that looks vaguely like the target triggers the thought again and round I go in another loop of thinking the same thought I was desperately trying to forget about

The irony of thought suppression

hat actively trying to manage our own minds can sometimes do more harm than good

The more we try and push intrusive thoughts down, the more they pop back up, stronger than ever