The thoughts about, or meanings placed on, an intrusive and nonsensical thought turn it into an anxious thought. One person might have a horrible intrusive thought that he can easily shake off, because he interprets that thought as just an intrusive, silly thought and reasons that it doesn’t mean anything about him or what he might do. Another person might have the same intrusive thought but interpret it to mean something horrible about him or that he will act on the thought and do something he doesn’t want to do.

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