When Your Thoughts Are Loud: How Thought Defusion Can Help With Anxiety

If you have anxiety, your thoughts can feel overwhelming.

They don’t politely suggest things.
They declare them.

And when a thought sounds confident, your brain treats it like a fact.

That’s where thought defusion comes in.

What Is Thought Defusion?

Thought defusion is a skill from ACT (Acceptance & Commitment Therapy).
It doesn’t try to delete anxious thoughts or replace them with “positive” ones.

Instead, it helps you:

• Notice thoughts as thoughts

• Create space between you and what your mind is saying

• Stop letting anxiety make all your decisions

1. “I’m Having the Thought That…”

Instead of:

“I’m going to mess this up.”

Try:

“I’m having the thought that I’m going to mess this up.”

That small change reminds you:

• This is a mental event

• Not a prediction

• Not a rule

You don’t have to make the thought disappear for it to lose power.

2. Name the Story

Anxiety often repeats the same themes.

Examples:

• The Everyone Is Judging Me Story

• The I Can’t Handle This Story

• The What If Everything Goes Wrong Story

When a thought shows up, try saying:

“Oh, this is the Everyone Is Judging Me story again.”

You’re not mocking yourself.
You’re recognizing a pattern.

And once you name the story, you don’t have to keep rereading it.

3. Leaves on a Stream

Imagine your thoughts as leaves floating down a stream.

You don’t:

• Jump in after them

• Analyze every leaf

• Push them away

You just notice them passing by.

Some thoughts come back.
Some stick around longer.

That’s okay.