The Wonderland RPG: Making Persistent Intrusive Thoughts Bearable

[TimerBunneh]

[uPDATE 12/17-18/19: More suggestions, more edits. Same criteria as before, but this time with a lightbulb emote (or simply "[12/18]"). Edits from 12/16 have had their italics and emotes removed.]

 

Intrusive thoughts can be nasty little things. :idea: Those nagging thoughts that appear in the back of your head, telling you to do awful things...a bit of a pain, aren't they?  As I write this, my tulpas and I are recovering from a day ruined by the worst wave of them I've had in my nearly two months of being a tulpamancer. It was a rough one. So when Richard, my eldest tulpa, told me a tip he had, I figured that someone out there could use a guide based off what he told me.

 

But first: a disclaimer: this guide requires the use of visualization. Those with difficulties visualizing may not find this guide useful, but I do have something in mind for those of you with said issues. If you have problems with this, please scroll to the section labeled "For those with trouble visualizing."

:idea: >Aphantasia is briefly covered in that section. I am attempting to cover as many bases as possible.

 

With that said, the tip I was given was simple: make it fun.

 

"But Timer," you may say, "that's so broad! What do you mean?" Well, I'm about to tell you. Sit down, grab a nice drink, and get your tulpa(s) to read along too--because this may involve them as much as it does you.

 

Allow me to present a clever (at least, in my opinion) little idea that can potentially solve your problems: the Wonderland RPG. How do you walk the walk of the Wonderland RPG? Well, it's a lot easier than it sounds. (A lot easier than an actual RPG at times, even!)

 

But first, some info:

 

Requirements

• Be prepared for any and all outcomes. Intrusive thoughts can be crafty. Be prepared to change tactics on the fly or even lose to it a few times. Just don't get discouraged.
  
• This guide is best used before an intrusive thought appears. This guide is a bit long and will almost certainly require planning.
  
• You'll need to form a place in your mind to put this. :idea: This can be an entirely new place or a tiny little addition to your current wonderland. Despite me calling it the "Wonderland RPG", this does not have to take place in your wonderland. But it does have to take place somewhere, else this guide would be rather difficult.
  >I am well aware that those with problems visualizing cannot do this, or at least may find it difficult.
  
• :idea: This guide is best used for persistent intrusive thoughts. For walk-ins, please attempt to ignore it the best you can. However, if that does not work, feel free to come back and try this guide.
  
• :idea: You will be fighting these thoughts head-on in this guide. If that idea is uncomfortable to you, I suggest reading another guide. I apologize.
  
• :idea: Immersion is key. Distractions from your thought or the outside will likely break your focus, and you may have to start over. (Probably not entirely, though.)
   
  

 

Personal Preferences

• Your skills of visualization must be of a level :idea: where you can see and hold backgrounds and images. Color is optional but can help. You can even use old-school pixel art for this, if it helps.
  > Again, if you have difficulty visualizing for whatever reason, you may still follow this guide. Just use the method in the section I mentioned above.
  
• :idea: Don't be afraid to engage your tulpa(s) in this! It could prove to be beneficial to them. Of course, if you fear losing your tulpa(s) to it (which is, in my eyes, highly unlikely) you can go without this step.
  

 

 

:idea: The Ultimate Goal of This Guide:

• Forming a way to deal with persistent intrusive thoughts, through creativity and fun.
  

 

And now, another very important disclaimer: This guide is meant as an alternative for those that cannot simply ignore their intrusive thought(s). Say you have anxiety like I do. This might work. But for most people, ignoring it may be your best bet.

> However, the safe spot could prove useful no matter your preferred method, whether you use this guide or not. Make yourself a nice little cooldown place if it gets really bad.

 

Now, for the guide itself:

 

For Those That Can Visualize

 

1) [12/18] (Metaphorically) drill the thought that your intrusive thought is weak into your head. Now you may be thinking, "but it's so distracting! I can't get it out of my head!" Well, you can't do much if you keep to that mentality. That train of thought will eventually overwhelm you, and likely render this guide useless. But now, make it a puny mouse, and you're a powerful tiger. (Metaphorically, of course. Unless you want to be.)

 

2) Form a "safe spot". Fill it with the RPG standards: shops, an inn, maybe even some non-playable characters ("NPCs"). If you're defeated by the thought, this is where you and your party will return to after being defeated.

• Remember that this is clearly a safe spot. The thought won't attack the town. Why? Well, you don't usually encounter RPG monsters in towns. Sure, you do in some games, but not here.
  
• [12/18] If you want to, make up a reason as to why your safe spot is safe. This can be anything you can think of!
  

 

And before you ask, you have infinite currency. Spend it on whatever you need to. Or splurge on it. It's your wonderland, not mine.

 

 

3) Decide on classes. Perhaps you're thinking about being a mage. Maybe your tulpa (if they choose to participate) wants to be a warrior. And there's nothing wrong with having a healer in your party! Your imagination is the only limit here.

• If you're feeling really creative [12/18] or don't want to directly involve your tulpa, guest party members are a good option.
  
• I personally recommend the RPG standard of four party members, but you can have a whole army if you want to. Again, your wonderland, not mine.
  

 

4) Start spending. Get your gear and healing items. You're about to go on an intrusive thought hunt, and you're going to make sure it ends well for you.

• This is also a good chance to talk to any NPCs you may have put in your safe spot. Maybe they're just the usual NPCs that spout nonsense that doesn't matter, or maybe they know things about your thought that you didn't know before. Maybe they're just...there. Scary.
  

 

5) Open your inventory. Double-check your healing items and equip your party for battle. You can probably skip this step, but personally, I'm throwing it in to make it a true-to-genre experience.

 

6) All set? Head off towards that nasty thought of yours. Get your game face on.

 

7) Found that intrusive thought? Engage it in battle! Smack that thought into the nether the best you can!

• I personally recommend the turn-based RPG method: you, the host, go first. Then the other party members do. Then the thought fights back. Rinse and repeat until the battle ends, be it in victory or defeat.
  

• You can also make it a strategy RPG: one character moves/attacks per turn. Usually it's your party first, then the thought.
  

 

8) How did the battle go? Did you defeat it, or did it defeat you? Perhaps you won--congrats! Give your party members a pat on the back, maybe even go through the whole experience point thing. Perhaps the latter happened--in which case, your party should be at your safe spot somewhere. If you lost, don't worry--there is nothing wrong with trying again.

• Please don't give up if you lose. Please. That's just sad. Your goal is to beat it, after all! That's what this guide is for.
  

 

9) [OPTIONAL] Evolve your story. You can easily stop at step 8 and call it a day. But maybe you want more out of this. In that case, go ahead and further the story. Maybe you defeated the final boss! Roll credits. Maybe that thought was a lackey of the real villain, and defeating it was just the beginning? Who knows...

 

 

For Those With Trouble Visualizing

 

Another disclaimer: I, personally, have no trouble with visualizing. Therefore, if you do have trouble visualizing and feel that this did not help you, let me know and I'll see about updating this section.

[12/18]>This is unlikely to work for those with aphantasia. However, there is nothing stopping you from trying. Feel free to try this if you want!

 

So, visualization isn't exactly your forte. What to do? Just follow the same steps, but instead of visualizing, write it out! Make it your own personal story. This does change some things, though:

• You can probably cut out the inventory step and RPG battle descriptions.
  
• Making up a reason for why your safe spot is safe is preferred for this method. (Or you can just stick with RPG logic.)
  
• Skip the NPCs in the safe spot if you feel like it.
  
• Describe your setting to the best of your ability. Perhaps your safe spot is a quaint little medieval town, straight out of Dungeons and Dragons, or a modern-day city. Maybe that intrusive thought is hiding out in a dark forest that no one dares to enter, or a castle that looms over your setting. It could even be hiding somewhere as plain as an office building. Your call.
  

Some Tips

• You don't have to follow this guide word-for-word. Be creative, and feel free to deviate! This guide uses a typical RPG setup.
  
• Lacking inspiration? Google some pics from a RPG game. Or, even better, watch people play them on Youtube! The possibilities are near endless. (Miitopia is a good one, in my opinion.)
  
• If you decide to write it out, don't be intimidated if you can't write well! No one said you had to post it on the internet for all to see.
  
• Consider drawing your setting. Again, don't be intimidated if you can't draw well. (I can't draw too well either, haha.)
  
• I know I said this earlier, but I must reiterate: take your time. Plan this out. This is a big guide, and also why I said to read this before an intrusive thought starts bringing you down. Video games have pause buttons. Intrusive thoughts do not.
  
• I said it earlier and I'll say it again: there is nothing wrong with trying again if you fail. Just don't give up. Keep trying. You will beat this thought.
  

 

And that's that! Thanks for reading! My quintet of tulpas and I wish you well--now go teach that intrusive thought a lesson. :)

[Apollo Fire]

[align=justify]

With that said, the tip I was given was simple: make it fun.

[/align]

I think that sort of tip is a useful one for a lot of things in tulpamancy. However, with intrusive thoughts, I really think the main advice to give is to just learn to ignore it and let it fade out. Engaging it just makes it stay around longer, and treating it as anything more than something to ignore will only fuel the fire.

 

I think that this guide would be good for a forcing session or just something fun someone can do with their tulpa. I don't think this kind of advice should be given for dealing with intrusive thoughts. They're not some sort of mystical force that you have to fight against, it's just your brain doing something weird and it's best to shrug it off and move on. Treating intrusive thoughts as a real threat or god forbid sentient thoughtforms is what causes a lot of problems for a lot of systems. That's something I'd rather see avoided.

 

I think if you adapted this to a guide about just something fun you can do with your tulpa by creating some imaginary villain and fighting it would be cool and I'd be wiling to approve it. But I don't think this should be for dealing with intrusive thoughts, the best way to deal with intrusive thoughts is to just ignore them. If you remove the references to intrusive thoughts and just make it a general fun thing to do, I'd be willing to approve.

[YukariTelepath]

I'm unclear on a few things in this guide. How are you defining an intrusive thought? Can you give some examples of intrusive thoughts that this method would work for? What kind of scenario would you use this method for--intrusive thoughts encountered while in wonderland, in the real world, are they visual intrusive thoughts only or also verbal?

 

Is this guide only for intrusive thoughts that persist when you try to ignore them or wave them away?

 

I think if I encountered something in wonderland (or elsewhere), it would be long gone by the time I bought weapons and healing items. There would be no need to fight it anymore except for fun. If you can leave the thought to prepare for battle, you've already beaten it. I think the majority of intrusive thoughts can be dealt with by ignoring them or shifting your attention to something else (ex. changing locations in wonderland, or even leaving wonderland), and if you want to fight them it feels more intuitive to me to fight them on the spot when they appear.

 

Another consideration is that if an intrusive thought happens outside of spending time in wonderland, it will often not be a good time to go adventuring.

 

This guide is a bit long and will almost certainly require planning, so referring to this in the midst of a panic attack due to one showing up will likely not help you.

Panic attack? I feel some details in this guide are quite specific to the author's scenario but may not make sense for most. I could understand if an intrusive thought caused a panic attack, that one would want to retreat to a safe location and prepare before facing it. But for myself, I don't need to retreat and would prefer to face it immediately. I think for most people intrusive thoughts are just a mild nuisance.

 

Be prepared for any and all outcomes. Intrusive thoughts can be crafty. Be prepared to change tactics on the fly or even lose to it a few times. Just don't get discouraged.

How/why would you lose to it, I'm not sure I understand?

 

Overall, turning intrusive thoughts into a wonderland RPG battle could be a fun way to handle things, or just a fun approach to wonderlanding in general without intrusives. It seems like this guide is specifically aimed for intrusive thoughts that happen during a dedicated forcing session, but the guide is not clear on that point. I think it can overall be improved by clarifying some points, including what to do if you don't have time/can't do the full RPG. I would approve after some editing.

[Osaka]

Overview:

This guide focuses on engaging intrusive thoughts, but that’s not a very effective way of dealing with them, and can make them worse in some situations. The best this approach could do is provide a distraction.

 

 

What was done well:

The guide is well written, was pretty consistent, well structured, and the instructions/suggestions are clear. This could make a very good forcing idea guide.

 

 

Thoughts on what could be improved:

Your skills of visualization must be of a decent level. What one defines as "decent" obviously varies, but if you can immerse yourself in a daydream and hold it for the duration of this guide, that's more than enough.

 

I don’t think most people have visualization up to this level, nor do I think that it’s necessary. Given it’s in the “Personal Preferences” section though, this is more of a nitpick.

 

 

At least one tulpa should be sentient to some degree for this

 

I don’t think this is a requirement, more than it is an ideal. The guide is about battling intrusive thoughts, not about tulpa development. This is a bit inconsistent.

 

 

If it's debilitating enough that you just about can't ignore it at all, grab as many healing items as you can and your best gear, because you're about to take on the final boss. You're fighting the worst of them all, and you'll need to be all set for it. This is that last push you need to get through, the one enemy that stands between you and the ending. Arm yourself well.

 

When you’re dealing with intrusive thoughts, engaging them even a little will give them power. Giving them your full attention is very ill advised.

 

 

form a "safe spot" in another part of your setting, preferably far away from where your thought is.

 

I think this could be a useful feature for calming down and giving the intrusive thought less attention, therefore lessening its ability to affect you.

 

 

Conclusion:

 

I cannot advise this guide with the purpose of battling intrusive thoughts, and therefore cannot approve it.

 

With that said, I would take the suggestion of the Felights on this, turn the guide into a wonderland activity/game for tulpa development and leave out the intrusive thoughts bit. The guide is written in such a way that it wouldn’t need much changing to turn it into such a guide. I would approve such a guide.

 

-Hector

[Luminesce]

Different methods of dealing with intrusive thoughts may work for different people, though that said, I feel like when people say anything other than ignoring/discrediting them works for them (aggressive visualization to "counter it" etc.), they're really treating symptoms and not causes. That said, I feel like some people may prefer or are better at dealing with intrusive thoughts by combating/focusing on them, for whatever reason. So I dunno

 

While I do think most people are able to immerse themselves in the wonderland pretty well (even I can do it, with my awful visualization quality), it's definitely not all of them yeah, and I also doubt a lot of people who need this guide will have that. Both the chance they just can't, and possibly having bad issues with invasive thoughts that may not be entirely contained within the wonderland, like actual thoughts, trains of thought/tangents, or other mental phenomena, or whatever.

 

I'm not GAT nor do I have anything conclusive to say lol, just wanted to comment on those things

[AZ]

I like this guide even though I wouldn’t use the method myself. For me, the best way to deal with intrusive thoughts is to notice them, label them as an intrusive thought then ignore them, and I’m sure this is true for most people. Although giving attention to intrusive thoughts gives them more power, I think the method you described is harmless because the person following this method won’t be focusing all their attention on the intrusive thought and having a stressful time doing so, they’ll be focusing most of their attention on their wonderland environment and having fun. For this reason, I think this is a valid alternative method for using while in your wonderland.

 

The guide is well written, accurate, clear and concise, but I think it could be improved by adding to the disclaimer at the start that the method in the guide is an alternative to just ignoring them, and could be improved further by clearly stating that the reader is supposed to focus more on their wonderland environment/healing items/weapons etc rather than the intrusive thought itself. The intrusive thought should not be the main focus here. I know you said “Do NOT let it distract you! That's giving it what it wants.” I think you should expand on this because it’s probably the most important point in the guide.

 

Although I wouldn’t recommend this method of dealing with intrusive thoughts over the method of just ignoring them, I think your method is valid and harmless, so I’d like to approve this guide in its current state. If you could add the improvements that I suggested that would be even better, but I wouldn’t disapprove it if you don’t.

[Breloomancer]

for most people, most intrusive thoughts can be delt with by just ignoring them and moving on, however there are some intrusive thoughts that are not so easily gotten rid of. I once had an intrusive thought that would remove my ability to visualize temporarily when I touched it, and stayed even when I ignored it. intrusive thoughts like these require more drastic measures, such as what it described in this guide. I think that it is worth noting in the guide that this may not be necessary for more minor intrusive thoughts, and is really best for dealing with intrusive thoughts that can't be gotten rid of through normal means

 

in general, the best way to combat a persistent intrusive thought (one that does not go away when you ignore it), is to do something that you have convinced yourself will destroy the intrusive thought. this guide does an excellent job at helping to build your confidence in an action's ability to destroy an intrusive thought (putting the thought in the context of an RPG and involving lots of preparation before the action itself), and I am confident that its usage would be effective against most persistent intrusive thoughts.

 

this guide offers a fun and effective way to deal with especially persistent intrusive thoughts. approved for tips and tricks

[TimerBunneh]

Thanks for all of the replies. If I may add:

 

1) I have updated the guide based on everyone's suggestions. Is it good? Not really. But it was my attempt at helping.

2) I cannot see myself rewriting this as a forcing guide. If I could figure out a way, I would. I apologize.

> I will admit that this does need a rewrite in places. See point 4.

3) My head is in the clouds a lot, hence why I wrote the guide the way I did.

4) Now that I actually have faced one (I thought I had in the past, hence why I wrote this guide, but they weren't nearly as bad as the one I mentioned in my PR last week), I can say that the method of "just ignoring it" does not work for me. I want to blame my anxiety on that.

5) The panic attack part was metaphorical.

 

tl;dr this might work for some, but definitely not for everyone. Maybe ignoring it is best after all, but I will agree that this might be a good alternative...might be.

[Jamie]

Reviewing after your edit. 

 

I wish you defined "intrusive thought" point-blank. That's my main concern. 

 

Symbolism can be used to fight intrusives. I like the idea of safe spots. 

 

Your guide is engaging and relatively easy to follow. Like you said, just ignoring them won't work for everyone, and it's good to have different sorts of methods for dealing with intrusives known. 

 

Approved for Tips and Tricks. - Gavin

[Ranger]

Overall, I think this draft offers a creative solution to managing intrusive thoughts, but it is a little unclear what the underlying methodology is and focusing on one method would improve this guide. I detected two ways for how this method works- either as a way for tulpamancers to visualize themselves fighting their intrusive thoughts or a way to distract them from their intrusive thoughts by being caught up in all of the details in designing their RPG wonderland. Both methods are effective coping strategies for intrusive thoughts, but they don’t work as well when combined into one approach. For instance, if the purpose is to be meticulous and draft out all of the details, there is no need to rush things. On the other hand, If the purpose is to fight the intrusive thought head on, then designing the RPG elements can be interpreted as a waste of time. Being clear on which approach you want the reader to take will make this draft better organized and more concise.

 

Determining the underlying methodology will make it easier for you to revise this guide. Some of my peers suggested splitting off the RPG elements into a separate wonderland guide, and I believe that makes more sense if the intended approach is to fight intrusive thoughts head on. However, if the point is to get the reader caught up in the details, then removing the details defeats the purpose. I go into some more details on what makes sense to be removed or kept in my specific review.

 

I decided to break up this review into the following parts- general issues, suggestions to help focus on one approach, and grammar.

 

General Issues:

 

[hidden]

Intrusive thoughts can be nasty little things.

 

It would help your reader to define what intrusive thoughts are. Even though I have a rough idea of what you mean, a beginner may not.

 

You'll need to form a place in your mind to put this. Despite me calling it the "Wonderland RPG", this does not have to take place in your wonderland. But it does have to take place somewhere, else this guide would be rather difficult.

 

I believe you are trying to reassure the reader they can construct a separate wonderland for this method. As is, the wording may be a little confusing.

 

Your skills of visualization must be of a decent level. What one defines as "decent" obviously varies, but if you can immerse yourself in a daydream and hold it for the duration of this guide, that's more than enough.

 

Even though your clarification helps, "...must be of a decent level" is not specific and can be confusing. Defining the level of visualization would help clarify this. For example, your definition may be along the lines of "you must be able to maintain consistent shapes, colors, and movement during the exercise".

 

At least one tulpa should be sentient to some degree for this, and, if sentient enough, should also be willing to play the role of a party member.

 

Given your method, you really don't need a tulpa. I appreciate that you include having your tulpa help their host as part of the guide, but it should be written as optional and not necessary, especially since intrusive thoughts can bother hosts with or without tulpas.

 

 

This will determine what kind of enemy to view it as.

 

I don't think the reader has to visualize their enemy as more threatening. You can suggest that, but the reader may benefit from seeing the enemy as a weakling. Instead of telling them they must see it as a stronger opponent the scarier it is, let the reader decide how threatening the enemy is and ask if they want to paint a correlation between scariness and how strong the enemy is.

 

I can see how some may feel more satisfaction from beating something really scary and intense for them, but it can also have the opposite effect and make the host feel unconfident and intimidated.

 

 

Think of it as that one inescapable thing that newcomers to the game possibly grit their teeth at before turning the game off and resorting to guides.

 

Thinking of a scary thought as challenging is a reasonable coping tool, but this can be interpreted as making the intrusive thought so scary that the host feels hopeless. I would take out the rhetoric that makes this sound impossible, and this would work better.

 

Do NOT let it distract you! That's giving it what it wants. Just for this step, pretend you're hiding in the shadows, like a ninja or a spy, listening in for crucial information for your higher-up. Or something along those lines.

 

The wording here is a little confusing, given that you are instructing your reader to think a lot about their intrusive thought. I think you're trying to say don't dwell on the thought itself but instead think about it in the abstract. I think the placement is causing the most trouble here, if this was mentioned as the first bullet point it would make more sense. I wouldn't use the word "distracted", maybe "don't dwell on it"?

 

form a "safe spot" in another part of your setting, preferably far away from where your thought is.

 

I like that you stress this concept, however the placement of this step does not make tons of sense if you are planning this in advance. Regardless if this method is designed to be meticulous or set up a fight head-on, this should be consistent with either jumping right in or planning in advance.

 

and equate it to one of the three descriptions above or something similar.

 

Given the placement of this, I'm not sure what you mean by "one of the three descriptions above..."

 

---

 

I wanted to mention a couple problems with the section for those who can’t visualize. The first is it feels like most of that section better fits in the original method than it does as a separate piece. If the point is to keep track of all of these items, then putting it down on paper makes that a lot easier, regardless of the tulpamancer’s visualization ability. Second, that section seems to be more helpful for those who struggle with visualizing than for those who have aphantasia. Writing out descriptions will help people struggling with visualization will help them focus and provide a starting point to translate words into images, but a person who can’t imagine at all wouldn’t find that helpful because they would only interpret words and not be able create a mental image from those words. I believe it would be better to tell people who have aphantasia to play a real RPG video game and tell them to associate their enemy of choice with the intrusive thought they are struggling with. That way, the video game would be providing the visuals they need.

 

Describe your setting to the best of your ability. Perhaps your safe spot is a quaint little medieval town, straight out of Dungeons and Dragons, or a modern-day city. Maybe that intrusive thought is hiding out in a dark forest that no one dares to enter, or a castle that looms over your setting. It could even be hiding somewhere as plain as an office building. Your call.

 

This is helpful advice for someone who struggles with visualization, but not for someone who has aphantasia.

 

If you can't, ask your tulpa(s) to help.

 

You can have your tulpas draw with you, but if you can't draw well, chances are pretty good neither can your tulpa.

[/hidden]

 

Specifying Purpose:

 

[hidden]

Goal: Fight intrusives head on

 

With this approach, your draft will need more revision.

 

Other systems report fighting wonderland enemies as a coping strategy for managing intrusive thoughts. If you want to focus on the battle part, you're best off mentioning that the reader can make their RPG set up as elaborate or simple as they would like to and leave out the extra details for how to set those thing up. For example, this could look like a bullet list of extra ideas the reader can add to their set-up:

 

Other ideas:

• Add item / gear shops
  
• Add NPCs
  
• Have your tulpas fight alongside you
  
• Include and record enemy stats
  
• Turn based battle system and menus
  
• etc...
  

Another option is you can write a different optional section of your guide and give one to two sentence descriptions for each suggestion.

 

---

 

This guide is best used before an intrusive thought appears. This guide is a bit long and will almost certainly require planning, so referring to this in the midst of a panic attack due to one showing up will likely not help you.

 

Planning makes more sense for this approach so you can jump in and be ready to fight. However, given the way this guide is written, you are assuming an intrusive thought is already there. To make this consistent with your approach, you would need to write out a preparations section and include constructing the safe space, wonderland building, etc.

 

* * *

 

Goal: Distract the host into setting up an RPG wonderland

 

This guide is best used before an intrusive thought appears. This guide is a bit long and will almost certainly require planning, so referring to this in the midst of a panic attack due to one showing up will likely not help you.

 

Preparations in advance may not actually be necessary. If the goal is to slow down and have the tulpamancer take their time, now would be a reasonable time to shift their focus away from the intrusive thought and construct their wonderland.

 

Aside from fixing that inconsistency, everything else in the guide clicks. The only other thing I would look for is to remove tone and language that emphasizes urgency.

[/hidden]

 

Grammar:

 

[hidden]

If you have either of these, please scroll to the section labeled "For those with trouble visualizing".[/i]

 

Add a period.

 

Again, if you have difficulty visualizing for whatever reason, you may still follow this guide--just use the method in the section I mentioned above.

 

The "--" isn't necessary, you can use a period and capitalize the "j".

 

Maybe you can't visualize at all. But you still want to use this guide. What to do? Just follow the same steps, [...]

 

You can say "If visualization isn't exactly your forte, just follow..." and delete everything else.

[/hidden]

 

In response to your questions / new edits:

 

dare I say...its senpai.

 

Hold on, what kind of intrusive thoughts are you talking about? The scary ones or walk-ins? I know people call walk-ins intrusives, but that makes a big difference for your guide, especially since the point is to cope with something bothersome or scary.

 

I don't think this addition is necessary.

 

1) I have updated the guide based on everyone's suggestions. Is it good? Not really. But it was my attempt at helping.

 

If you think you need more time, that's totally fine. You were given a lot of feedback, and it can be really hard to respond to all of it at once.

 

2) I cannot see myself rewriting this as a forcing guide. If I could figure out a way, I would. I apologize.

> I will admit that this does need a rewrite in places. See point 4.

 

I don't think this is a forcing guide either.

 

4) Now that I actually have faced one (I thought I had in the past, hence why I wrote this guide, but they weren't nearly as bad as the one I mentioned in my PR last week), I can say that the method of "just ignoring it" does not work for me. I want to blame my anxiety on that.

 

I don't think there's anything wrong with the concepts you present except for the small things here and there I pointed out. I think having a more solid purpose will make this guide easier to fix.

 

 

After further revision, I think you will be in a strong position for approval.

[TimerBunneh]

Thanks for the tips, Ranger! I've updated this guide based on your suggestions. These include:

>Making the guide specify persistent thoughts (though walk-ins are briefly covered) and outright stating the goal of the guide

>An entirely new step 1 that's a lot more straightforward

>A tip for those with aphantasia (which I have sent to a friend that has it for review)

>General cleanup

 

I am aware that it is now clogged with emotes and italics, though some new edits are marked with "[12/18]" due to the image limit. All of these will be removed upon approval.