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I've recently experienced a set of delusional thoughts that I found compelling and very tough to nullify. I finally stopped my head-on battle with them. Instead I've been able to gently retire the thoughts and put them out to pasture. 

I was sure to maintain the basic insight that the thoughts were questionable. Yet, additionally, I worked to reduce both the frequency and the strength with which the thoughts occurred. This turned out to be as effective as (within my thinking) actively disputing the symptomatic thoughts. Instead of reversing the thoughts, I decided not to think them as much. 

The how-to of this is to have alternate content. I decided to focus more on what needed to be done every day. Some examples: household cleanup, career efforts, spending time with my spouse, watching television, meditating, and running errands. 

The above illustrates how shifting the content of the thinking is often efficacious. The alternative is to fight against oneself. Over time, if the latter method works at all, it will be inefficient and could cause its own set of problems--even if not always in the category of symptoms. 

Finding a distraction from mental material that bugs you or makes you suffer is powerful. It can allow you to recharge your energy supply. This, in turn, can give you more power than you would otherwise have to do battle with external challenges where needed. 

(Battling challenges is good. Battling people is not good.) 

This morning, the kitchen was the challenge to battle. I knew that the garbage needed removal and the dishes had to be washed. I distracted myself from the impulse I had that said I couldn't do it. I told myself to begin with only washing a few dishes and picking up a few pieces of trash. Ninety minutes later (My best guess--I didn't record the time) all dishes had been washed and all trash had been removed. The feeling afterward was fabulous, and I was glad not to be at risk of a vermin infestation. 

The above doesn't refer to anything psychotic. Yet, it is an example of shifting away from mental material that did not serve me. And the "material" consisted of thoughts that caused delaying or not doing necessary tasks. 

Many years ago, I lived in a large housing complex in which residents socialized a lot among themselves. I was returning following a difficult dental surgery in which I'd had all four wisdom teeth removed. The oral surgeons were awful, and they actually gave me some kind of embolism in my cheek due to sticking in the anesthesia needle too far. When I got back home to the housing complex, I was in a great deal of pain. 

A man in his sixties who worked security for the building began to tell me stories of his past security work--he had many things to say. I was completely distracted by his compelling stories, and this eased the pain in my mouth.  

The method of distraction replaces problematic content with useful or at least neutral content. It can be learned with a minimal amount of practice. 

The above method is not a replacement for conventional treatment for a psychiatric condition.