Hey guys. I just to share the intrusive thoughts in my mind with you guys to see if someone out there could relate to it and help me out a little bit. I am having some very disturbing, eerie & almost unexplainable thoughts since my early childhood. And they've always got me into enormous amount of anxiety which I can't explain. I'll just write down these thoughts. 1. Thoughts that tell me you're a bad person who wants to hurt someone. 2. Thoughts that tell me that deep down you don't love your life & you want to get rid of it. (Of course I don't want to.) 3. Some thoughts tell me that don't get near some objects otherwise you'll unconsciously harm someone. 4. There is also a strange thought that you'll get up from your bed at night and unconsciously hurt yourself and your family. (LOL) 5. I also have some thoughts in mind about being pedophile and harming children. 6. Sometimes I get worried while being next to a sick person, I feel I'll get contaminated by his germs. 7. Existential Thoughts like, "you know one day you'll die, so why would you enjoy your life and make it better". 8. When I read about some kind of disease or I see a post about self-harm or anything else, I think I might have this disease or I might be the same person. I even start to have symptoms of that disease for a moment. 9. & Yesterday a thought popped into my mind that this world is not real & you're living in an alternate reality of the world. (or like the dream world shown in some movies) There are many more thoughts like this in my mind & when I didn't know about their nature or why they happen, I really thought they mean something about me. I am a very nice & caring person & thoughts like this always got me into depression. I would always try to push them away or try to argue with the thoughts. I would seek reassurance from my family that I'm a nice man who won't hurt anyone. But this all couldn't help until I came across some books about intrusive thoughts & OCD. These books changed my views about these thoughts and I really started to get my life back on track. But then I got uncertain about the tips written in book. Because in those books it was mentioned that the first thing you need to do to break free from these kind of thoughts is "accepting" them & then "letting it go". When I tried to accept these thoughts, they bounced back with, "yes you are this kind of person, you yourself accepted it, now do it". I don't know why the acceptance couldn't help. I'm confused what to do when they reply like this. My anxiety goes even higher and I'm completely frustrated on how to accept these thoughts and let them go. Now I just want you guys to help me, read the whole passage, and tell me whether your intrusive thoughts also bounce back like this, or am I the only one? And also tell me the best way tp get rid of these thoughts or accept them without any other types of thoughts caused by this acceptance. Thanks a Lot.

[Deleted]

Date posted: 4y

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H1K

Date posted: 4y

But wouldn't this mean that I am approving my obsessions? I'll get these types of thoughts then.

H1K

Date posted: 4y

@threepartsocdsufferer So you mean I have to just ignore them and move on. But isn't this distracting? Please tell me the difference between distracting and ignoring them

[Deleted]

Date posted: 4y

Comment deleted by user

H1K

Date posted: 4y

Thanks sir. It will really help me

Lms526

Date posted: 4y

Acceptance is NOT the same as approving of or liking the thought. It is basically just acknowledging the thought is there. It can be as simple as saying "This is an OCD thought." Then don't engage with it. Don't try to push it away, replace it with a different thought, argue or reason with it. Don't try to disprove it. Your anxiety will go crazy for a little while, but if you resist doing a compulsion, it will peak and decline. Its just a thought. We don't have control over the thoughts that come in. Everyone has intrusive thoughts. The problem is that people with OCD give them more meaning. We believe they day terrible things about us as people. All of your attempts to deal with your thoughts are compulsions. Yes, doing a compulsion does relieve your anxiety, but only for a very short time. When you do a compulsion, you are telling your brain it really is a threat. It will respond by giving you the same thought more often. Which leads to more anxiety, which leads to more compulsions, which leads to more intrusive thoughts. We can't control the thoughts we have, but we CAN control how we respond.

H1K

Date posted: 4y

So you mean I should just reply to the thought as "it's just an intrusive thought" and move on. But tell me about the difference between distracting the thoughts and accepting them, also how to cope with that amount of anxiety the thoughts cause for a moment?

Lms526

Date posted: 4y

A compulsion is anything you say, think, or do in an attempt to relieve your anxiety. They can be mental or physical. So you shouldn't do anything to cope with your anxiety. Just ride it out.

H1K

Date posted: 4y

I'll try to just let my anxiety relieve on its own.

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