When people tell me to accept it, do they mean accept the thought or accept that you have these thoughts. Because I have Suicidal OCD and I get these thoughts and just can’t accept that I could do something like that
You accept all of it. Accept the uncertainty of life, accept you might or might not have these thoughts for the rest of you life, accept you might or might not be suicidal, and so on. Your theme will change throughout life but the theme isn’t the main focal point—it’s dealing with OCD as a whole. And you deal with it by not caring enough to start the OCD cycle.
People who don't have OCD may not understand the situation you're going through right now.Therefore, it is possible for them to interpret your intrusive thoughts differently.It is very important who told you to accept these. If someone who specializes in OCD has told you this, it means they want you to accept that these thoughts exist. People with OCD try to avoid intrusive thoughts, because these thoughts make them extremely nervous. Trying to escape these thoughts are also a compulsion. Individuals with OCD feel guilty for having these thoughts and think that they are a very bad person. But every person, with or without OCD, has had these thoughts at least once. So accepting these thoughts means accepting the existence of these thoughts, not the possibility of them being real. Acknowledging the existence of these thoughts will make it easier for you to ignore them, thereby reducing the need to perform compulsions to avoid them. So whenever you feel like these thoughts are disturbing you, you should be able to tell yourself that "yes there is this thought in my mind so what? Maybe i will or maybe i will not. I don't know. But i don't want to figure it out now." It may be hard at first but be prepared to say this like million times if it is necessary. It will teach your brain to accept these thoughts as just thoughts without overinterpreting them.
So I just accept it like “ok I’m having these thoughts because I have ocd”
It is about noticing the thought and doing nothing about it. For example, you have a thought about jumping in front of a train, you notice it, you acknowledge it, but you don't do anything about it. It is also about coming to terms with the worst scenario.
i think accept that you have these thoughts? recognizing that might help reassure you that you don’t actually want to commit and it’s just a reoccurring compulsive thought
Basically, because having these thoughts do not make them real. Just because you have suicidal thoughts doesn't mean you'll act on them. Thinking about these thoughts and seeking reassurance will only increase your anxiety and strengten your OCD. The goal here is to stop fighting uncertainty and thus learn to tolerate anxiety. It may be harder to do it alone at the beginning so you may consider getting professional help.
What if we are like « what if it’s only a matter of time before I do it? » or « what if I want to and I don’t know it ? » it terrifies me I don’t want to think that. Should I juste accept the doubts, repeating « the maybe maybe not thing » and let it be like « okay wathever you say » ?
If you wanted to do it then you would know that you wanted to do it. This is OCD playing tricks with your mind. What actually bothers you right now as i understand is the uncertainty of it. You think like OK i dont want to do it now, but what if i want to do it one day. So by telling yourself maybe i do, you acknowledge the possibility of your thoughts. And by telling yourself maybe i dont you create an uncertainty for your OCD. You are simply acknowledging the possibility of you may not do it. By saying i don't know, you admit yourself that you're not sure about whether you will or won't commit suicide. And just let the anxiety set in without trying to fix it. And last step is about response prevention. Simply by saying i'm not going to try to figure it out now. Allow the questions in your mind to stay unanswered and for the next couple minutes try to refrain any efforts to determine whether you will do it or not. At least this is what i do to stop ruminating about my own intrusive thoughts.
Ok I’ll try :) like right now I’m calm so I’m thinking « I shouldn’t be calm that’s not normal my defense mechanism are not working » so it scares me
Should I just follow your advices and letting uncertainty come ?
You don't have to invite this uncertainty out of nowhere but when it comes, don't fight with your thoughts feel the anxiety but don't do anything to make it disappear. Whatever it tells you simply just don't listen or don't take it seriously. Ignore it like you'd to an annoying person. After you feel your anxiety fading away you may do something like a hobby or going for a walk etc. to relax and to distract yourself.
Okay I’ll try all of that :) thanks a lot for taking the time to answer
I struggle so bad with intrusive thoughts. They can be so bad that I'll cry because I KNOW that's not how I feel or want to do. (Too embarrassed to say what they're about) I'll constantly try to figure out why I have them, and constantly figure out what they mean, causing me to constantly circle around and around. I had to get on anxeity meds, which helped a little but the thoughts still happen. How do you help yourself with this? How do you know that you're just not some physcopath? 😅
I’ve been thinking a lot about how OCD changes the way we see ourselves, but I recently realized that I am not my thoughts. Just because a thought pops up doesn’t mean it’s true or that it defines me. I’ve started learning how to see OCD for what it is—just a disorder trying to trick me—and I’ve become stronger in dealing with it. Has anyone else here had a similar realization? How do you handle these thoughts when they show up?
Since I started to accept that maybe some of the problems i deal with might be things that i should accept cause either way I feel shame if i have these thoughts, and i think that being that person is shameful. I'm struggling these days and I noticed I have thoughts about God not being real, not helping me, questioning if its real and these thoughts makes me feel shame. But i keep accepting it cause Im tired that i feel like im lying to myself and everytime i feel like im avoiding the truth, so I try to accept it that its okay that im having these problems(I do the same with suicidal ocd,I start to accept maybe its real) but since im doing this I noticed it makes me depreassed cause of shame. Made things worse, I always spin about shame that it might be true, i try tk accept it but it doesnt work, I feel like maybe i should go back and label every feeling and thought as ocd but i know i wouldnt be free cause i would feel like im trying to make myself feel better... But if its ocd, how can I decide its that if I have the emotions like im losing my faith, I get angry when i hear about faith, sometimes i feel like i really question it, have thoughts like i dont want to have faith...
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