Last night had to be one of the worst night for me, I went to bed at around 2:30am and while I was lying down I had these disgusting horrible thoughts, no matter what I did they wouldn’t go away, I put on my tv and stayed awake the whole night hoping it would go away I am exhausted. And scared, I don’t know what to do!!
Hi! I used to deal with intrusive thoughts every day, so I definitly understand how exhausting it can be. What my therapist told me at the time, and I think could be considered ERP, is to acknowledge the thoughts, he even told me to think about them on purpose. When getting those thoughts, we tend to just want them to go away, because they're scary and gross, but by doing so we give them importance, and that's why your brain struggles to let go. Lets say your thoughts are like a white horse, if you repeatedly tell yourself "Do not to think about a white horse!" What happens? You think of one, because that's just how the brain works. If you just accept a thought, which I understand is very hard to do, your brain is going to realise you don't give it as much importance as you used to, and will naturally move towards something else. It's hard, but I'm sure it'll get better. Feel free to try ERP as well, it does wonders.
I feel the same way. It feels so wrong to purposely think the thoughts. It makes me worry that I'm becoming an evil person because they're evil thoughts. I haven't started ERP yet, but I'm getting scared about doing it after reading this post.
Isn't there another way to get rid of such horrible thoughts? I've stayed up all night with my thoughts too, but I've been trying to replace those horrible thoughts with positive thoughts. I just want to feel like I'm a good person.
Yes, that helps. Thank you. It reminded me of when my therapist told me to see my thoughts as waves or clouds just going by. I feel like I can accept that better.
Bro I'm scared rn, so there was a compulsion I did like 2hrs ago and I didn't do it properly cuz I kept getting a thought saying "something is gonna come in Ur room and kill you or you will have this illness It triggers me to say it but I froze because I kept seeing like a shadow and cuz I was home alone and it's dark so I didn't answer it 😃 and cuz I answered it late saying obviously I don't want to illness I would rather have the other (half of me knows it's not real), and I prayed 4 times as well cuz I didn't do the compulsion properly I tried doing it again logs if times and 1 hour later I tried again but It still didn't feel right, and now the thought is hurting my body a little and I feel shivery, and I have tried doing the compulsion but it's not working. Why can't these thighs just leave me alone and stop saying about illnesses all the time. And idk how I'm gonna get thru the night cuz I can't get the thought out of my head and I won't be able to do anything properly.
I feel like it’s just me. But at night when I start to fall asleep, play on my phone, or watch TV; I’ll get major intrusive thoughts and a butt load of anxiety. Has anyone felt the same about this? How have you managed it? It’s getting exhausting and even causes me to sleep-less.
I feel horrible! My anxiety over my obsessive thoughts is 10/10 right now and no matter what I try, I cannot seem to relax my body and mind. I had my 2nd therapy apt this morning. I watched a support group this evening, took a walk, did a 20 minute Prgressive muscle relaxation video, sat in the hottub, nothing is making my thoughts less intense. My stomach has been in knots for days and it’s only been getting worse. I have been trying to accept my anxiety and reason and let my thoughts stay all day they still have me super wound up.
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