- Date posted
- 2y
- Date posted
- 2y
An important distinction: accepting it doesn’t mean dwelling on it! Accepting that it’s there doesn’t mean that you have to (or that you should) spend your energy thinking about it. This is rumination, which can be a compulsion. Instead, accepting it means accepting that the initial intrusive thought (or series of thoughts if it’s gone that far) occurred to you, knowing that that’s ok/doesn’t have to be significant, and moving forward with whatever you’re doing. Accepting that a feeling (anxiety) is there doesn’t mean focusing on that feeling being there. It’s just trusting that the feeling will pass, even if you don’t DO anything (a compulsion or rumination) to make it pass more quickly.
- Date posted
- 2y
Wow! That was a great explanation of how to deal with accepting intrusive thoughts! :)
- Date posted
- 2y
It will prolong it because you’re not giving OCD what it wants. The anxiety belongs to OCD. Imagine it like a kid in a supermarket asking for sweets - you’re carrying on shopping not giving them sweets & they’re getting more and more agitated - that’s what’s happening to OCD & that’s honestly the best way to RETRAIN your brain to not let the OCD win. I know it’s so hard tho X hope you’re okay as soon as you can be xx
- Date posted
- 2y
I’ve taught myself not to pay any attention to my thoughts going on through my mind, so though I have intrusive thoughts, they don’t become themes anymore. I have accepted I am not my thoughts/they don’t define me, everyone has horrible thoughts and I’m not alone, and interacting with my OCD will only make things worse—it is futile to try. So, it “wins” in the sense it can shoot out any and all images, thoughts, urges, etc. but I do absolutely nothing in reply to them. I go about my daily routine and I never stop for one second in response to any of them. They do not matter; what matters is my actions and the present moment.
- Date posted
- 2y
Wow! That's inspiring! I don't know how you do that but I think that's really cool, good job. :) I find it so difficult to not respond to my intrusive thoughts. Any one intrusive thought can tend to sit with me all day, and I tend to ruminate on them at different points throughout the day.
- Date posted
- 2y
@Drew777 ERP, patience, and mindfulness kicking in 😉
- Date posted
- 2y
Wow thank you all for such thoughtful replies. I appreciate it so much and am very thankful :) ❤️
Related posts
- Date posted
- 24w
I’m sharing this bc I need advice or even support from anyone who can relate. If you can’t relate and don’t think you’ll say anything helpful or kind pls don’t comment anything… I’ve been struggling with somethings that’s making me question myself. There has been moments while self pleasuring when I get intrusive thoughts, in those moments it feels like I’m enjoying or even self pleasuring myself bc of the thought. Right after I immediately have an anxiety attack and my HEART drops bc it feels terrible I feel like a disgusting monster :( ppl have told me I haven’t done a bad bc of how intense my guilt and panic are but I keep thinking that MAYBE I made a horrible decision in the moment and the guilt is just realising that it’s just wrong this doesn’t make sense to me because I’ve always told myself that I would never act on this in 1 million years and I’ve been known that these things are wrong so I’m just like constantly questioning myself these feelings and exact same situation has happened two times already I even promised myself that I wouldn’t act on anything beforehand and yeah, I still felt like I did act on my thought during my alone time I’m genuinely convinced that I’m a horrible and it’s even got into the point where I don’t wanna be here anymore and I don’t even think this is my OCD :( tbh
- Date posted
- 23w
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? 😅
- Date posted
- 20w
OK, this might sound really dumb, but when you guys get intrusive thoughts, do they just come once and then go away? I’ve heard that repeatedly thinking about an intrusive thought is considered ‘checking,’ but it doesn’t feel like I have any control over how many times it comes up in my head. It’s not like I’m trying to check anything—it just keeps showing up, almost like it’s terrorizing me every time. I can’t seem to stop it from looping, stop remembering it, or prevent it from coming up. Every time it does, I feel horrified, and I already know it’s going to horrify me. I don’t think I’m actively trying to see if my feelings have changed, so is this still considered checking? How do other people get an intrusive thought and just move on? Doesn’t it pop up a million times for them too? I always thought that was normal, but now I’m hearing this could be a compulsion, and I feel really confused, scared, and lost. Is this why my OCD feels so extreme? Because I really don’t feel like I can control how many times the thought pops up.
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