Deep Thoughts

It’s bothers us because the theme/topic holds a lot of value to us, therefore we tie a lot of emotion to those thoughts. This is why we can’t easily let it go. OCD and other mental illnesses aren’t logical so you can’t rationalize your way out of it because there’s always going to be another “what if” popping up which can’t actually be answered.

Because you give into their whims as it is very well known as the “what if?” disease/illness. We can ask What if? until the sun don’t shine and we’d never know, which for those with OCD makes things worse. But it is impossible to know everything about life and its wonders, even when it’s coming from our brain.

Because your brain can't easily separate "feeling" from reality, even if logically you understand what's real and what's not. Ocd makes your brain go into "survival mode",your brain constantly receives warning signals, even if there's no actual danger. Those signals need to go somewhere, so they basically take the form of anxiety and anxiety automatically magnifies the danger and meaning of intrusive thoughts, making it difficult for the brain to avoid it, despite the fact that you yourself value and follow logic. Think of it(your brain) as an automatic machine that broke some of its safety functions and think of your self as the worker that handles this machine. Now, even if that worker knows which buttons to press in order to correctly use the machine, does this mean that he also has control over the machine functioning well even if it's broken? Nope.

This is such a good question Rhonda! OCD can make us feel like our intrusive thoughts are so real even when they are outlandish. They can grab a hold of our values and that’s why normally we cannot shake the feeling that something “is wrong.” Practicing ERP techniques such as non-engagement can be very helpful in lessening the strength of these intrusive thoughts.

Usually because it's something we really care about so the uncertainty on the topic brings all those emotions regardless of how irrational it is.

OCD is irrational, it doesn't have to make sense. No matter how much we try to rationalize our thoughts or argue with them it won't make OCD stop and say "oh, you're right, I'll stop making you obsess about this now". That's why learning to sit with the thoughts that bug us and cause us anxiety is so important.