So I feel like we’re most often told to obviously not engage with the rumination’s, but then we’re also told to accept our thoughts!! So I’m getting pretty confused, the two seem opposite.. any words welcomed. I’m hoping this isn’t my ocd trying to ‘figure something out’ haha <3
For me, it's a strange balance between the two I have to find. It's not that you ignore or push the ruminating thoughts away; you accept them and continue moving forward. I think it is easy to get caught in the trap of repressing or avoiding or fighting the thoughts on one end, and on the other end, engaging with the thoughts and feeding them. The path is down the middle for me. I almost think of myself as a silent observer; simply looking at my thoughts and allowing them to flow without engaging with them. Hope this helps!
It’s your OCD trying to figure it out 😉 But I’ll answer simply, because it’s fairly simple. You can absolutely accept the thought—as in just letting it be present without fighting or arguing or giving into it—without ruminating. Ruminating is you engaging in it. Don’t engage, just let it be.
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.
How can I deal with False Memory OCD? I am struggling with ruminating thoughts, and trying to figure out false memories! How can I enjoy my day without figuring it out?
I've been told a lot that in order to get better, we need to tolerate uncertainty, which yea I get that and I'm trying every day more and more to reach that point!! But I've also been told that we need to tolerate uncertainty AND "our worst fears becoming true". Like how does that work, especially with POCD, OCD about a///ault, SA and all of that? Like that is really difficult for me and I don't really understand how I'm supposed to just shrug stuff like that off
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