Hey guys so this new thing my brain been doing with “ do human look weird to you “ things has been really messing me up . When I look at hands and feet it gives me anxiety if I’m thinking about while I’m looking at someone it gets me anxious. Does anyone know how to respond to this or how to move past it ? When I look in the mirror I get a lot anxious as well . It has also been causing lots of brain fog

Your brain is hung up on wanting certainty/familiarity about how bodies look or feel, but it’s the focus on it that is creating/amplifying the uncertainty in the first place. If you weren’t thinking about it so much, the thought would simply be a passing one. Humans do look weird! And theoretically bodies could have evolved in any other number of ways in nature but they evolved the way they did. And now we have them at this stage. It’s okay that life seems random and unexplainable and absurd sometimes. Because it is! But the more you try to figure out why, the more absurd it’s going to seem. The spiral will just go and go and go. Accept that bodies are weird and that you can’t quite explain why that is. Rather than going down deeper into the spiral (hands are weird, and feet are weird, and that person looks weird, etc) stop and sit with that anxiety. Say to yourself “yeah, it is weird. Oh well.” And then refocus on something else. Let the anxiety naturally dissipate.

Hey I also have been through this. Both responding with fear to my own body, e.g “what the hell are my hands doing here?!”, and to other people “since when have I been a human being?!”. I have found that combining ERP at home but also in public spaces to be very effective. At home I might stare in a mirror or look at my hands. Also flicking through photo albums or Facebook profiles also gets the triggers going. So I just keep doing that till my brain gets bored. Likewise, sitting at a cafe or some other public space and just watching people discretely has been really useful. The occasional small talk with the cafe owner or whatever also doesn’t hurt to increase the triggers a little more.

And there’s probably nothing you can do or think to make yourself feel 100% certain that won’t happen. But you can stop trying to figure out a solution that doesn’t exist and choose to live your life taking that risk instead.

Thank you so much

I needed this

@oggyshooy thank you so much . I feel like I’m losing my mind a little . But this really helped to know that this might just be ocd and I really appreciate it

Not “might”... “is”! 100% no doubt about it. I understand first hand how difficult it is to believe that sometimes. The most paradoxical thing is that if you don’t want to be bothered by these thoughts, you must allow yourself to just believe it is true and accept it... practice that over and over again in dedicated ERP sessions and try to gradually implement those skills also in your day to day life (eg in cafes and so on) Good luck and do not lose hope!! It is 100% in your power to get through it and you know the therapies that will get you there... just go and practice!

It’s just a scary makes me feel like oneday I’ll be afraid of humans all together or like start hurting people

Thank you ?