- Date posted
- 2y
Intrusive feelings
How intense/real can intrusive feelings get? Because I feel like false attraction feels way more intense than my normal attractions have ever felt and that worries me a lot..
How intense/real can intrusive feelings get? Because I feel like false attraction feels way more intense than my normal attractions have ever felt and that worries me a lot..
You have also conditioned your body to feel false attraction by checking for it at the sight of a trigger, this makes the feeling grow in intensity as well.
@Yourmindislyingtoyou Can even the sight of the trigger cause instant false attraction? Without a thought? Or with a subconscious thought?
@Blumenkohl1 Yes absolutely! I have POCD and struggle with this as well. The longer that compulsion happens, the more automatic and without thought it becomes and then starts to feels “real” instead of “compulsive” which is not fair, but it is always compulsion whether you did it automatically or Thought about it first!
@Yourmindislyingtoyou Thank you! It’s so scary because it feels so real and right now its so hard to distinguish ocd from reality🙃
@Blumenkohl1 OCD is OCD You are you
@Yourmindislyingtoyou I will try to remember that! Thank you:)
It can feel very intense. It’s because the false attraction causes anxiety and that is a real and intense feeling (even tho the actual trigger is not dangerous)
@kasibul Thank you for replying! Can the fear also feel like mental attraction? Or like an impulsive image with a sort of urge/attraction to it?
@Blumenkohl1 I think you’re asking for reassurance, but generally speaking, everyone can feel anything at any time, it doesn’t have to mean anything. It’s grey sky outside here but kind of warm. Some people wear a jumper, some wear a jumper and a jacket, some just a t-shirt. None of them is right or wrong.
@kasibul Okay, thats true you’re right🥲
Intrusive thoughts and feelings are not fact, they are not good or bad - they just happen. It doesn’t mean anything that they happen. And most importantly they don’t say anything about your character. That’s OCD and OCD is OCD. You are your morals and values. The fact that you care mean you are a good person. Hold strong, ride the wave of bad feelings. Look up grounding skills, TIPP skills (for distress - kinda like break the glass in case of emergency skills), and mindfulness skills to deal with the bad feelings. Guided meditation and breathing exercise are really really helpful. You got this!
@Yourmindislyingtoyou Thank you so much! I will try my best. I will also hopefully start ERP soon
@Blumenkohl1 I’m also pre-ERP, I hope you start soon!🤞🤞🤞
@Yourmindislyingtoyou Thanks! I hope you do too!:)
the more the fear is validated, the more reaction will happen. this is what OCD strives for. it wants you afraid and ready to run every moment of every day. i experience the same things as you! there’s hope for us. have you started ERP?
@ocd_junkie Thank you! The scary part for me is, that even when I’m in a somewhat calm state, I still experience these feelings and sometimes it feels so automatic and fast that I can barley react to it.. no I haven’t started yet unfortunately, I’m still deciding wether I should try to find a therapist in my city or if I should do it over nocd but my insurance won’t cover that🙃 what about you?
@Blumenkohl1 i recommend searching for specialists on IOCDF’s website here: https://iocdf.org/find-help/ you can find providers near you, and you can check their page to see if they take your insurance. personally, i haven’t started ERP because, when i tried to kill myself last month, the doctors said i wasn’t stable enough for exposure therapy. i have to see a trauma specialist too before i start ERP. it’s gonna be a loooooooong process
@ocd_junkie Thank you so much for the recommendation! Im so sorry :( I hope you are doing better! And remember that this is gonna bring healing for you and you are gonna get better! I’m so sure of that. Im gonna keep you in my prayers💚
@Blumenkohl1 i really appreciate that, thank you so much. i hope for the best in your recovery, hang in there!
@Blumenkohl1 Hi I have felt the exact same so many times!! You are not alone!
@Noodles123 Thank you so much for responding! How do you deal with it? I’m so anxious that the feelings and thoughts are real
Just curious, how does the false attraction feel to you? I believe people say they are different. I’m not reassuring, just interested in other peoples experiences. Mine feels like my chest is crushed with anxiety, when I notice a good looking male, it feels like I’ve just missed being hit in the car (that fear sensation). I feel sick after the thoughts. I also feel my face screw up which may be a compulsion which I’m trying to stop.
I was scrolling on insta and I saw a post of a kid, I felt a sense of attraction, idk if it was false or not. I hope it was, I got worried and the kid kept popping up in my head, I kept trying to stop it because I can’t stand not doing anything and feeling attracted, I don’t wanna be attracted to kids, im fucking tired of having to deal with all of this every day. I can’t tell if it is real or false attraction, all of this is so annoying, I can’t even listen to music properly without feelings of attraction showing up. I’m not able to tell if it’s false attraction or not anymore at all, it feels way to real to know, I keep hoping that it’s all false, and I hope that I have pocd not actual pedophilia because I was never disgnosed, I was also exposed to porn at a young age, and I’m worried it causes pedophilia. Please help me with these attraction feelings I can’t tell if they’re real or not anymore. I can’t even tell if I’m distressed, panicked, disgusted, or shamed. I don’t feel any of those feelings anymore, idk why, idk how to deal with this stuff anymore, I don’t even know if I have ocd or not, I’ve only ever gotten one short diagnoses that said I have ocd but I lied on 2 questions about feeling arousal which I do, idk why, and the other about liking the thoughts, which I said I didn’t, but in reality I don’t know if I do or not. Also only certain kids trigger the attraction feeling, it makes me worried I’m a pedo because it’s only certain kids that cause it, kind of like a “type” (edited)
I see people post about how they feel like their thoughts are real. For me personally I deal with sexual intrusive thoughts and they feel real to me because it feels like I enjoy them. And when I say “it feels like I like them” that’s the same for me as saying “I like them” but some people say that’s different. Idk just curious as to what you guys feel!
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