I am not interacting with my intrusive thoughts but I can literally feel it in my head. It's like a tingling and pressure. It keeps reminding me of the thought, how do I get that to go away?
Omg same, I could feel it in my head and chest every minute of the day š there isnāt a way to get rid of it quickly, but after I started doing ERP, these feelings became less noticeable and I felt better. So keep disregarding the thoughts and doing exposures. At first things will feel worse, but with time itāll settle down :)
@blazed Hi Blazed Iāve not done ERP but my intrusive thought is tied into a real event at home Iāve gone over it in my head a thousand times and my intrusive thought sneaks in. Iām now going over it whilst in the room and know full well there is no chance my intrusive thought could have happened as there are actual facts I can remember is this classed as ERP until your brain accepts it wasnāt possible for your intrusive thought to have happened
@sazMar No, this is actually a compulsion because youāre looking for certainty š ERP is about staying uncertain and accepting the possibility that it may or may not have happened. While you do have the facts, OCD doesnāt respond to logic and will question those facts continuously. Cutting down on rumination and accepting that anything is possible will help you cope with the thoughts.
@blazed Does this help you see things more clearly? as actually accepting the thoughts as true isnāt something I could do as it would end me
@sazMar Youāre not necessarily accepting the content of the thoughts; youāre acknowledging and accepting them as just thoughts. They donāt have any real meaning to it. I know itās difficult but let it be until the discomfort goes away by itself.
@blazed Did you find your anxiety dropped? That always confuses me as the whole thought process started because I felt anxious so the anxiety was there first
@sazMar Yeah it did eventually! At first I was so anxious and stressed pretty much all the time. And my POCD started off like that too, it wasnāt a thought but I felt a lot of anxiety.
@blazed Yeah mine was anxiety at first and a feeling of something being off! Mine wasnāt a thought until I started ruminating then it was more images popping into my head as if to offer why I was anxious this was attached to a real event so all Iāve done is go over and over it in my head
I often stop and greet it with a ā0h hey, itās you againā¦ no worries I know you are there! Just a little busy withā¦ā¦ LIFEā¦. Your MF!!!
I personally find it really hard. I know the feeling exactly, but I disagree with the thoughts so much that I try to prove them wrong which makes it 10x worse
Yes I always feel the need to explain it away so I don't feel uncomfortable and it works for a bit but then it's back and I have to do the same thing all over again. But just sitting with the feelings is so uncomfortable
@Studybug - this is me right now, trying to sit in the feelings but it's so scary and feels irresponsible and dangerous but also doing compulsions makes ocd worse so what now
@Ben27 Catch yourself in that loopā¦ā¦ itās like saying I want to do this but I know it is feeding the beast. Tell it to fuck offā¦ seriously
i'm the same way argh
I feel my thought must have happened for me to feel this way for so long, I know in my heart Iād never do what my thought is telling me but the anxiety is 24/7
mine says it's in my head for so long because i'm considering it and it stresses me so much
Yeah I know they say to stop ruminating but itās so hard as I keep checking it didnāt happen I know it didnāt itās like 2 stories that donāt fit the truth and one fuelled by anxiety
Yeah thatās the problem isnāt it! We push back so hard it makes it worse, I know for a fact Iām worse now than when this all started as it came on gradually after the first whoosh of anxiety it was a feeling as if something had happened I couldnāt quite put my finger on. Then over time I still felt anxious so of course the intrusive thoughts started then the more I pushed those away the more anxious I got itās a visions cycle.
@sazMar Spot on, same. At the start I used to be able to reason with myself now I just dont even know whats true
@Ben27 I think in the beginning everything is fresh so you know thereās nothing there to actually feel anxious about but as time moves on and you become more anxious you start to doubt your memories then it really grabs hold of you
oh my godddd i relate so hard. i donāt experience tingling but definitely some sort of pressure and just this weird sensation in my head
I canāt get on with my life until I know it didnāt happen
Iāve been feeling a bit stressed lately because my intrusive thoughts arenāt causing as much anxiety as they used to. It almost feels like Iām becoming a little numb to them, and because of that, Iām able to engage with them a bit longer. I donāt feel the usual rush of anxiety to pull away, and in some strange way, I even find myself focusing on them for a few seconds, like Iām actively thinking about them. Itās really stressing me out because I feel like by not feeling that immediate discomfort or anxiety, Iām letting the thoughts stay longer or giving them more power. I feel like part of me almost wants them to be there, and I donāt know if thatās a bad sign? They donāt even feel intrusive. Has anyone else experienced this? Iām just worried that the lack of anxiety is the reason Iām interacting more with these thoughts that would normal scare me. I feel guilt about it later. I am currently withdrawing from medication so that may contribute to this but itās not the first time I experience this :/
I need advice for intrusive thoughts. I used to feel like I could handle them. They werenāt nearly as bad as the things that related to my actual life. But now, Iām suffering. I havenāt had a sexual experience in over a year that didnāt involve constant intrusive thoughts. Most are somehow related to kids and I keep chasing off the thoughts but itās so bad. I know youāre supposed to ignore them but I donāt know how I can just ignore that and continue what Iām doing. But theyāre coming on stronger. I had one earlier I could not get rid of just as things finished so the thought came on strongly just before my orgasm hit and now I feel absolutely disgusting. I hated the thought and I know itās not me and it was not enjoyable but it still feels like I was getting off to it. I feel sick. Iām so fucking tired of these thoughts. Theyāre in my every day life too and itās all the time. I just want it to stop but ignoring it feels so wrong. What should I do?
for me, it's like there's two folders of my thoughts, 'main thoughts' and 'sub thoughts' and it's like a background voice of my background voice, you know? like so quiet and irrelevant but it's still here and i can try to ignore it but not fully and it feels like it's just really nasty, like it's warring with me, never shuts up and just keeps nagging me with those thoughts
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