Can you challenge thoughts that make you guilty? Not anxious. I get alot of thoughts about my past where guilt is actually the first emotion not the conventional OCD anxiety. I feel, I need some positive self talk because I've been letting these guilt inducing thoughts just be and all they're doing is making me depressed.
Guilt is a very common theme with OCD. Rather than feeling guilty and letting it go like most people do, OCD will hold onto it and use it to make you feel like the worst person in the world. I've had this plenty of times where it convinced me that I was a bad person. Just remember everyone makes mistakes, the moment is gone and feeling bad won't change anything, if you are feeling bad about it then it means you are a different person than you were when you did it, and the most important thing to remember is that OCD will use anything to bring you down so just look at the feelings as OCD not actual guilt.
Thank you Studybug, is it possible to combat guilt with positive self talk?. I feel like I need to change my self talk because it's so negative all the time (probably because I'm depressed as well).
@Nate_093 Yes absolutely positive self talk has worked for me. When those feelings come in I tell myself that I am a good person and I don't deserve to feel that way. However, you don't always need to engage with OCD guilt, sometimes I feel it and I don't give it attention because you don't want to end up ruminating on the situation
@Studybug Awesome, that makes sense. Thank you!
Feel guilty for not giving into compulsions like rumination and confessing? I feel guilt for having an intrusive thought, trying to shrug it off or just giving it a few seconds of thought and moving along. This sounds like improvement but I still struggle with the anxiety and the guilt. The shame. I’ll be okay and then I’ll remember I have OCD and my stomach will drop and I just want to curl up and cry.
I’ve been thinking a lot about how OCD changes the way we see ourselves, but I recently realized that I am not my thoughts. Just because a thought pops up doesn’t mean it’s true or that it defines me. I’ve started learning how to see OCD for what it is—just a disorder trying to trick me—and I’ve become stronger in dealing with it. Has anyone else here had a similar realization? How do you handle these thoughts when they show up?
What to do when we feel guilty about our ocd checking and compulsive behaviors?
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