Sometimes i dont understand ocd

Cause for some the problem is that they react to the trigger with anxiety and they have to learn to not react with that, cause the anxiety makes the obsession, but then theres the other exemple when the anxiety is a normal response and it shows that you dont like that thing or its not in your value system, so the anxiety is actually a helping sign. And you deal with both differently. And trying to figure out which one you currently experiencing is a trap, cause it can become a compulsion of figuring it out. Im thinking about this since I spoke with my friend about my ocd and some of my harm thoughts and she said she has those too but she accept it like a part of the human, cause she view it like deep inside poeple are like animals and if you lose control then we can behave like them. So the anxiety is actually showing me that i realize its bad, but the thoughts are still me,i should try to disregard cause thats trying to push it away, i should accept that we are like this, everyone has these we just have to control it. Well i accepted her opinion but for me this is a very distorted view of us, i dont think these harm thoughts have to do anything with our nature or that deeply we are like animals... in that sense ocd is actually good and i shouldnt recover from it...

hen7

Date posted: 2y

I also don’t share the “we are animals that’s why we think these things” worldview. But to each their own. If it helps her it helps her. All I know is everyone has intrusive thoughts, but I see them more as a warning sign of our brains that something potentially dangerous is near and it’s trying to protect us (in a really weird and unhelpful way). That’s why the thoughts are often around the things most important to us. You want to be a good person, someone that people feel good being around. Or you love someone dearly etc. And that’s why you get harm thoughts when you see a knife for example. Brain says: knife = danger = I must protect!! = make an image of something I want to protect and the knife = stress in someone with ocd = compulsion (like avoiding the knife) = re-enforcement of the fear = I must protect = more images of my loved ones and knifes = more stress = more compulsions etc etc etc. It’s totally normal to have intrusive thoughts, everyone has these. But someone with OCD gets stressed out by the thoughts and starts thinking about them. The brain thinks: oooh, this is important! And starts feeding you more of the same.

PRIV8

Date posted: 2y

I agree with you, also i can't ignore something, i noticed you say that thoughts are around the things that are important for us like we want to be a good person, SOMEONE THAT PEOPLE FEEL GOOD BEING AROUND. - so this is normal? Ive learned that if you want to be a good person just because other people like they will give you back and you want them to feel good around you, thats an egoist thing. Cause the moment you dont get back the love you expected them to give you back, you dont want to be good anymore(this happened to me). Also wanting others to feel good around you will make you think how good person you are in an egoist way.(this happened to mr as well and i hated it)

hen7

Date posted: 2y

@PRIV8 My feeling is that you’re way overthinking your motives for doing things and drawing conclusions about what kind of a person you are based on this. And then you’re latching on to specific things people say to help you, which is all classic ocd symptoms. You could try actively stop ruminating about this issue as exposure and response prevention. I’m not going to agree or disagree with your statements since that will only feed the ocd discussion in your mind. Stop trying to figure this out, there’ll always be arguments for and against what you’re saying.

PRIV8

Date posted: 2y

*correction: I should'nt try to disregard, cause thats like pushing them away

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