This is one of the main topics of OCD; intrusive thoughts. The heart of how OCD operates. It can fool us with anything. I would like to know what type of intrusive thoughts there are, and do they come in questions or statements? Do they disguise themselves as voices? Are they really that convincing? Do they only create fear and anxiety? If it does create fear and anxiety, is it OCD?
Therapists always say that the thoughts emerge as "what if" statements. In my experience the "what if" happens after the thought. Or you get an intrusive image. or an intrusive movie. They can convince you that the only way to get better is to perform the act. They can convince you that you like it. They only create fear and anxiety, but the fear and anxiety can come across in many different ways.
@Mike1975 Do they come only in the form of what ifs?
@anthonycaronna - No. The come in the form of commands sometimes, or in the form of simply facts. Like for me I always think "Well, I'm a murderer..this is going to happen." In fact, I doubt most OCD fears actually present as "what if" in the brain.
@Mike1975 Can they also create hallucinations?
@anthonycaronna - Yes, in some cases. https://psychcentral.com/ocd/ocd-and-hearing-voices#:~:text=Some%20people%20with%20OCD%20do,d%20like%20to%20get%20help.
@Mike1975 Oh that’s a relief! Besides taking to God at night, there would be times where I would hear or see something and I would get intensely nervous and anxious. I would start sweating and being sick to my stomach. I asked my Mom, she said God would never give or tell you something and it would make you anxious or nervous. You know how OCD is though
@anthonycaronna - Yes, unfortunately I do. Keep fighting.
@Mike1975 I’m keeping my faith in Jesus
@anthonycaronna Are auditory hallucinations you hear through your mind or your ears?
OCD thoughts can come in statements, questions, images, even whole memories. I literally had OCD once make up an entire scenario that, er, NEVER HAPPENED. If you a disproportionate amount of anxiety from the thought or image or whatever, yeah, it’s most likely OCD.
@TPD Anything that would give anxiety or distress? Anything that feels real that causes anxiety is OCD?
@anthonycaronna I mean, sure, not everything. There’s always the chance that what you’re feeling is real and that you’re actually a bad person or whatever. But with OCD, your mind is much more prone to taking simple, fake intrusive thoughts and blowing them out of proportion. So when we get one, we should always treat it as false. Plus, when it comes to intrusive thoughts, the anxiety surrounding them is the real danger. We have to wait for those to fade away before we can tackle the thoughts themselves. That’s why we let them in, don’t argue with them, and eventually they’ll fade away. That’s when you can determine if the thought is real or not. 99% of the time, it won’t be.
@TPD Yeah but my mind and OCD flips out over everything. The thing is, OCD makes me fear and anxious the most is when I feel that these thoughts are false
@anthonycaronna Yeah, that’s valid. We just need to allow the fear in and out. Even when OCD picks on it—especially when OCD picks on it. It’s so much harder than it sounds but eventually your mind will give up and say “there’s no point in drumming up new possibilities if you’re not even going to be scared”.
I find that the intrusive thoughts that hurt me the most are the quiet ones. The ones that, at a glance, can be hard to differentiate from your own thoughts. The louder thoughts are easy to diffuse, to say "maybe, maybe not" to but the quiet ones leave me ruminating for hours trying to figure out if they're mine or OCD's. They leave me feeling disconnected from those around me and even from myself. I can go from happily thinking about marrying my boyfriend in the future to feeling like I have never actually loved him in a matter of minutes all because a thought was a whisper rather than a scream. This is my first post and I'm not sure what I'm looking for in making it. Advice? To know I'm not alone? I guess if there's anything you feel the need to share I'd love to hear it.
I don’t know how to explain this so I’ll do it to the best of my ability. Does anyone experience “co-intrusive” thoughts that try to negatively support the initial intrusive thought? Example: Me: “Thank God I never acted on (scary intrusive thought) & I’m getting better!” Intrusive thought: “What a shame you didn’t” These types of things send me into a spiral. It makes me think that it could lead to a desire instead of staying a fear. Like an intrusive disappointment that I didn’t follow through with the thought? It’s been a long fear/obsession & I think my OCD is trying to trick me that the only satisfaction would be to act on the thought. (I know that’s bs) But IS that why it sends me the negative co-intrusive thoughts? That’s the only explanation that makes sense. Then I wonder is it something else? Am I a grenade waiting to explode??? I simply cannot relax in any moment because I think what’s the use if I’m just going to (xyz) one day?
I have been ruminating on why I have been having intrusive thoughts on a specific topic. Anyone know why? Where do they come from? It freaks me out and makes me think that it came from a real memory (I struggle with false memory OCD)
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