Username: McDucko

Date posted: 1y ago

Intrusive Thoughts - "Do I have them?"

Something that really trips people up is understanding what intrusive thoughts are. What I see suggested a lot is that intrusive thoughts are just unwanted, unpleasant thoughts. This however isn't really enough criteria to separate the thoughts of someone who suffers from OCD and someone who doesn't as everyone gets unwanted thoughts. Intrusive, obsessive thoughts can be defined by how disruptive they are to your daily life. It's not that people without OCD live without taking precautions, but the amount of time someone with OCD spends compulsing over the thought is very disruptive to their everyday routine. For example: a person without OCD will acknowledge the danger the sun possesses and they will probably put on sunblock to protect themselves. They can do it well enough is a short amount of time to go in with their day and don't really think much about it afterwards. However, someone with OCD may spend hours obsessing over making sure every part of them which can be burned is protected. They may even check to make sure they're not burning as the day goes on. Compulsive behaviors (checking, testing, researching, asking for opinions/reassurance) will take up the majority of their time where someone without OCD will have more "free time" to go about their day. There is no relief for the OCD sufferer in knowing they did good enough. They need to make 100% sure they won't burn in this very specific example. I hope this makes sense for those of you who ask this question frequently as I believe it is very important to understand. Many people deny to themselves that they have this disorder because they can't define these thoughts properly and they get stuck on whether or not their thoughts constitute as being intrusive. Remember: just because you feel you are in distress doesn't mean there's actually any danger.

Username: ApplecoreApplecore

Date posted: 1y ago

That's a very good way of putting it.

Username: ocd_junkieocd_junkie

Date posted: 1y ago

love this, very insightful! intrusive thoughts related to OCD are sooooo tricky. sometimes i get intrusive thoughts about not having intrusive thoughts 😩 like my brain will be like “what if your thoughts aren’t intrusive? what if you aren’t having enough intrusive thoughts for someone who has OCD? you could be faking OCD if you are lying about your thoughts being intrusive!!”

Username: McDuckoMcDucko

Date posted: 1y ago

Yeah, that thought process is very easy to catch if you don't know how it works and what to look for. A majority of the posts I see on this app start with "is it a compulsion if..." because it genuinely is difficult at times to tell. Since asking is a form of reassurance the person with OCD needs to have a good understanding of this so they avoid making themselves worse.

Username: ocd_junkieocd_junkie

Date posted: 1y ago

@McDucko very true, OCD will put up a fight though even if you can identify its patterns (at least from my experience). like my OCD will come up with a new counter every time. i used to think i had to “win” the battle with OCD, i didn’t realize that i needed to lay down my arms and leave it ve

Username: girlyteengirlgirlyteengirl

Date posted: 1y ago

Its so time consuming and disrupts your entire day 😭

Username: McDuckoMcDucko

Date posted: 1y ago

Right, but it doesn't have to. Think about the above. If you know you are inclined to feel fear then the best thing you can do is do things despite the fear. OCD really requires that you "catalogue" your behaviors so you can tell when you're performing a compulsion.

Username: girlyteengirlgirlyteengirl

Date posted: 1y ago

@McDucko Thank you! This helped a lot

Username: Someone99Someone99

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 1y ago

How about driving down the highway with the GPS telling me to get off the exit to the right in 1000feet and I'm putting my left turn signal on to get in the passing lane, and literally driving through red lights.

Username: McDuckoMcDucko

Date posted: 1y ago

The memory/thought of doing that or actually doing that?

Username: Someone99Someone99

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 1y ago

@McDucko Actually doing that because of major intrusive thoughts. My wife was having a got in the passenger seat.

Username: McDuckoMcDucko

Date posted: 1y ago

@Mike in PA I have no idea. That would be a more advanced inquiry that a professional would need to analyze.

Username: Someone99Someone99

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 1y ago

That's why I'm here my friend. :-)

Username: Morpheus 75Morpheus 75

Date posted: 1y ago

I'd say you do this because you're so afraid that something bad could happen like being hit by another car or hitting someone's car or a pedestrian or hurting yourself or people you care about, that you do it anyway because you have the urge to make sure nothing would happen. But then you feel guilty and realize that something bad could have happened. You end up being stuck in a circle of : - Obssession: "if I do that, can something bad happen?!?!"; - Compulsion : "It can't be can it?! I can't bear the possibility that an accident can happen if I do it so I must do it to prove myself it's safe !" - and Guilt: "why did I do that it was dangerous I feel awful am I a monster, oh man!! " Am I right?

Username: hannie

Date posted: 5y ago

What is the difference between delusional thoughts and intrusive ones? Genuinely just curious. My OCD theme has been about becoming schizophrenic. I googled for my compulsion which I know I shouldn’t of but I keep getting scared that I don’t have intrusive thoughts and that it’s something more. I think deep down I know it’s just anxiety but still I’m struggling. Any reply would be really appreciated! Thank you guys?

Username: Jher55

Date posted: 1y ago

Just intrusive thoughts??

I noticed ocd is about having intrusive thoughts. But does OCD come in any other way? If so can y’all give me examples?

Username: Nica

Date posted: 1y ago

What Are Intrusive Thoughts? Dr. Martin Seif

Every highly anxious person has to cope with intrusive thoughts. Intrusive thoughts are frightening thoughts about what might happen to you or someone you care about, or what you might do to yourself or another person. They seem to come from outside of your control, and their content feels alien and threatening. For some people, intrusive thoughts are part and parcel of panic or intense anxiety. In these types of intrusive thoughts, it feels like the thoughts come about as a result of the anxiety, and they function to add more fear to the anxiety you are already experiencing. The intrusive thoughts keep the anxiety going, and maintain the fear-producing spiral. So, for example, you might think, “what if I have a heart attack?” in the midst of an anxiety attack. You are already in the altered state of consciousness that I call anxious thinking, and your thoughts feel likely to happen. However, there is another class of intrusive thoughts that I call intrusive obsessive thoughts. These thoughts seem to come from out of nowhere, arrive with a distressing whoosh, and cause a great deal of anxiety. The content of intrusive obsessive thoughts almost always focus on sexual or violent images. Here are typical examples of intrusive obsessive thoughts: “Killing someone. Torturing a pet animal. Stabbing a child. Throwing someone (or yourself) out of a window. Jumping onto a train track as the train comes into the station. Molesting a child. Raping someone. Taking off your clothes in public.” This is not a complete list, but it gives you a good feeling of the content of these thoughts. People who experience intrusive obsessive thoughts are afraid that they might commit the acts they picture in their mind. They might imagine hurting someone or committing an act of sexual violation. Intrusive obsessive thoughts can be very explicit, and most people are embarrassed and frightened of them. There are a number of myths about intrusive obsessive thoughts. The greatest myth is that having thoughts of a sexual or violent nature mean that you want to do the things that come into your mind.This is not true. You do not want to do the things that enter your mind when you have intrusive obsessive thoughts. In fact, the opposite is true. People with intrusive obsessive thoughts are gentle and non-violent. FULL ARTICLE: https://drmartinseif.com/intrusive-thoughts/

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Intrusive Thoughts - "Do I have them?"

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