ObsessivePenguin
- Date posted
- 2y
Struggling
I’m struggling with intrusive images. How do they work for other people? The flashes are getting to me
katecat56katecat56
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 2y
I also have intrusive images. Something that makes OCD recovery a bit easier for me is treating every unwanted thought the same way whether it’s a question, image or phrase. Let it exist. don’t resist it, but also don’t focus on removing it. just let it be.
ObsessivePenguinObsessivePen...
- Date posted
- 2y
@katecat56 For some reason images feel different and harder to ignore for me. Why is that do you think? They are so immersive
ObsessivePenguinObsessivePen...
- Date posted
- 2y
@katecat56 Does my last comment make sense x
katecat56katecat56
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 2y
@ObsessivePenguin yeah no i totally get it that happens for me too, it takes practice but i like to remember that ocd recovery isn’t necessarily about getting rid of the thought or image, but lessening it’s impact on you and by nature it becomes less frequent. so i just allow the thought to be there no matter how immersive and try my best to engage with what is actually around me. at first it feels very unnatural but after a while it starts to become second nature.
ObsessivePenguinObsessivePen...
- Date posted
- 2y
@katecat56 I’m going to do this :) but seeing both the image and reality at the same time. Is that ok?
Dee CDee C
- Date posted
- 2y
OCD will latch onto anything. For me at one time, amongst other things, it was the image of a white sheet (of paper, blanket, whatever). I couldn’t get it out of my mind. With the right therapy and ERP, it’s just another memory. Hope you’re getting help. Stay strong!!!
ObsessivePenguinObsessivePen...
- Date posted
- 2y
@Dee C Was this a memory or a thought? Like did the sheet come from a past experience or not? Mine can be completely made up
Dee CDee C
- Date posted
- 2y
@ObsessivePenguin It was just a thought that kept coming up from nowhere. No attachment to any prior event or memory. One of my compulsions was to try & figure it out. I’ve stopped that after learning it’s OCD baiting me into the rabbit hole. Stay strong!!!
ObsessivePenguinObsessivePen...
- Date posted
- 2y
@Dee C Just like me :) what happens when it pops up? Does it ever blend with the background. What I mean is, If I’m staring at the back of a chair I can see both my mental image and the chair as it kinda blends? So hard to explain
Dee CDee C
- Date posted
- 2y
I couldn’t get it out of my head and I was doing all the wrong things trying to get rid of it. Learning ERP helped me to not engage with it and just let it be like any other thought. I understand about the images blending…like in movie scenes partially fading/mixing into the next. I get that from time to time when I’m daydreaming. When I catch myself, I’ll usually say ‘cool effects’ and I choose to refocus my attention to the task at hand.
ObsessivePenguinObsessivePen...
- Date posted
- 2y
@Dee C But like, if you’re looking at something - can the two ever blend like I’m saying? So if staring at a bus seat then seeing a video of you harming someone. There’s a moment of overlap?
Dee CDee C
- Date posted
- 2y
@Dee C I’m not an expert and in my journey I’ve learned that I cannot control what comes to my mind (thoughts, images, etc.) but I can control whether to respond. If it’s something intrusive, I choose to let it be and watch it float away in a nonjudgmental manner. Practicing what I’ve learned from ERP and mindfulness meditation has helped me. I won’t offer you assurance but please know that you are not alone. And perhaps consider getting help from someone specially trained in ocd therapy or reach out to the NOCD Care Team available through this app. Hoping this helps you!!!
Someone99Someone99
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 2y
My intrusive thoughts are triggered by memories. The memory may be considered an image, the intrusive thoughts are more like conversations.
ObsessivePenguinObsessivePen...
- Date posted
- 2y
@Mike in PA Are they ever imaginary completely and not memories?
Someone99Someone99
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 2y
@ObsessivePenguin For me, no, I'm real event and pure o among other things. Real event is the biggest struggle for me. I understand false memory OCD is a real thing many here struggle with.
Related posts
annemily51
- Date posted
- 23w
How should I react to my intrusive thoughts/images
A lot of times I feel like I truly don’t have OCD but then I’m very humbled when I get gruesome images and thoughts of killing my family. I just have a hard time not letting the thoughts stick and try to find the meaning of it. I just feel so stuck with my intrusive thoughts/images. They bring on so many sensations that feel real. I’m just not sure how I should be reacting to them.
ivefailed.
- Date posted
- 16w
intrusive or not
are they truly intrusive thoughts or am i thinking and creating automatically graphic images that i dont want to think? i think it happens because it's too easy once you're anxious abt it. i dont enjoy it. i just saw a trigger and had a graphic disturbing se&ual image in my head.
ivefailed.
- Date posted
- 15w
feel like im purposefully thinking intrusive image
i saw a trigger. and immediately imagined something se&ual that i really dislike and dont want. and now i feel horrible, because even if i didnt like it, i still imagined it. yes, it was an egodystonic intrusive image, but the moment i saw the trigger i knew i was going to have an intrusive image, i could have blocked it, i could have tried, but instead it happened automatically, the same type of se&ual image that is the same specific kind for any trigger, just now i was thinking abt it and it immediately appeared in my head. i dont know how much control do i have in it, because as i think abt it, it gets automatically visualized, but i'm the one who still gives the imput. i wonder how much responsibility do I have in this. because the unwanted image is sudden and automatic, but is like im conceding, im allowing it, like giving it up. it's some kind of self sabotage, it's not ocd creating the intrusive images, it's me imagining automatically and immediately once I see a threat what i don't want to think because i'm so used to, to sabotage myself and it feels horrible, especially if the trigger is a real person. it's like self sabotage. im not receiving passivly, im somehow actively thinking it automatically, i don't know how to explain it. i think abt how can't look at their parents eyes because they would be disgusted by me. no parent would be okay if someone had such images of their triggers even though it was intrusive and unwanted. and that feels defeating.
Be a part of the largest OCD Community
Share your thoughts so the Community can respond