- Date posted
- 5y
- Date posted
- 5y
A very on point question, actually. - I will answer with this. How SHOULD you feel about dog barking behind a fence while you are walking? Yes - Exactly like that. I bet your brain wouldn't even register it as important. Yes, exactly like that. A dog barking at you behind a fence is as irrelevant as an intrusive thought. Actually that is the difference between us and people without OCD - we take our thoughts way too seriously. The right attitude is an attitude of 'irrelevance'. How should YOU feel about a stinky fart produced by your body? Exactly like that.
- Date posted
- 5y
However, the main issue here is the need you feel to have a specific attitude towards your thoughts. Since we don't have control over our feelings, it is useless trying to feel a certain way. Judging thoughts is the root of all suffering.
- Date posted
- 5y
Just let the thought go it's hard but try tp
- Date posted
- 5y
I feel the same, the "agreeing with them" part makes me feel uncomfortable. So most of the time I just outright dismiss it with sarcasm. If the thought says something like, "You just can't admit it yourself that you're a <insert obsession>. You're just in denial and using OCD as an excuse!" I can respond with something like, "So, is that your idea of a horror story? Come up with something better next time if you want me to care." or something like that.
- Date posted
- 5y
Thank you all for your answers! Fernando you helped me gain insight into my problem,and I thank you for that. You really helped me.
- Date posted
- 5y
Don't acknowledged them but also don't try to force them away or replace them with other thoughts. Go about your business and like Fernando said, it's like dogs barking in the background
- Date posted
- 5y
I agree with Fernando,but you can also agree with them if you can, you say it doesn't feel right but unfortunately that's how you get better from ocd,by allowing yourself to not "feel right". In the end the most important is not to do anything that makes you feel better or safer about your thoughts as that's a compulsion.
- Date posted
- 5y
I see 'agreeing' with the thoughts more as a technique (which should be used carefully) rather than a default state of 'attitude' for ALL thoughts. Intrusive or non-intrusive thoughts, they are all the same thing. We are the ones that give them meaning with our judgement.
- Date posted
- 5y
Indeed agreeing is a part of erp that helps treat a symptom, that's why i said if she can because offcource doing erp alone is a little risky if you have severe ocd.
- Date posted
- 5y
Personally agreeing worked great because it obviously caused heavy distress and my brain habituated to it so know it doesn't bother me so much
- Date posted
- 5y
to
- Date posted
- 5y
Thank you both. I understand that not escaping from the discomfort helps us get better. It's just so counterintuitive. I can't go through life thinking or accepting that I did bad things when I haven't done them. It lessens my self esteem and self confidence :(
Related posts
- Date posted
- 25w
I’m sharing this bc I need advice or even support from anyone who can relate. If you can’t relate and don’t think you’ll say anything helpful or kind pls don’t comment anything… I’ve been struggling with somethings that’s making me question myself. There has been moments while self pleasuring when I get intrusive thoughts, in those moments it feels like I’m enjoying or even self pleasuring myself bc of the thought. Right after I immediately have an anxiety attack and my HEART drops bc it feels terrible I feel like a disgusting monster :( ppl have told me I haven’t done a bad bc of how intense my guilt and panic are but I keep thinking that MAYBE I made a horrible decision in the moment and the guilt is just realising that it’s just wrong this doesn’t make sense to me because I’ve always told myself that I would never act on this in 1 million years and I’ve been known that these things are wrong so I’m just like constantly questioning myself these feelings and exact same situation has happened two times already I even promised myself that I wouldn’t act on anything beforehand and yeah, I still felt like I did act on my thought during my alone time I’m genuinely convinced that I’m a horrible and it’s even got into the point where I don’t wanna be here anymore and I don’t even think this is my OCD :( tbh
- Date posted
- 23w
I struggle so bad with intrusive thoughts. They can be so bad that I'll cry because I KNOW that's not how I feel or want to do. (Too embarrassed to say what they're about) I'll constantly try to figure out why I have them, and constantly figure out what they mean, causing me to constantly circle around and around. I had to get on anxeity meds, which helped a little but the thoughts still happen. How do you help yourself with this? How do you know that you're just not some physcopath? 😅
- Date posted
- 20w
OK, this might sound really dumb, but when you guys get intrusive thoughts, do they just come once and then go away? I’ve heard that repeatedly thinking about an intrusive thought is considered ‘checking,’ but it doesn’t feel like I have any control over how many times it comes up in my head. It’s not like I’m trying to check anything—it just keeps showing up, almost like it’s terrorizing me every time. I can’t seem to stop it from looping, stop remembering it, or prevent it from coming up. Every time it does, I feel horrified, and I already know it’s going to horrify me. I don’t think I’m actively trying to see if my feelings have changed, so is this still considered checking? How do other people get an intrusive thought and just move on? Doesn’t it pop up a million times for them too? I always thought that was normal, but now I’m hearing this could be a compulsion, and I feel really confused, scared, and lost. Is this why my OCD feels so extreme? Because I really don’t feel like I can control how many times the thought pops up.
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