So today I got pulled over for running a stop sign. The police man was not very nice. All went normal got a ticket and went away. I immediately started worrying about what If I would have said the wrong thing to the cop and gotten arrested. What if I get in that situation again. Ruminating over this non stop.
What's ifs are a super common problem for those with OCD What's the answer in treatment? "What's if.... well maybe this could happen, or maybe not. I can't predict the future so best not to dwell on it"
*what if
Accept uncertainty over the situation and move on. Dwelling on it will never produce an answer that is good enough.
I don’t know if you’re getting counseling for ocd or not. I have been with NOCD for two years and it has been a huge help. No matter what the category is the only thing ocd produces is doubt - the “what if”. With ocd we need to let our brain know that the messages it is sending us is irrelevant. So when the anxiety hits - we need to let the anxiety be there and not do the compulsion to lower it. But let it go down on its own. It will go down. This is called ERP- Exposer and Response Prevention. As we do this the brain learns that it doesn’t need to send those messages anymore. It takes work but it is so worth it. OCD is treatable but we have to do the homework. You can say “No” to ocd 👍.
How do yall handle intrusive thoughts !? I never realized that was a thing I think I’ve been dealing with this sense I was in elementary school I remember getting on the bus and had the the worry my mom was gonna get in an accident and it’s just gone from there
I'm having the hardest time right now with my own ruminating negative thoughts that may or may not possibly come true. I fear the worst and replay what that looks like in my head over and over. The best I can do is my best and wait for the horror to end. I want to cry, but can't. I'm scared and alone in my head. My anxiety is extreme. What should I do in the meantime while I'm going through this? How can I minimize or stop the way I'm feeling? Please, I need help.
I’m really struggling right now. My mind is racing and I’m panicking about the content that I watched in the past because I don’t have a way to ‘prove’ that it was safe and consensual. I stupidly caved in and googled “what happens if an accidentally saw illegal porn” and I ended up making my anxiety so much worse. What if the images I saw in the past had underage people in them? Am I going to jail? Will my ip address be tracked? My brain is making all sorts of scenarios up and they feel so real. At this point I don’t know if I’m a bad person or not, I just feel like something terrible is about to happen. Although I know I’d never intentionally look for that kind of stuff there’s still a chance that I could have seen things without realising, and I actually don’t know what to do. I’m in total panic mode
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