What are some examples of mental compulsions and how can you identify them in yourself? I am struggling with what counts as a mental compulsion since it’s not as black and white as a physical one.
For me it is ruminating on thoughts! Checking if this thought feels right of this thought feels wrong. And checking my body and thoughts and emotions when I think about different things or see people. I struggle with rocd so I check for feelings ALL the time!
@Girl101 this!! thank you ❤️
Mine are repeated words/phrases thought intentionally to get rid of another “bad” thought/mental image. The purpose of the repetitive thought is key, not necessarily what words are used. Examples: - “It’s ok, it’s ok, it’s ok” OR “you’re ok” over and over - “God is with me” used specifically for car accident images (rooted in PTSD) - “I will live and not die” used for self harm images (taught by my CBT therapist who didn’t recognize it was OCD) - Forcing the bad mental image away and replacing it with a good image (eg. picturing a stop sign every time)
@enlightinlove aren’t compulsions supposed to be avoided though? this is where i get confused because these seem to be good things to tell yourself to help with intrusive thoughts
@Anonymous I wasn’t sure either, esp the one for car accident PTSD.. But that’s where the scrupulous/morality OCD type can come in with scriptures, prayers, and things that seem to be good things to think, but the purpose of the thought is off. It’s the difference between thinking it as an affirmation to just remind/motivate yourself vs thinking it to neutralize a “bad” thought. From what I’m reading, OCD is about one’s relationship with their thoughts, not what they’re thinking. The fact that we’re labeling the thought as “bad” and feeling the need to do something about the thought is the “problem.” I meet with my ERP therapist Monday so I’ll get more clarity.
@enlightinlove thanks so much for ur comment! it’s hard to figure out but we got this ❤️
My NOCD therapist (who has been awesome) and I are both struggling to identify ways in which I can practice exposure therapy while in-session, because the vast majority of my OCD symptoms are mental compulsions. For example: indecision and inability to commit to a choice; seeking reassurance on decisions from friends and family; mental review of things that have just happened / social situations; over-thinking and catastrophizing. I also have some other hallmark symptoms (contamination fears, moral scrupulosity, etc) but those tend to be inconsistent too. It’s hard to really practice these during my sessions because so many are in the moment and fleeting. By the time I join my session they are no longer active. How can we establish exposure responses during my sessions, if most of my OCD involves mental rumination and overthinking patterns/thought loops that only occur “in the moments - rather than specific or consistent compulsions (such as hand washing)?
My boyfriend is staying the weekend at his parents house for his moms birthday and my ocd was quiet for most of the day and then I had the thought of my off has been quiet so I must not actually love my boyfriend which then just kept spiraling. I did resist compulsions to the best of my ability. I think there’s some mental ones I do as well but idk what they are. Anyway how do you guys resist mental compulsions what could some mental compulsions be?
So I've been working to address my OCD for about a month now. So far, I haven't been working on it with a therapist and have instead been trying to create my own exposure exercises. The primary obsession I'm working on is the fear that I'm somehow flawed or invalid on a fundamental level. The best way I can describe it it is that its similar to the feeling you get when you have germ OCD and you feel contaminated, except my whole existence and being feels contaminated, so to speak. I've identified a list of triggers, and a list of compulsions (pretty much all mental) that I've noticed myself performing. I started out by doing imaginal exposures and scripts where I'd write out triggering fictional scenarios and read them over and over, combined with mindfulness techniques to focus on my breath and bring myself back to the present when I noticed myself performing compulsions mentally. At first it worked to some extent, but eventually I started to feel like the stories I was writing about this obsession weren't triggering any anxiety anymore or a very low level. So I stopped reading them and focused solely on improving my ability to stay present and identifying compulsions as I perform them, and disengaging. Now, I'm at the point where it seems like my general anxiety levels throughout the day are lower, and the triggers I've identified are producing noticeably less anxiety. But that makes me wonder if somehow I'm just secretly doing mental compulsions without knowing it? Is only a month of rather disorganized and unstructured ERP enough to produce this much improvement? To avoid giving me re-assurance, I'd appreciate if you guys don't directly answer those questions, maybe just provide some possibilities or your own experiences so I can get a better idea of where I'm at. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks!
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