Help

One of the first foundational truths we have to accept in our OCD recovery is this: Those thoughts don’t mean anything. They are just OCD thoughts. Whenever your brain tries to tell you that you actually mean them or want them, you don’t. It’s just the OCD trying to make you miserable. This is true 100% of the time. So don’t take mental energy to try to figure out if these are thoughts or acts that you actually wanted. They are just OCD thoughts. They don’t matter, and they are never really coming from you. They are just OCD thoughts, so put them in the OCD garbage 🗑️ basket. Your brain will always try to tell you that those thoughts mean something about you. Your brain wants you to figure out whether you really want to do those acts or not. It’s a trap. It’s all from the OCD. Don’t try to figure it out or solve it. Don’t try to to understand if you want to do those things or not. It doesn’t matter. The thoughts don’t matter. It’s all just OCD. A good thing to do at this point is to diffuse the situation by training your brain that you just don’t care. (And you don’t have to care because the thoughts don’t mean anything.) When you brain tells you, “You wanted this bad thing to happen. You are a bad person,” then you tell yourself, “Yep, sure, I am a bad person, whatever.” You don’t really have to think this at your core, but when you give your OCD a non-caring answer like that, that OCD loses it’s power. Nathan Peterson talks a lot about this in his videos. I’ll post a link. You’ve got this!!! Your experience is very normal for the OCD realm. You are not alone. But you can change your mindset. Remember, 1.) These are all OCD thoughts, even if your brain says they are coming from you. They are just OCD. One hundred percent of the time. No exceptions. So don’t spend mental energy trying to figure out if you wanted the thoughts or if you want to commit the acts. Don’t try to fix or solve the thoughts at all. 2.). Practice ERP. This means you let the thoughts (however bad they are) rattle around in your brain without trying to fix them, understand them, solve them, etc. Tell yourself you are are not going to do ANYTHING with them. Just let them be there. 3.). You can take away OCD’s edge by responding differently. You can tell yourself, “Yay, I am having intrusive thoughts again. Yeah, sure, I am a bad person. Maybe those thoughts came from me (they didn’t) and maybe not, but I am not going to try to solve this. 💙💙 OCD stinks, but your experience is classic OCD. Therapy can help if you get a good therapist trained in ERP. They will teach you to ignore the thoughts (without fussing over them or fixing them) and then to give a non-caring response to them . 💙💙

Your OCD lies to you. Hang in there! There are people who understand what you are going through!

Watch this video! I think it addresses exactly what you are talking about https://youtu.be/UHCtK_KWiSE?si=qE8tja0Tvddv2EMi

Try to keep in mind that a thought is a thought is a thought, not a threat or an action. It's just a thought. Likewise, the feelings, urges, images, etc., that go with the thought. It's all a part of the thought. A harm thought is no more of a threat than a thought/image of ordering and eating a pizza. Just a thought...