m6
- Date posted
- 1y
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Is pushing away intrusive thoughts a compulsion?
BriocheCDBriocheCD
- Date posted
- 1y
It definitely is! I’m no expert but I think it falls under pure OCD. That’s the main way my OCD manifests. For me, it looks like this; I get a terrible intrusive thought, start to feel anxious and like me thinking about it will make it a reality, to make sure it doesn’t become a reality I “explode” the thought in my head. I quite literally imagine the thought balling up into sort of a star-form of energy or whatever, and then the star explodes. I do it a lot and it’s one of the more mentally distressing forms for me because sometimes if I don’t do it right I have to do it over again just to be sure. Now I’m learning that agitates the thought even more, pushing them away isn’t the solution, living with them is.
scaredandtiredscaredandtired
- Date posted
- 1y
i wonder this too and i think it is. It's scary tho cuz they're intrusive for a reason and i dont want to think of themmmmm lol
OrganicallyCreativeDreamerOrganicallyC...
- Date posted
- 1y
Okay, so this is really meta and I vibe with that. To be serious though, I believe it can be. Like sometimes when I’m really trying to shake a compulsion or stop myself from thinking about or doing something that’s related to a compulsion or intrusive thoughts, I find myself obsessively rejecting the thought or action. Like I might have to do something with my body or with my mind to “properly” push the thoughts away so that they will be “gone.” Sometimes I almost imagine myself physically escaping the thoughts. I don’t know how to explain what that looks like in my head, but yeah. So basically to answer your question, I think yes, very much so.
Related posts
Ok_Paint758
- Date posted
- 25w
Is telling myself "it's just ocd" a compulsion?
When I was a child, before I knew this was OCD, I struggled with constant "magical thinking" compulsions (don't step on the crack or mom's back will actually break, etc). When I later learned this was OCD, it almost immediately solved it. Any time I got a magical thought, I would say to myself "that's just an OCD thought. ignore it." and it just stopped coming! Like seriously it fixed the magical thinking stuff forever. But of course the OCD has resurfaced in other ways. So naturally, I've tried to use the same strategy since I had so much success with it previously. But I wonder sometimes if telling myself "that's just OCD" is almost functioning as a reassurance compulsion? I hate how meta this gets. For example, I have ROCD that comes and goes. So sometimes I'll get a thought like "what if i'm still in love with my ex?" and then I'll tell myself "that's obviously just an ROCD thought" and will feel relief, almost like reassurance. But it comes back. So is telling myself that it's OCD a reassurance compulsion ?? It's just so weird because it worked so perfectly as a kid with the magical thinking thing.
Estelle_11
- Date posted
- 15w
What is correct ERP for mental compulsions?
If your mind purposely keeps fetching a repetitive word, and you’re afraid it will never go away, is the ERP therapy to STOP the mind from doing it? Or ALLOW the mind to do it, and not react? Also, is repeating a word in your head a mental compulsion? Or would that be the obsession? So then what’s the compulsion? Posting on here? Lol
God’s Love
- Date posted
- 7w
Question
Please how can an intrusive thought be distinguished from our own thoughts ?
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