- Date posted
- 1y
- Date posted
- 1y
There’s a few ways: - acknowledge that the thought is there, accept it and let it pass. Don’t dwell on it, don’t analyze it, don’t ruminate on it. Just say either out loud or in your head “i understand that <insert intrusive thought here> I accept that the thought is here, and I’m choosing to let it pass” then move on to a new thought. - a very uncomfortable, but HIGHLY effective technique used in ERP is to lean INTO the thought instead of away from it. For example, let’s say you have health concern OCD, and you have an intrusive thought that says “maybe I have a brain tumor”, this method of leaning into it would be to tell yourself “ I probably have a brain tumor” over and over and over again. The more we do this, the more our brain and body get accustomed to the thought, and the less it bothers us. The important part is to keep saying the ERP technique until you no longer feel the anxiety about the thought. Sometimes it takes 10 minutes, sometimes 2 hours. This is very hard to do for some people because it forces you to lean INTO the fear instead of hiding from it. - brain dumps - this is when you take a notebook and dump out everything that your stressing about. Go into as much detail as you want, get everything out, scream in all caps, cry onto the paper, ask questions, answer questions, etc. - meditations - there are great OCD meditation videos on this woman’s YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/@myocdcoach?feature=shared She also has a full course available for OCD recovery. You can either buy it for lifetime access, or a weekly membership price on her website.
- Date posted
- 1y
Maybe. But maybe not. I don’t need any more certainty than I already have.
Related posts
- Date posted
- 24w
This is hard to admit, but I’ve been struggling with intrusive thoughts where the central theme is racism. I don’t use racial slurs but my brain worries that I have said something that hurts or offends someone and now I find myself analyzing every social interaction.
- Date posted
- 22w
How do I stop letting my intrusive thoughts control me? Ive been having them for almost a year, once I graduated, become more isolated and lost more friends they've become worse. I feel like when I had friends and was still going to school they weren't as bad probably because I was living more so I didn't take them as seriously. But now that Im home all day and alone they've gotten worse and it feels like they're starting to control my life. Theres times where Im on social media and eventually I forget about them but then when I realize I forgot about them they come back. Sometimes the thought just lingers it doesn't even just pop in my head and go away. I can't tell anyone in my family because they'd judge me for the thoughts and they don't really believe in mental illnesses. I also sometimes think of what other people may think of me if they knew the thoughts I had and it makes it worse. How do I stop letting these thoughts control/trigger me and stop reacting or feeling some type of way about them.
- User type
- Therapist
- Date posted
- 19w
What's a piece of advice you give when someone has constantly intrusive thoughts and ruminations that won't stop? Interested to see what you tell others.....more on this when I see some replies!!!
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