- Date posted
- 32w ago
Rumination won’t stop
What do you all do when u have tried your tools and techniques and the panic has lasted for hours????
What do you all do when u have tried your tools and techniques and the panic has lasted for hours????
So I have had OCD for years and am currently in a bit of a relapse , if I were to think back to how I managed to recover (for over 2 years) it’s the wanting it to stop that is making it worse. You have to allow yourself to think about whatever it is you’re worried about. I know ultimately we all want it to go away but it won’t unless you can sit comfortably with it. My therapist once described it as the thought being someone who has knocked on your door, if you leave it out there it’s only going to keep knocking, you have to let them in
@indigo156 Thank you for your comment.
Rumination can only increase your anxiety, nothing else. It cannot protect you, or make you safe. Sit down and slowly write down the problem, logically examine it and really ask yourself is this something to be afraid of? Is it a question that even has an answer? Then see if you can just let it go. Trying to solve the problem is the actual problem. Whatever it is you are worried about is not the problem. You can cope with anything. Good luck
@Malisimo Thank you so very much
I basically have to find a really silly way to agree with the thoughts. Like, “freak yeah dude! I’m so stoked about that happening! I can’t wait to _____!” Usually it’s pretty graphic and gory, and it sucks, but I try to find comedies that reflect the kind of humor that’s needed to respond differently to the content. I have harm OCD, and so I’ll try to incorporate Dale and Tucker versus evil, Chad from SNL and other SNL bits into the intrusive thoughts, and it works pretty well. I’ve also been trying to act super confused in response to the thoughts. Like, what do you mean by I might contaminate them?… What does that even mean? So I should cough in their face, is that what you mean? Stuff like that. I also have been referring to my OCD as Geoffrey from Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Sweet, can’t wait to contaminate everything, so Geoffrey can still have a job! Can’t wait to put things out of order, so Geoffrey can rearrange it. Can’t wait to cheat, so that Geoffrey can be my mistress. You can’t be cheating correctly unless you’re cheating with the butler, right?
@Courage2Continue Thanks. Has it ever been so relentless that this doesn’t work?
@Alb123 Yeah, it has. That’s usually when I realized I’m doing a compulsion somewhere else, and I just haven’t caught on yet. Especially if there is an entire theme I haven’t managed yet, I’ll backslide in every area. Some common compulsions that I realize I’m doing is choosing to push back against the thoughts and emotions because I want them to go away, or I’m hyper focusing on problem solving through the thoughts. Here, I’ll post an article for this, it’s all the different kinds of rumination that can happen, and how to let go of them
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.
Advice needed please: Has anybody ever been in a situation where something traumatic or heartbreaking was happening in their life and struggled with rumination? I know there is like a normal amount that you should process something and cry it out but I don’t know that it is conducive to anything to do that on and off for hours? Wouldn’t it at a certain point be considered unhelpful rumination? And if so how does one stop? Because I’m going through something so hurtful and confusing that I don’t know how to stop thinking about it and the usual distractions don’t work for very long. And idk how important this is but it just happened today so it’s very fresh which makes it even harder to not think about and “figure out” why x, y, z happened. Goodness, I’m sorry if I’m weird or a baby
I cannot for the life of me stop ruminating or checking how I feel about thoughts or focusing on thoughts or creating more thoughts. I feel like I’m losing my mind. I want to scream. I try not to ruminate about the thoughts, but trying not to just makes me think about them more. I try not to check, but somehow, I still check. I want to let a thought sit in the background, but the more I try not to focus on it, the more I end up focusing on it. I don’t want the thought to expand because that feels like engaging with it, but I can’t just stop it from expanding. It feels impossible. People keep saying I’m in control of my compulsions, and maybe that’s true for the physical ones. But when it comes to the mental compulsions, I swear I have no control. It feels like I’m missing something that everyone else seems to have, like there’s some tool they’re using that I don’t have. Controlling mental compulsions has never felt possible for me. I’m starting to fear them. And every time someone says I’m in control and can just choose not to do them, I end up beating myself up even more when they happen. Or when I *choose* I guess. I don’t know anymore. If this is my fault, if I’m responsible for this, then what does that make me? I feel like a monster. I am at my wits’ end. How am I supposed to control mental compulsions when it feels like they control me? I freak out when they happen. They don’t bring me relief, they just make me panic. I want it to stop so bad.
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