Intrusive thoughts

Hello everyone. As i’m sure some of you have seen i have intrusive thoughts about school shootings and im wondering what i need to do in this particular situation. when i go with my mom to pick up my family members from school i get really anxious and the intrusive thoughts get worse such as how i would do that and where in the schools because i went to these schools as well and its absolutely terrifying. i know that i need to be exposed to going around schools and such to over come this but its really hard, is that what ERP feels like and you just sit with that discomfort? im kind of confused on the concept of ERP and what i need to do in this particular situation. i dont know anything about guns or ever have an intention to act on these thoughts or follow through with them in any way but it seems like they keep popping up and making things 10x worse then the day before.

Harm OCD

TexasOCD41

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 50w

First, do you have a therapist? They would be the best person to work on this with. But for the sake of giving you something to start with. So OCD sends your brain junk mail. EVERYONE in the world gets intrusive thoughts of all sorts of wild things. I was in a hardware store yesterday and saw a HUGE wrench and my first thought was " wow that would make a great murder weapon" but I laughed because I don't have Harm OCD so I attached no meaning to that thought. You have attached meaning to your thoughts because they don't line up with who you believe you are from a moral and values standpoint. The theme of OCD really is not that important. the treatment is the same for all. you (E)expose yourself to the thing or thought that scares your and you (P)revent yourself form (R)responding with an action that would typically give you a feeling of relief. So yes, you could walk around the school to expose yourself, but if your new at this, that might be a bit high up on the fear hierarchy and might overwhelm you. You need to start with perhaps just write down on a piece of paper " what if I am a school shooter" " what if I (insert all your feared actions)". Set a timer for 10 min and read this script out loud and let the anxiety build up inside you and do NOTHING to make it reduce. don't seek reassurance, don't google, don't overanalyze your thoughts. just sit with " maybe I am, maybe I'm not." in you will habituate yourself to that anxiety and what happens is when you stop doing compulsive actions, the fear obsessions lessen in time and eventually lose power. you will likely build up to walking around a school to do an exposure but you want to go from least distress to most distressing when working on ERP. NOCDs website is FULL of good info on this. browse around and see if you can at least do a script and 10 minuets and identify your compulsions so you can make sure to avoid doing them.

elro.elephant

Date posted: 24w

Can someone give me advice?

I’m not too sure where to begin so some stuff may be a bit scattered. I’d like to start with the fact that I’m not sure if I just have anxiety or if it is actually OCD. I’ve been dealing with these intrusive thoughts for as long as I can remember. TRIGGER WARNING NEXT PARAGRAPH Stuff like “what if my teacher just raped me in the middle of class” or “what if I pulled all my veins at.” Those are some of the more graphic and violent things but I do get lesser things like “what if I imagined that whole conversation” when I know for a fact I did experience that exact memory/conversation. I don’t like these thoughts and I don’t ever want to think them. If anyone has any advice it would be greatly appreciated. I’m only 16 and I want to be sure about this stuff before I ask my parents to get me diagnosed.

cows12465

Date posted: 24w

suic. ocd advice?

so I need to get back into ERP, but it’s so hard to manage these thoughts and learn to deal with them. like I swear my mind has to make everything about it. Like every time I clean my room, my mind’s like yup make sure it’s clean so when your parents find you, or something so stupid like if I get a headache, my mind convinces me that I like the pain and that that’s why I get my thoughts because I actually want to do it. It’s so exhausting. Because I know I would never want to take my life and I treasure my life so why does it do it to me? It’s hard to comprehend the fact of these thoughts too because I don’t know many people with this exact theme. It’s such a scary feeling. And I’m constantly questioning whether I have actual depression or if it’s just my OCD. Yes I have been diagnosed with suicidal OCD, but my mind still tries to convince me otherwise. I just don’t know how to let these just sit and pass without panicking.

storres19

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 23w

Script writing/going along with the thought

I can’t come to terms with script writing my worst fears coming true. Especially when they are in relation to harm. Those thoughts attack my son and those that I hold the closet to my heart. It honestly makes my anxiety so bad just thinking about it. Or going along with a thought like “Oh yeah I’m totally going to do that”. It just in turn makes me feel like I’m agreeing with the thought. I’m having so much conflicting feelings/thoughts in terms of ERP at this point.

Harm OCD

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Intrusive thoughts

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