how do i get rid of these thoughts?

sometimes when i’m doing something like going to the bathroom, taking a shower, changing clothes, i get a thought that is like “what if im not actually in my bathroom and im in school right now in front of anyone but i just can’t see them” i hope that makes sense. i just keep having these thoughts and recently ive been afraid while taking showers and going to the bathroom. writing this out it sounds so stupid but i just don’t know how to stop thinking these things. and when i do think these things i just tell myself multiple times that i am real and i am actually in my bathroom, not in public. but does anyone know a way to make this stop? also i dont know if there is a word for this, and if anyone can relate that also might have these thoughts please let me know im not alone!

hanysm@gmail...

Date posted: 43w

Hi, this post might help you understand what is going on with you. https://app.treatmyocd.com/community/posts/2043944

Zoë_84

Date posted: 43w

Those thoughts are not stupid at all. OCD comes up with intrusive thoughts that make no sense at all, but they still feel real and cause a lot of anxiety. I don't know how much you know about how OCD works, so I'll just explain the part which is important to answer your question: OCD bring up the doubt, that you are maybe not in your bathroom, but somewhere else, where getting undressed would be inacceptable. By engaging with this thoughts in the manner you do, i.e. thinking/saying "I'm real and I'm actually in my bathroom, not in public... I'm real and I'm actually in my bathroom, not in public... I'm real and I'm actually in my bathroom, not in public..." you tell your brain, that these intrusive thoughts and doubts are important and do matter, so your brain keeps bringing them to your attention more and more, which increases your anxiety, which again tells your brain, that these thoughts/doubts are important, which again leads your brain to bring these thoughts/doubts up more frequently, turning it in to a vicious cycle. What we are supposed to do is to think/say "Maybe I'm in my bathroom, maybe I'm not in my bathroom. Who knows?" and go about what we want to do, in your case using the bathroom. By reacting to your intrusive thoughts/doubts like that, you tell your brain, that those thoughts/doubts don't really matter and your brain will bring them to your attention less and less. That being said, getting help from a therapist who is specialized in treating OCD with ERP is the best thing you can do.

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.

Anonymous

Date posted: 24w

Intrusive thoughts

I’ve had many types of OCD, but I gained control over them over the years, but a new one has started to arise. Do y’all ever have scary thoughts about something you might do? Recently I’ll get extremely uncomfortable no matter where I am because I can’t stop thinking about “what if I screamed really loud in my lecture class tomorrow?” And other stupid stuff like that. Also, this one is kind of funny, but sometimes when I use the bathroom I pause before because I think “what if I’m actually in class right now?” I also cannot control the thoughts about past embarrassing moments. I know everyone does, but I will become visibly uncomfortable and harp on something from years ago. This happens all throughout the day. Also, does anyone else do things that resemble tics when you get these thoughts. Like when they happen I’ll curse under my breath or like jerk my head a little bit. When I’m in public I keep it low key but when I’m alone sometimes I’ll physically get up and pace or something when those thoughts happen. Just curious if anyone has had these experiences

lalalalal166373

Date posted: 23w

please someone help me

i’m so scared that my teacher knows about my OCD thoughts because once for therapy i had to write a diary and i did this on a school system stupidly which had documents that are private but can be flagged for mentions of suicide/self harm etc, but i didn’t write about that but what if what i did write about flagged up and she saw my thoughts also im annoyed because everytime i go in the bathroom at school i have to flick the light switch three times or i will fail my exams and if someone is in there i don’t do it but keep a count of how many overdue flicks of the light switch then go in the toilet when no one is in there and do it im also so stressed - what if its not ocd? that’s all i can think about at the moment

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