- Date posted
- 38w
Engaging with thoughts
Have you ever engaged in a thought and only left you more confused?
Have you ever engaged in a thought and only left you more confused?
Of course. This is rumination. You can’t analyze OCD or use logic against it. It will always find something new to throw at you. Even when you think you have the answer, it creates something else. Try your best to not engage and just give neutral responses, and live in the moment.
Thank you!! ❤️🩹I'm having intrusive thoughts like: I want this. And then I think maybe I want this if... And I freak out
@llalala Yes, I deal with the same thoughts and feelings - that I want this, I like this, I will act on this, etc. I completely understand. It doesn’t matter how it’s phrased though, still just thoughts. Still just feelings. I like to say to myself “no amount of analysis will be enough.”
Yep, it leaves me feeling worse. Sometimes I’ll think maybe deep down I like this and I’m just scared of judgement. Sometimes I’ll think maybe it’s okay to think or want this. Sometimes I’ll think it’s not as bad as it seems (to a particularly vile thought). It leaves us feeling confused because it a form of checking + rumination. As if subconsciously you want to make sure you still have morals after you’ve justified something that you know goes against your beliefs (but in that moment you doubt it) Is similar to what you experience?
@isshpra 🫶🏻 Yes!! Exactly. Sometimes I think "is this really wrong?" or "someone did this, are they wrong?". It's scary. It's good to know I'm not alone.
@llalala I’ve found myself almost feeling bad for terrible people on the news. It makes me feel so ashamed but I know it’s not real. It’s just all another form of checking and ruminating. It’s you trying to deal with really big emotions that come from dealing with this disorder. None of it is real no matter how real it feels.
@isshpra 🫶🏻 Yes!!! this happens to me too🥹
Oh yeah. I’ve yelled at it before “wtf do you want from me” and just get crickets… You can’t logic it , argue with it or reason with it. There is always that next “what if”. The key is to acknowledge it’s there but don’t engage. Engaging is rumination which can become a compulsion. Compulsion feeds it. OCD grows and demands more food and now it consumes your day. You can’t push the thought away, you will just think of it more. Think of it like breathing. You breathe automatically until just now when I made you aware that you are breathing and now you might be doing it manually lol. Same thing with thoughts … they are automatic and just happen. We choose to engage with them. Then they become manual. Choose not to engage. Acknowledge it’s there and let it be. It’s tuff when you start but typically becomes more easy as you practice it.
@I’m Batman Thank you!! This is a really good explanation. I was having doubts the other day about thoughts being automatic, because people always say that intrusive thoughts are “the ones you don’t want”, but sometimes my thoughts are so confusing and so many that they seem “normal”.
Yessss
Yes, it’s rumination and it is a compulsion that just makes OCD worse.
Yes my problem is I would be stuck in a loop with those thoughts. It only made things worse for me.
@Anonymous Yes!! The comments here helped me a lot❤️🩹
Yes all the time ;-;
Does anyone else find it hard to let go of an intrusive thought when you can find some irrelevant truth to it that feels relevant? Examples: **“You’re attracted to *insert inappropriate person* (family member/child/animal)”** “But they are pretty/cute/adorable…” **“You think your bf is ugly.”** “Well, his hair did look weird the other day and I’ve taken unflattering photos of him. He *could* be (more fit/better dressed/etc)…” **“What if I actually want bad things to happen to me for attention?”** “Well, I have imagined people comforting me… and sometimes I do not mind when others check in on me.” **“What if I’m actually a bad person deep down?”** “Well, I have made mistakes before… and sometimes I do not immediately feel guilty.” **“What if I secretly want to be with someone else?”** “I have thought about what it would be like to date different people.” **“You wanted (family member/child/anyone else) to find you sexy”** “Well, I don’t want to be seen as ugly, and a compliment is flattering.” —— It’s such a skillful distortion at times that I don’t even realize things are twisted, and I genuinely believe the thought, causing me to panic so intensely. Only later, I look back and have small epiphanies where I realize it wasn’t at all what I thought. Anyone else?
I already made a post about this but I have theory over what might’ve happened because I can’t really stop freaking out about how much like me it felt. My boyfriend told me his cousin grabbed his other cousin’s girlfriend’s boob while drunk. Later, I started imagining it happening to me, with my boyfriend getting defensive (I love drama-filled moments in stories). Then, I thought, “Why couldn’t it have been me?” and got scared. I know I like attention, and I’m worried that’s why it felt so real. I almost felt excited. I’m wondering if it was just an intrusive thought or if my brain was mixing up the daydreaming feeling with that. Later that night, I started thinking about how I could position myself to make it more likely to happen, and I immediately felt horror. I’m into things like CNC, and I’m wondering if my brain got confused, mixing the daydreaming excitement with that preference, which is why it felt so real? I don’t know. I’m feeling scared because it genuinely felt like me both times. Has anyone else experienced this kind of brain confusion? Is that even possible?
So I think what's been so specifically tough for me (idk if this is what others go through with the real event stuff) is that ... Well I basically have this mental system... - Something has been dealt with -- which means it's "ok" it's "acceptable" assessment of ___. Rumination to "problem solve" with the intrusive thought. - CONSTANT inquiries to Challenge that previous assessment conclusion i.e. "no that hasn't actually been deal with, you didn't think about ____ or this other angle or this other new thing related to it" etc. Idk how tf you fix that with ERP? Idk up from down at this point Is the "system" OCD? Should people not try to problem solve (even though it's actually rumination)? Should I not engage with the "challenges?" HOW TF does Peace of Mind actually happen when the answers seem to be "you must be delusional" or "you must leave (significant) things un-dealt with / open ended" Like, what's that actual solution here? Hopefully this made sense. Thanks
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