Is telling myself "it's just ocd" a compulsion?

When I was a child, before I knew this was OCD, I struggled with constant "magical thinking" compulsions (don't step on the crack or mom's back will actually break, etc). When I later learned this was OCD, it almost immediately solved it. Any time I got a magical thought, I would say to myself "that's just an OCD thought. ignore it." and it just stopped coming! Like seriously it fixed the magical thinking stuff forever. But of course the OCD has resurfaced in other ways. So naturally, I've tried to use the same strategy since I had so much success with it previously. But I wonder sometimes if telling myself "that's just OCD" is almost functioning as a reassurance compulsion? I hate how meta this gets. For example, I have ROCD that comes and goes. So sometimes I'll get a thought like "what if i'm still in love with my ex?" and then I'll tell myself "that's obviously just an ROCD thought" and will feel relief, almost like reassurance. But it comes back. So is telling myself that it's OCD a reassurance compulsion ?? It's just so weird because it worked so perfectly as a kid with the magical thinking thing.

Username: misererimisereri

Date posted: 6d ago

Same I get u I got the same, like what am I supposed to do?

Username: NicaNica

Date posted: 5d ago

Yes, it definitely can be. Are you seeing a specialist to talk to this topic about and get the help you need?

Username: OCD Helping HandOCD Helping ...

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 5d ago

Hey! I totally get this. To answer your overall question, saying "It's just OCD" seems fine to me. That's assuming you're only telling yourself "It's just OCD" and are then immediately moving on/not engaging with the thought any further. Because on the flip side, if you keep saying "It's just OCD", but you don't believe that and proceed to mentally check and ask yourself over and over again if it is or isn't OCD, then I'd say you're starting to get into unhelpful reassurance territory. Moving on, the other big piece to look at here is discernment: how do we discern an OCD thought from a regular thought? I've struggled with this myself and this is where I've landed: OCD thoughts are characterized as thoughts that come up CONSTANTLY; they infer a need to be solved IMMEDIATELY; they are often out of line with our VALUES; they give off the sensation that they are LIFE OR DEATH; etc. Regular old thoughts -- though they can have elements of what I just mentioned -- are far less ego-distonic, aggressive, frequent, or "world ending". This is all just a helpful differentiation to keep in in your back pocket. Moving on, I do, however, think your comment -- "That's obviously just an ROCD thought" -- IS a form of reassurance. The reason being you are engaging with the thought about your ex; you aren't acknowledging it and letting it go as you would be when you say "This is just OCD". One is reassuring yourself and one is actively not engaging with the thought. One perpetuates OCD, the other defeats OCD... I hope this all makes sense but, if you need further clarity or wanna keep talking, let me know!

Username: Andrea WellsAndrea Wells

Date posted: 3d ago

It certainly could be a compulsion! There is a fine line between a helpful thought like that with OCD, and when it crosses over into compulsion territory. And yeah, OCD really gets SO meta sometimes. It's confusing. When I'm not sure if something I do is a compulsion or something that is genuinely helpful, I talk about it with my ERP therapist and she helps me figure it out! Love having that expert perspective.

Username: Bruce MBruce M

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 3d ago

Magical thinking, or any type of thought that can be considered to be intrusive, is not usually solved long term by simply stating that it is just OCD. That is one level of self talk which can be somewhat helpful, but I think a much better approach is to do it the Dr. Grayson way, which is to accept uncertainty. Maybe that thought does hold some truth, maybe not. I am going to live with uncertainty. Look up Grayson's book Freedom From Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. It is one of the very best books for this illness. He is also very friendly with NOCD and they approve his work. There are also lots of good tips on the Patrick McGrath Wednesday night webinar on the NOCD page on YouTube. Or really any NOCD webinar can be helpful. The webinars with McGrath and Grayson together are really helpful. Go ahead and check out some of the videos. In addition you can contact NOCD for a free 15 minute call to discuss further. They can offer more detail than I can here. https://www.treatmyocd.com/about-us/contact-us

Username: FairyWithaKnife

Date posted: 17w ago

I just don't know

I've gotten diagnosed with OCD and I'm in therapy. But I'm worried that I don't have OCD/that I got misdiagnosed. And recently I'm worried that I've just gotten myself into a habit of thinking of dirty minded or just plain old terrible things after I see/hear certain things because I feel like I need to prove I have OCD or else I'm faking(sometimes this goes away). Or that I'm just mimicking symptoms of ocd to cope with real problems I may have and that im just really deep into denial. I don't know...I'm just so tired. I mean, what if I really am what I think I am and this is my brains only way of coping? I don't even really feel anything towards most of the thoughts anymore either I just know they go against my values and I don't want them. I don't know if that's because I'm so mentally exhausted, I just don't care, or that the thoughts are true and I'm comfortable with them.

Username: totallynotjade_

Date posted: 10w ago

My schizo ocd came back.

I was doing fine with my schizophrenia ocd (fear of developing schizophrenia/psychosis), mostly because I was obsessing on something else for a bit, but something caused it to come back. I was at work yesterday and checked out a customer, he didn’t know English very well and was very quiet. However, when he was leaving, he said “thank you” loudly while walking out and I told him to have a good night, but since I couldn’t see his face nor his mouth move, I worried that I hallucinated the whole thing and he in reality didn’t say anything while he was leaving. The voice that said it sounded a bit different, however it could’ve just been since I had only heard him talk quietly before. I’m still wondering if I hallucinated this and it freaks me out, causing my ocd to make me believe I’m developing schizophrenia/psychosis or losing my mind again. I also always read that the difference between those with schizophrenia/psychosis is those with OCD have insight and know their thoughts are crazy, but then that leads me down a spiral if what if I DONT think those thoughts are crazy? What if I actually believe them and become delusional/lack insight? So a statement that would be helpful otherwise made it worse for me. One night I had a panic attack super bad because I couldn’t convince myself I didn’t believe I was in a dream and hallucinating. Any advice on beating these constant thoughts and how to cope with it? :/

Username: issphra 🫶🏻

Date posted: 5w ago

Help, Meta OCD/POCD?

I’ve been feeling the urge to avoid intimacy or purposefully engage (for reassurance that I won’t give into a compulsion) because of intrusive thoughts and fear that I’ll “check/test” my reactions. My OCD is making me so scared that I’ll purposefully think of a child and try to see if I like it. It’s so complicated but I guess I’m mentally checking if I would mentally check during intimacy. I’ve even envisioned myself checking and it’s making me so nauseous. I know it’s a compulsion like any other but the sound of “touching yourself to the thought of a child” sounds atrocious and vile. I’m terrified I’ll automatically start checking next time I am being intimate. I truly feel so worried. If anyone has gone through something similar, I’d appreciate hearing your experience. Or if anyone has any advice?

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Is telling myself "it's just ocd" a compulsion?

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