Realizing That Thoughts Are Just Thoughts.

I’ve been thinking a lot about how OCD changes the way we see ourselves, but I recently realized that I am not my thoughts. Just because a thought pops up doesn’t mean it’s true or that it defines me. I’ve started learning how to see OCD for what it is—just a disorder trying to trick me—and I’ve become stronger in dealing with it. Has anyone else here had a similar realization? How do you handle these thoughts when they show up?

Username: Patrick McGrathPatrick McGrath

User type: Therapist

Date posted: 4d ago

Amazing!!! I often tell this story - I have treated OCD so much that I can no longer take the stairs without contemplating harm to all of those on the stairs with me. I have helped so many people with this fear that I have now absorbed the thoughts about it. So, if you are on a staircase or an escalator with me, I will be thinking of pushing you down it. However, I do not think I will do it. So far, I have not. I do not have a 100% guarantee that I will not, but I feel rather confident about it, and that is good enough for me.

Username: RayanswaidRayanswaid

Date posted: 3d ago

@Patrick McGrath Wow, Patrick! Your response truly resonates with me. It’s fascinating how you’ve helped so many people to the point that you’ve internalized the very thoughts they struggle with—yet you handle them with confidence and acceptance. Your perspective highlights something profound: it’s not about eliminating intrusive thoughts but learning to coexist with them without fear. That shift in mindset has been a game-changer for me. Thank you for sharing your insight—it reinforces that uncertainty is okay and that we don’t need absolute guarantees to trust ourselves. Your words make me feel even stronger in this journey. Really grateful for your response!

Username: Wolfram Wolfram

Date posted: 4d ago

That's good progress. I wouldn't say the disorder is trying to trick you, it tends to be born from a strong belief whether mentally, emotionally or physically stored in the body, I believe ocd is the counterweight trying to balance you out. Strong values or beliefs tend to have an opposing side, as if reality itself is working against itself. If you have a concept of good, then bad will only naturally exist. If you have a concept of attachment, then detachment will only naturally exist. It's OK to have the thoughts, but it's knowing and choosing whether you wish to simply be an observer, or to interact, along with the "how" to do that which shapes your reality and subsequently everything around you. I don't feel ocd is trying to trick us, merely highlight we have already been tricked. It does it in scary ways but try to read between the lines. I've been looking into shadow work recently by Carl jung and it really resonates with me. I think ocd is our subconscious crying for help but we don't have the skills in order to listen properly.

Username: RayanswaidRayanswaid

Date posted: 4d ago

@Wolfram 👍🏻👍🏻

Username: RayanswaidRayanswaid

Date posted: 4d ago

@Wolfram Can u explain the shadow work more?

Username: Wolfram Wolfram

Date posted: 4d ago

@Rayanswaid In short, anything that triggers a response in you is tied to something in your subconscious mind. The more reactive you are, the more unresolved stuff you have going on, and the more likely you're vulnerable to stuff like manipulation etc. You can retrain it by dealing with your conscious side through erp, or other methods by delving into your subconscious states and finding what's there and dealing with that. I like the saying "as above, so below". Doesn't matter which one you work on really, as long as you work on it, the other will sort itself out. I did a meditation that I'm going to look into further as it brought up memories (respressed or forgotten) that created behavioural patterns in me that were 15-20 years old in very vivid ways. The subconscious is very real and is definitely trying to talk with us, we just need to find a way to communicate with it properly. People with ocd tend to be very bad at this 😅 So this next bit is going to be controversial, but I feel as if the very values we feel very strongly about in what ever way they manifest themselves are the cause of our suffering. The sense of duality in our ocd themes is the issue. Our strong attraction to certain values are what cause our strong repulsion towards their counterparts. The intensity of one feeling is why we feel the intensity of another. The illusion that they are separated is the flaw, the glitch in our thinking. It's our mind trying to communicate for help, not trick us.

Username: vincenzokeezvincenzokeez

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 4d ago

They are only your thoughts when it comes from a place of self

Username: anonymous_2103

Date posted: 23w ago

am i the only one?

recently my intrusive thoughts haven’t been bothering me much, unless i’m busy doing nothing. i suffer from SO-OCD. whenever i think yes, these thoughts don’t bother me anymore, i’m doing great, i then work myself up like ‘well your thoughts are obviously true then otherwise they would make you upset and uncomfortable’. when i get the thoughts they do still make me feel this way but also not as strong. I do then panic and think i’m something i’m not, despite knowing the truth. also anyone know why they get worse when i’m bored or not doing anything? 😢

Username: landonw

Date posted: 18w ago

Why Does It Seem So Real?

Lately, I have been able to manage my OCD thoughts kind of. They’re still there but I kind of push them away? I know that pushing them away doesn’t help but it’s been my only way to survive. I get scared often about things like clothes or my voice or how I present myself. I get scared that I want to dress differently or act differently and it scares me. I know for a fact I don’t want boobs or anything like that, but my mind constantly is like “What if?” and it kills me. It has ruined everything for me. Sometimes I can’t even look in the mirror because I get scared that I won’t like what I see. I’ve also been afraid because I find myself relating to many female characters, or I want to act like them. Like Pearl from Steven Universe. I want to be graceful and elegant like her, but I don’t want to be a girl you know? My mind constantly pushes these thoughts of what if and images. Because I am not like most guys. Which I know is okay. It just freaks me out. It makes me question every aspect of my being. I know who I am, but I know that the only way to move forward is to accept that maybe I don’t.. It’s just a lot.

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.

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Realizing That Thoughts Are Just Thoughts.

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