does anyone else get really vivid intrusive thoughts of the person who you are talking to (or close to physically) just randomly striking you violently? i keep getting them when i’m just talking to my dad one on one in the car & i get a flash of intrusive thoughts of him grabbing my hair & shoving my face in the dashboard. it gets me so anxious :’)
i personally don't get these but i get what you mean! that sounds super scary
Hey there, thank you for the vulnerability here. I can see how that would be very scary in the moment. Unfortunately OCD will bring about anything to try to get our attention. In case you're interested in ideas on how to respond to these images, I've attached a few resources below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riKw294RZMw&t=63s https://www.treatmyocd.com/what-is-ocd/info/ocd-stats-and-science/i-get-disturbing-images-in-my-head-is-it-ocd
This is just typical OCD. I used to get thoughts of throwing people off a banister. It’s normal. Just remember, it’s important not to “fight off” or “fix” the thoughts. Just let them run freely through your head. This can be uncomfortable, but it’s the only way to beat OCD.
Hey I get these but with a different theme and it feels sometimes like I’m getting surprised or a jolt they are extremely vivid and not fun.
I've had similar experiences. I think it's pretty common. I'm sorry you're going through this right now!
Hello Maxine, I truly appreciate that you shared these intrusive thoughts here. OCD will infiltrate areas of our lives that are most in line with our values and lead us to doubt reality. I'd encourage you to consider the ways that you have been tempted to react in these scenarios. We engage in compulsive behaviors as a way to neutralize scary thoughts/imagery. When we are ready, ERP is a great way to learn how to tolerate the distress these intrusive thoughts/images bring about while avoiding rescuing ourselves with compulsions. I wish you all the best!!
Hello, I thank you for sharing your experiences as it can be helpful for other people to read that others are going through similar things as them. Vivid thoughts and images are a big part of having OCD. I like to describe OCD as manipulative because it finds sneaking ways of getting us to question what we know to be true. OCD can get you questioning yourself, your thoughts and others. The important part is trying to take note of how you are responding to these thoughts because the way you respond can turn into compulsions and the best way to beat OCD is to resist compulsions and lean into the thoughts.
I’m having a very bad evening with my intrusive thoughts. I was doing really good dealing with them but tonight one hit me hard. I’ve been having a lot of different intrusive thoughts but I’ll have one occasionally about hurting my mom or my dog who I love and they’re the only family I have in my life. They’re my world. I was helping my mom put away the dishes and I had the big kitchen knife in my hand and my intrusive thought was you could stab your mom. And then my brain said I had a twitch in my hand and that meant I wanted to do it. Let me just say that I wouldn’t hurt a fly. I actually caught a fly in a glass and put it outside instead of killing it this evening before this intrusive thought happened. I’m such a gentle and compassionate and caring person and these thoughts instantly cause me to have a panic attack. And I have no one to talk to them about. I know they’re hard for my mom to hear and I don’t want to be any more of a burden than I already am. I do desperately want to tell her and have her reassure me that I’m not crazy or a psycho. Then my thoughts wander to if your hand did flinch could you be a psychopath. Is hurting someone in you. I know it’s not but I feel like my mind is out to get me and hurt me. I’m working so hard and I thought I was doing so good but I need to know why I have these thoughts. They’re not ok. I need someone to help me make sense of why. I know we aren’t supposed to ruminate but I shouldn’t have thoughts like this about people I love and care about the most in the world.
I struggle so bad with intrusive thoughts. They can be so bad that I'll cry because I KNOW that's not how I feel or want to do. (Too embarrassed to say what they're about) I'll constantly try to figure out why I have them, and constantly figure out what they mean, causing me to constantly circle around and around. I had to get on anxeity meds, which helped a little but the thoughts still happen. How do you help yourself with this? How do you know that you're just not some physcopath? 😅
Anyone ever have a conversation and think you said a intrusive thoughts out loud. Then you panic and go over and over the convo , reviewing it and remembering people's reactions,to see if they noticed your thoughts or read your lips? Sometimes it feels like I have to look away when talking as the thoughts could be shouted out if we make eye contact .such a powerful erge to say thoughts out load . . It's like the more you fight off the thoughts the louder they want to be . You can feel your self bubbling up inside . Then you get one and boom ,you think you've said it out load.
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