I struggle to understand when a thought is an intuition or intrusive, especially with relationship OCD. My problem is I have a great intuition. There have been many times when I thought something that made me anxious, and said to myself “it’s only OCD”, but then that thought turned out to be true. But there have also been times when it turned out it was just OCD.
I absolutely love this question and so glad i am not the only one. I have been for almost 8 years looking for answers about this and I can somewhat say I have found it! Through a-lot of self reflection, journaling and therapy. An intuition comes like a whisper and like a breeze. OCD becomes so overwhelming that it feels like a storm. I would suggest, writing down what to you might feel is an intuition and then check the outcome. That way you can recognise the pattern through all the loud noises of anxiety. There is so much more that i have learned but I hope this gives you come clarity!
@Miss_OCD Some*
@Miss_OCD I’ll keep this in mind, thank you! :)
@winterdays You’re welcome! I hope you feel better today :)
I have the same problem, it's so frustrating. 🥲
I’d say a thought being intuition or OCD is probably irrelevant. OCD is based on intrusive thoughts that cause distress but this doesn’t necessarily indicate the correctness or incorrectness of a given thought (apart from it usually being overblown). It simply means a thought, correct or not, causes distress in the individual due to not knowing whether it is true or not (aka a desire for certainty and control). Intuition is the subconscious mind applying patterns learned, into the future, making an informed guess and it can also be true or not as there is always room for error. The thing with intuition is that it makes sense to listen to it when it’s a matter of safety. Like, if you see a rundown staircase that doesn’t look too broken but your intuition says it’s a bad idea to use it, it probably is wise to listen to it given this is about your overall safety and security. But in a relationship where there already is safety and security, it makes little difference to know if things will certainly work out or not, in advance, since the outcome likely won’t change. Either way, for your intuition to be applicable in a situation that is not relevant to safety, you’d need some level of real life evidence to back it up otherwise you’d be taking risks that are not grounded in your immediate reality, with merely speculation emerging from intuition. My suggestion would be to try to let things be and embrace uncertainty and trust that you can overcome/move on if things don’t work out in the end, which is the most beneficial approach towards OCD and accept that you won’t know 100% if something is intuition or not and let time to prove you right or wrong. I doubt it would be easier to drastically change the course of a relationship that is ok or good just with the idea of an intuitive thought. If there’s any factual evidence causing said intuition (i.e. consecutive issues in the relationship that make you think twice) then address those within the relationship first and see if your intuition changes at all. I would also add that wanting to gain certainty whether something is intuition or OCD can be an intrusive OCD thought as well due to the attempt on having certainty and the feeling of urgency it creates to make a decision on your relationship.
Good question. There’s an inner knowing that feels different than OCD. It’s calmer. Though, if you realize a truth about your relationship that might lead to a breakup, it can feel stressful, but it lands differently. It’s not as panicky. OCD is like a bad thunderstorm with loud crashes and flashes of light and intuition is more like a small, steady beam of light in the darkness. It doesn’t change over time. And I realize that’s more poetic than practical, but I might be able to help there. Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy has an idea that there’s a core Self amidst various parts. You don’t have to dive deep into IFS to understand the concept of the Self. The 8 C’s of the Self are: Calm Curiosity Clarity Compassion Confidence Courage Creativity Connectedness If you are feeling those qualities, you’re probably in a good place and your intuition can be trusted. It takes time to hone that “inner knowing” of the core Self but it’s really nice to feel confident and clear about things versus asking for lots of opinions or googling answers.
Hi everyone, I wanted to reach out to see if anyone else has experienced something similar with OCD and intrusive thoughts. I’ve been struggling during moments of intimacy because intrusive thoughts, particularly ones related to POCD, feel so ‘sticky’—like they’re all I can picture. Even though I really want the thoughts to go away, they persist, and I’ve been trying not to avoid intimacy because of them. However, that makes me feel like I’m somehow ‘enjoying’ the thoughts or images, which I really dislike. It’s like my brain is playing this awful trick, and it’s leaving me feeling confused and gross. I guess I’m supposed to not let the thoughts bother me and continue as if nothing’s wrong, but I’m scared that by doing so, I’m almost training myself to get off to them or something. This fear makes it so hard to trust myself in those moments, and it’s been overwhelming. If anyone else has been through this, how do you handle it?
Don't panic, you're still the same girl, your OC gives you a lot of intrusive thoughts that aren't you and that disgust you and scare you and that you don't want and that you don't think are true, and your OC gives you the false feelings.Also, don't forget that whatever comes to mind, whatever intrusive thoughts you have and whatever you feel, is all yours.
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.
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