How to avoid mental compulsions

My biggest is ruminating, i talk and talk and over share with myself and others Like what are some exposures?

Carcharhinus...

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 9w

Hi! Ive been where both of you were at. My therapist taught me to observe the thought like its a leaf on a stream then let it ride down the river bend. It also helps to respond with: "I have OCD, of COURSE id think something like that" to acknowledge the thought but not actually give it any real power. If the rumination is too strong, id suggest looking into psychiatry for medication for help. Mine were strong too and that was the route I took, but regardless of being on medication or not, those responses are the key to not letting ocd run your life. I wish you the best of luck! Youve got this i know you do!

issphra 🫶🏻

Date posted: 9w

@Carcharhinus_longimanus Oh my goodness that sounds like an amazing response to thoughts. I’m bookmarking this. I second the medication if it feels too heavy! It took some meds for me to calm my thoughts down (including compulsive ones)

Firefly girl

Date posted: 9w

Mine Is texting chat gpt for reassurance😭

r.m.1

Date posted: 9w

@Chronicoverthinker I’ve recently fallen into doing this way too much. Even if it’s just simply wanting to know the answer to something. I need to learn I don’t need to know it all to be okay

OCDWarr1or

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 9w

Rumination is often out of our control. We can respond to it appropriately, and sometimes we do choose to, but often it just happens and goes away as we deal with the fears.

issphra 🫶🏻

Date posted: 9w

@HopeForToday I really like your reply. Accepting that it’s out of our control a lot of the time helps with the guilt of not “trying hard enough” to get better because you seem to escape rumination. I needed to see this, thank you for replying to this post.

r.m.1

Date posted: 9w

Rumination is a compulsion. Maybe the initial seconds of refocusing on the problem and trying to figure it out is out of your control (because your mind is going to drift to so many things on its own)…. BUT allowing the rumination to continue and engaging with the problem/fear again is 100% in your control. You can stop your train of thought- acknowledge “I’m ruminating on this. This is OCD trying to get me to pay attention again” and then you actively focus on something else. You’re not trying to avoid the obsession- you’re avoiding “dwelling” on it which is what rumination is. Identifying that I was actually ruminating (a compulsion) instead of just “allowing my thoughts to be there” was the reason my intrusive thoughts kept growing stronger. When thoughts FIRST pop in your mind- they are intrusive…. Anything after that you may entertain or engage with is rumination. If you can identify when you’re ruminating and stop it, your anxiety will be so much less over time

YouWillSurvive

Date posted: 9w

Most of the time you can't even "choose" to not ruminate because that "choosing" is just further ruminating. Of course you can "choose" to not ruminating, it just looks different than what you might think. "Choosing" not to ruminate is actually choosing to do MORE and get involved with life, because the only way "not to ruminate" is to just keep on living and making choices based upon your chosen values.

issphra 🫶🏻

Date posted: 23w

OMG how you control your mental compulsions?!?!?!

I cannot for the life of me stop ruminating or checking how I feel about thoughts or focusing on thoughts or creating more thoughts. I feel like I’m losing my mind. I want to scream. I try not to ruminate about the thoughts, but trying not to just makes me think about them more. I try not to check, but somehow, I still check. I want to let a thought sit in the background, but the more I try not to focus on it, the more I end up focusing on it. I don’t want the thought to expand because that feels like engaging with it, but I can’t just stop it from expanding. It feels impossible. People keep saying I’m in control of my compulsions, and maybe that’s true for the physical ones. But when it comes to the mental compulsions, I swear I have no control. It feels like I’m missing something that everyone else seems to have, like there’s some tool they’re using that I don’t have. Controlling mental compulsions has never felt possible for me. I’m starting to fear them. And every time someone says I’m in control and can just choose not to do them, I end up beating myself up even more when they happen. Or when I *choose* I guess. I don’t know anymore. If this is my fault, if I’m responsible for this, then what does that make me? I feel like a monster. I am at my wits’ end. How am I supposed to control mental compulsions when it feels like they control me? I freak out when they happen. They don’t bring me relief, they just make me panic. I want it to stop so bad.

Gmoki

Date posted: 10w

How to be alone with your thoughts besides ERP?

Hi - just for some context, I have OCD and ADHD. I hate bringing this up, but with these diagnoses, when intertwined, there is ALWAYS a thought. I never stop thinking. This is really hard, especially because I feel like I always need to be talking to someone. Whether it’s my friends or family, talking to people brings me down to earth from certain kinds of thought spirals. However, when I’m alone it is the hardest. When my friends don’t reply I have this compulsion to text again or I need to constantly check my notifications so that I have none left to check. But then to them or new people I talk to, this behavior probably comes across as overwhelming or too much. I’m trying to control it and use erp, but also, I have my moments where I’m just vunerable and give into the compulsion. It’s genuinely so embarassing and maybe not as big a deal as I’m making it out to be but, how do I manage? And how do I relax?

Hobbit

Date posted: 7w

Not making ERP a compulsion?

Anyone have any tips on not making ERP a compulsion? I find myself sometimes wanting to do exposures in order to make myself feel better (feel my anxiety go down and feel relief). 😅

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How to avoid mental compulsions

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