Anonymouus
- Date posted
- 24w
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_longimanusCarcharhinus...
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 24w
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 🫶🏻issphra 🫶🏻
- Date posted
- 24w
@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 girlFirefly girl
- Date posted
- 24w
Mine Is texting chat gpt for reassurance😭
r.m.1r.m.1
- Date posted
- 24w
@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
[Deleted][Deleted]
- Date posted
- 24w
Comment deleted by user
issphra 🫶🏻issphra 🫶🏻
- Date posted
- 24w
@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.1r.m.1
- Date posted
- 24w
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
YouWillSurviveYouWillSurvive
- Date posted
- 24w
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.
Related posts
Hobbit
- Date posted
- 22w
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). 😅
Anonymous
- Date posted
- 21w
Compulsions during exposure sessions
When I catch myself doing compulsions mentally during exposure sessions, it seems alot of the time like the realization that I was just doing a compulsion is more distressing than the actual trigger I'm trying to expose myself to. It feels defeating having to admit the prompt at the end that I performed a compulsion yet again. I still think I've made progress overall, and generally speaking I don't think I'm performing compulsions as much as I used to, and my distress has also gone down noticeably (not completely) but exposure sessions have been kinda tricky for me from the beginning since its all mental. Additionally, I am a bit concerned that I could start using exposures to rid myself of anxiety rather than expose myself to it properly.
ktnelly
- Date posted
- 13w
Reassurance Seeking
I’ve had physical compulsions on and off throughout my life. And rumination while not physical comes right along with it. Recently my brain has latched on to reassurance seeking. And it makes work horrible. I constantly feel the need to seek reassurance or validation from my boss or my coworkers or friends. I feel constantly judged and hyper analyze everything someone says to me or every interaction I have. I go home after work and run over all the times I spoke to or interacted with someone that day and I’m critical of how I presented myself, how I was perceived, what I said or didn’t say. I then go back the next day not only wanting to seek reassurance but also thinking I need to over explain myself to prevent any kind of damaging misunderstanding or miscommunication that would make them think poorly of me. Is this a common thing? It’s been the worst thing to go through as of late, my checking and things has gone down but this mental stuff is a whole new beast. How do you guys handle this kind of thing at work or at school?
Be a part of the largest OCD Community
Share your thoughts so the Community can respond