My ocd them has gotten worse and I’m trying my hardest to not look for reassurance. Why does my mind play these tricks on me that I’m saying my thoughts out loud????? I’m trying my hardest to ignore it but it’s making me depressed. When I’m ignoring it my brain will go to “everybody will talk about you” “you said something bad” “you said it out loud and when you’ll live a terrible life”. I don’t know what to do anymore
Another technique that I have found to be helpful in addition to ignoring is reframing the thoughts. By this, when an intrusive thought/feeling pops up, I say something along the line of “that’s not me, it’s my OCD (or you can even give it a nickname like “butthead, the enemy, etc”)”. This helps to separate me (true values, beliefs, etc.) from the intrusive thoughts/feelings and makes it a little bit easier to ignore them over time.
Okay Thank you!!! You think that would help if I think I’m saying it out loud? Especially if the intrusive thought is morally disgusting? I know I’m not my ocd I think I’m having trouble with thinking it’s being said out loud and that being perceived as me
@Anonymous I think so, yeah. Doesn’t hurt to try :) you could throw some sarcasm at it like “oh haha there ocd goes again! nice try convincing me that I said the thoughts out loud, but I’m just simply louder than you” and then after that use thought diffusion/more reframing
@coolbeans!!!!!!!! - Ohhh okay, thank you. I know I’m asking for a lot, I don’t have any help for ocd right now but how do I reframe from the ocd? Like “oh there’s my ocd again funny” and just ignore it? Like that
@Anonymous Don’t ignore it, just let them sit there but do not try to challenge/fight them. Imagine your thoughts are objects in a room, and you are simply watching thru the window. You aren’t trying to fix the objects or make them disappear—you are just sitting with them. Bc it’s true that the thoughts will always be there, and that’s ok. But the goal here is not to make them disappear, but rather learn how to cope with them existing alongside us.
@coolbeans!!!!!!!! You can use distractions too while passively observing the thought to get your mind off of it and do something else, like take a warm shower/watch a show/read/write/make art etc. Remember you’re not ignoring it entirely, but you are simply letting it exist in the background.
@coolbeans!!!!!!!! - Thank you so much, I will be sure to do this. Will this same method work for my other theme? Usually when a disturbing imagine pop up or the same thoughts pop up I think I’m texting them or sending them so I would have to check every social media app to make sure I didn’t post or say anything. It’s gotten to the point where I screen record my phone but that still doesn’t work🤦🏽♀️I think I’m afraid if I don’t check it then it’ll become true
Short term: I think non-engagement responses would help. When you get a thought like “everyone will talk about you” you respond with “maybe!” Or “so what!” Or “that would suck, oh well”. It’s worth a try. You could also try meditation, and also double check - have you been taking care of yourself, like eating enough and sleeping enough? Sometimes ocd gets worse when we are sleep deprived or hungry.
I’ve been working over time at my job to make bills, I’m also a college student so I’m stressed about that. I don’t really have people to lean on so I think my ocd attacks my trauma and stress.
A technique I would use in this situation would be fact checking. Ask yourself, what is the evidence this can be true? What is the evidence this can be false? More than likely, you will find more evidence supporting the false claim than the true claim. Intrusive thoughts suck but learning to check your facts helped me a lot, and I hope it helps you too. :)
@yoooff That’s true, fact checking can lead into reassurance seeking, but it can be useful if you use it in a “small” way (idk sorry idk how to phrase it 😭). In that case you could use distraction or thought diffusion (leaves on a stream) instead. It takes practice, but you can get there
@yoooff Yippee 🫂❤️ /gen
@coolbeans!!!!!!!! - 😂well thank you anyway, it’s nice to know you were quick enough to respond and help me. It makes me feel less alone
@Anonymous of course, I’m always happy to help!! seeing other people struggle with their ocd makes me remember my own struggles. although my struggles are still not over and I don’t think they ever truly will be, I want to tell people that they are not their ocd, and as corny as it sounds, everything will be okay. ❤️
@coolbeans!!!!!!!! - It’s not corny, a lot of comments I see on here need to be told they’re not their OCD. OCD is very mind controlling I think hearing that brings some sense back to reality
I’ve been dealing with a really bad flare up the last 2 weeks and i’ve been dealing with ocd on and off for years. I was finally feeling better today, So of course my ocd decided to bring up an old intrusive thought that was really upsetting and now i’m stuck on it again. The reason why I struggle so much to conquer my ocd is because I developed ocd as postpartum so my ocd targets my kids, the ones that mean everything to me. The intrusive thoughts range from mild to really disturbing. While I know deep down the intrusive thoughts aren’t true or me, the ocd makes it feel SO real and true which makes me feel like I HAVE to disprove the thoughts and with confidence but the ocd won’t let me. It also makes me question analyze and judge everything I do. It’s an endless cycle of pain and I just want to be a mom without ocd telling me i’m a horrible person all day every day. 😪
My ocd is going off the hinges. I can’t stop thinking God is angry at me and hates me and it’s weird. And can’t stop thinking everyone hates me. I can’t stop thinking that no matter what I try I’ll never get better. This sucks
i’m having a full on panic attack, i never used to be like this, what tf is happening to me, why am i like this, i’m so convinced i’m a horrible person and i deserve to be shut out forever because of my thoughts, i’m tired of struggling with harm ocd, i’m scared that because i have mental health issues i’m gonna end up ki!!ing someone someday or end up on the news, when i was at work earlier i kept thinking “how easy would it be to ki!! someone and get away with it” someone help, i don’t feel normal, am i crazy?… 😭😭i know that with ocd you’re not supposed to have reassurance and you have to be “okay” with the situation but.. how am i supposed to be okay with feeling like i could hurt someone…
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