sometimes my brain is thinking of every thought you could have all at once and it makes me insane and i keep telling myself in my head to shut up and i try to stop thinking but it doesn’t stop
Hello! This was me moments ago tonight. First, it's okay to give yourself grace and acknowledge youre feeling overwhelmed. Tell yourself, "my thoughts are racing, im overwhelmed, but this wont last forever". Do not tell your mind to "stop " in these moments as that will only heighten the anxiety. A good place to start is by picturing yourself playing tug of war with all of these thoughts at once. Imagine you let go of the rope, and watch all the thoughts fall back, one by one. Look at those thoughts and let them just exist. Distraction is the next key. Journaling is super helpful! Listen to music, watch a comedy show, make tea, spend time with a pet, call a support person, read, crossword, etc. Remember to be gentle on yourself as the overwhelming feelings won't go away instantly, but allow yourself time to feel calmer. Acknowledge any emotions, say "hi" to them, acknowledge them, and move on.
I get like that too the pool helps me
Happens to me aswell!
All the time! Thank you for bringing attention to this.... I think the fear is that we will get stuck there, at least that's mine and never be able to think normally again or even do a simple task because we're fighting all these thoughts, but as soon as you find something to distract yourself you do end up distancing yourself from the thoughts until they become non-existent until the next thought spiral occurs. But it is terrifying to feel like you're losing your mind or control of your mind.
Two things are happening: I get thoughts that just keep looping. They almost feel like song stuck in my head. Also, I’ll imagine something and I feel my stomach drop. Then as the seconds go by I keep getting fragments of the this thought but with different details. For example, it’s kinda like how a “vision” is portrayed. I’ll get a glimpse of the thought and then it’ll rapidly expand into something worse every few seconds. I don’t know if I’m causing this or if it’s just an automatic thing like any other intrusive thought. It feels unavoidable, idk if this is a compulsion or if it’s just another manifestation of an intrusive thought. Apart from that remembering an intrusive thought triggers the full thought again and then it just keeps looping or expanding. I don’t know how to stop any of this. Help?
OK, this might sound really dumb, but when you guys get intrusive thoughts, do they just come once and then go away? I’ve heard that repeatedly thinking about an intrusive thought is considered ‘checking,’ but it doesn’t feel like I have any control over how many times it comes up in my head. It’s not like I’m trying to check anything—it just keeps showing up, almost like it’s terrorizing me every time. I can’t seem to stop it from looping, stop remembering it, or prevent it from coming up. Every time it does, I feel horrified, and I already know it’s going to horrify me. I don’t think I’m actively trying to see if my feelings have changed, so is this still considered checking? How do other people get an intrusive thought and just move on? Doesn’t it pop up a million times for them too? I always thought that was normal, but now I’m hearing this could be a compulsion, and I feel really confused, scared, and lost. Is this why my OCD feels so extreme? Because I really don’t feel like I can control how many times the thought pops up.
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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