I’m not looking for reassurance but a lot of people talk about how intrusive thoughts they have start with “what if “ and when I’m in a full episode mine do not start with “what if” rather a command or a thought that feels like it’s coming from me but doesn’t align. When I was in the beginning of a episode my thoughts did start with a what if but it escalated. Does anyone else have this?
I have this same question 🤦🏽♀️ mine are not always what ifs and it’s scary and frustrating
@purplenarwhal903 Yeah everyone talks about it on TikTok like it starts with what ifs and it’s scary because mine are hardly That just statements and commands
@Holl1 Yea it’s weird and I don’t like it cause then i question myself even more
Hi Holl1! Intrusive thoughts can start a lot of different ways. It's not uncommon to have it start with a "what it," but that is far from the ONLY way intrusive thoughts can present themselves. OCD is sneaky, opportunistic, and resilient, so I wouldn't be surprised if the "what if" thoughts stopped, and the intrusive thoughts started presenting in other ways since you were doing a great job in managing the "what if" intrusive thoughts. How did you manage them when they were "what if," and how can you maybe tweak that technique a bit to help with how they have escalated?
@Meaghan Campbell I still get what if’s occasionally but I don’t take much notice to them, it’s the command thoughts and the ones that start with “i” that scare me the most! At the beginning it was full of what if’s and it escalated after doing compulsions. I can’t work out if I don’t even have OCD anymore as I am still getting thoughts that sound like statements and it’s been nearly a year since having them
@Holl1 That’s certainly not unheard of at all. A lot of my members have those types of intrusive thoughts as well, and they can be even more distressing when there’s not the “what if” in front of it. The GOOD thing is no matter how the intrusive thoughts are presenting, the recommendation is the same: don’t engage. So how can you adjust how you were managing the “what if” to help with the seemingly command intrusive thoughts?
@Meaghan Campbell Thank you! I shouldn’t take notice of my intrusive thoughts no matter the content. I do wonder why this theme is sticker Than the others I’ve had
I get intrusive thoughts that tell me to act impulsively. Like last week my brain was like “you have to leave the area now!” And it was a flee thought based on an intrusive thought. So yes, this happens to me, although “what ifs” are most common for me.
Mine can feel very absolute sometimes, generally I feel like more depressing thoughts feel very "you are this" and anxiety thoughts feel more "what if you are this". It shows up differently for everyone though, thats just my experience.
Mine are very absolute too at the moment. Like statements of fact.
I’ve had different themes of ocd throughout my life. Can they all differ such as how the thoughts may present? Currently my thoughts feel so true immediately (like they genuinely feel like what I think) but in the last theme I feel like it may have been more of a “what if I think this” type of situation
I’ve been triggered so bad this week I’ve had bad anxiety and feel depression coming on. Last night I had a thought oh let’s plan it and I immediately thought why would I think that and started crying bad. I’ve had these thoughts for 7 months I really don’t know why I’m having these thoughts, if I knew I would work on it. Like people say has something happened in your life for you to have these thoughts and nothing has happened, it all started off from what if thoughts , like “what if I’m a psycho” because I saw this fb post saying introverts are more likely to become psychopaths and it all spiralled from there I started getting thoughts about harm towards others and myself. What do you think guys should I treat it like ocd or do you think there’s something seriously wrong with me.
I’ve been suspecting for awhile now that I might have OCD once I started to look into it. Often times I get a lot of thoughts of me being a terrible awful person and being afraid that I don’t even know if I’m aware of that. I try my hardest to ‘diffuse’ these thoughts constantly. I go over them and remind myself that that isn’t me but I also wonder if that’s what I truly think. I’ve experienced this for as long as I can remember. I’ve always had instrusive horrible thoughts, even from when I was a child. It’s always been background noise to me but sometimes I tune in and scare myself and often wonder what my motives are. I don’t want to have these thoughts anymore but they keep coming back. I don’t like constantly worrying if my friends all hate me or if anyone around me thinks something is completely wrong with me. It’s extremely hard to operate properly already and constantly being streamlined these thoughts 24/7 just makes it more difficult. I have to try to think of literally anything else to prevent myself from having intrusive thoughts but even that doesn’t help. It feels incredibly disabling and it often times prevents me from doing things I actually have to do out of fear because of those “what ifs”. I just live in fear. I constantly worry even when there isn’t anything to worry about. I am incredibly paranoid. I feel like anything can happen at any given moment when I am not in control and it’s exhausting. I don’t want to live like this anymore.
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