Helpful strategies for resisting mental compulsions

Replaying a conversation over and over to make sure you didn’t say anything inappropriate. Repeating comforting statements in your head before bed each night. Thinking positive thoughts to “cancel out” negative ones. These are all examples of mental compulsions, which can be just as disruptive as physical compulsions, but may be harder to recognize because they happen in our minds. Physical or mental, all compulsions keep us stuck in the OCD cycle—so they’re all equally important to identify and disengage from. So how can you spot them? A tell-tale sign of any compulsion is the intent behind it: Mental actions can be compulsive if you’re doing them to reduce the anxiety caused by unwanted thoughts. Here are strategies for disengaging from mental compulsions: 1. Identifying: Try noticing and acknowledging that you might be engaging in a mental compulsion. 2. Resisting: Then you can decide that you’re willing to be uncomfortable by pausing where you are. 3. Grounding: Bring yourself back to the present moment mindfully and with self-compassion. 4. Observing: Using your senses to become present in your surroundings can also help. 5. Practicing: You can start small by noticing each time you’re trying to decrease distress by doing something in your mind and then choose to return to the present moment. Recognizing mental compulsions in real time may take some practice, but you don't have to figure this out alone. If any of this resonates, our therapists are here to help. All types of compulsions can be managed with proper treatment.

Cher54

Date posted: 16h

What is wrong with repeating comforting statements before bed each night? And thinking positive thoughts? As a Christian, we are supposed to do these things because it talks about thinking good thoughts in the Bible. To me if you go to bed and you start thinking of scriptures in the Bible that are comforting I don’t see how that can be wrong. I am not trying to criticize. I just don’t understand that part.

Aaron R.

Date posted: 15h

It's not so much the thoughts themselves as it is the reason behind thinking the thoughts. There's a difference between thinking about Bible verses before bed because you *want* to, versus compulsively repeating religious mantras because you feel like you *have* to, or else something terrible will happen. OCD has a way of latching onto even healthy habits and making them unhealthy. Let's say you're going on a diet and want to cut out junk food. Not eating processed sugars is a good thing, and there's nothing wrong with that. But, if you have an anxiety attack every time you eat a candy bar and think you're going to get diabetes and die, then your healthy habit has become an unhealthy obsessive compulsion. Religious practices should be viewed in the same light. If you want to read scripture and pray every night before bed, that's great. But, if you get too tired and fall asleep without praying and wake up the next morning in a panic thinking something catastrophic will happen because you didn't ask God to protect you, then it's OCD. It can be hard sometimes to spot the difference. Just because you have OCD and also think positive thoughts before bed doesn't necessarily mean your positive thinking is compulsive. The key is whether or not you think it's inadvertently causing you distress in the long term. Hopefully, that makes sense, from a fellow Christian!

katekennedy

Date posted: 15h

@Cher54 It says “A tell-tale sign of any compulsion is the intent behind it: Mental actions can be compulsive if you’re doing them to reduce the anxiety caused by unwanted thoughts.” Are you praying, thinking positive thoughts, etc as a way to connect with your higher power? Or are you using it as a way to receive reassurance, block or drown out intrusive thoughts, or calm your fears?

Cher54

Date posted: 13h

@Aaron R. Oh yes, I totally get that. And I wouldn’t do it because I have to, it would be because I want to, to distract my mind, to calm it. Like meditation, only using scriptures and meditating on them. Thank you so much for your input. ❤️

Anonymous

Date posted: 13h

This quiz by NOCD might help: https://www.treatmyocd.com/ocd-quiz

Anonymous

Date posted: 12h

Thanks for asking this. This conversation has helped me understand some things better.

Jackie_Times

Date posted: 7h

@Cher54 It could be bad for you only if you think that it you don’t repeat these comforting statements, something could can happen, which is exactly how OCD anxiety works!

Anonymous

Date posted: 16h

How can we as relatives spot them

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