Imagine OCD is a parrot you adopted after someone else gave it up. It says some pretty wacky things learned from it's previous owner! - You wouldn't argue with a bird though. You'd be a bit shocked the first time, chuckle the second, and start to tune it out by the tenth. And you DEFINITELY wouldn't give it a snack every time it piped up with it's overused doomsday quotes. - OCD is like that parrot. It's talking, but it doesn't MEAN anything. But I promise you this- if you give it a compulsion cracker when it talks, it will say whatever it said a whole lot more insistently. Because "yummy! I want another!" It isn't malicious, just hungry. Or bored. Either one - And remember, interaction is more rewarding than the tastiest cracker. - Yes, ignoring it takes a ton of self control. At first the parrot will try even harder to get your attention and interaction. But eventually it will give up. -

Yeah, we need to stop thinking all thoughts are important

Yep

Thanks ? I came up with it at three in the morning one night. It was a rare time I thought something useful at that hour

@NOCD Advocate - Katie Struggling internally with not performing a compulsion after two really successful days of ERP. I’m trying to remember that the more anxiety I feel after not performing a compulsion the more “scared” my OCD is that I see it for what it is and am trying to starve it out

@NOCD Advocate - Katie I know that it’s a good thing if I’m feeling all this anxiety after not performing a compulsion because I’m teaching my brain something important about the thoughts

@NOCD Advocate - Katie So easy to logically rationalize, so hard to do!

@Sunrise22 For sure. It's easier said than done

@Sunrise22 That’s a really interesting point. My OCD spikes when I ignore compulsions. I thought I was “better” only if I didn’t have anxiety after not completing a compulsion, but it’s the opposite. You should have more anxiety for awhile. Sit with it. And your brain will learn to ignore the “chirping” when it’s ready.

I was stressing over this yesterday caused me to have a dream where I was holding someone elses hand, so I get ya, what I did was tell myself “Look, I have no control over what I dream, so what if I dream about it again? Its a dream? Dreams mean nothing in the longrun.”

Haha I always forget that it’s easier than I think sometimes. Thank you

Yes, tell yourself “this may or may not be true” and sit with any feelings of anxiety that are there. Do that every time you have a thought. Eventually you will feel comfortable with the uncertainty and the anxiety will go down and down because your brain realizes that you’re not actually being threatened

@Sunrise22 Yeah, that’s my thought process, but I’m also worried that the “this may or may not be true” thing is becoming a compulsion because it makes me feel calmer in the moment and then I get anxious again a few minutes later.

Also, use self talk to build your confidence "I can feel anxious and live my life at the same time"

@NOCD Advocate - Katie Yeah, I know. It just feels very debilitating and gets in the way of a lot of my happy feelings. Thank you for the support

Respectfully, I disagree with others when they say the “this may or may not be true” in your head. This is something I’ve been doing for years and simply wasn’t working. I believe it as a compulsion. Because we are putting “meaning” towards that thought. We are “judging” that thought. If we simply focus on observing that intrusive thought, it seems to get less and less power. I’ve been having success with this.

@outdoorman So I just say “okay, I acknowledge that” to the thought, or not respond to it at all?

@WeCanDoThis No response at all. Best example I can give you is this: Wherever you are right now, weather you are at your office or in your living room. Go ahead and look at the wall. Now look at the floor. Look at the ceiling. Look at the clock. Did you get anxiety when you looked at those objects? Probably not, right? Because you simply looked and observed those objects. You didn’t judge the wall, the floor, the clock and those are real life objects. So why on earth would you judge your thoughts? They aren’t even real lol. That’s what I’m starting to learn. You just focus on that thought until the anxiety subsides. No judgement. It takes a lot of practice and focus, but it seems to be working for me.

@outdoorman That is a great way to put it. I did the exercise and realized my first reaction to looking at these is was completely non judgmental. I believe that our natural response until the mind jumps in, but as long as we realize this we could go back to letting it go.

@outdoorman Thank you good idea i will try this!! I think it can works when it's not too important, for me when the subject isn't the health..