- Date posted
- 6y
- Date posted
- 6y
I’m with you blue stars. For nearly 6 years I have experienced some of the most horrible thoughts towards the ones that are closest to me and my OCD truly has attached itself to all the things in my life that I truly value. Family , friends , work and all other factors that have truly made my life a living hell. These days I’m happy to say that although the intrusive thoughts still occur I’m at a point where I really pay very little attention to them anymore and I seem to finally be able to recognize what is irrational and and what is rational in my mind. For nearly 20 years I have had severe anxiety disorder, depression and OCD which has crippled me and debilitated me in several occasions. The good news is 95 Percent of all people admit to having intrusive thoughts and the other 5% are full of shit!! When you let your thoughts be they will let you be !! Thoughts can not hurt us but our reactions to our thoughts is where the problem lies and the disorder becomes problematic. Fear is not real! The only place fear can exist is in our minds about the future, and in my case I have wasted the majority of my life fearing and worried sick over things that go through my mind . Yet the funny thing is not one thing that I have thought of , worried about or feared might happen has yet to come true !! Once everyone who struggles learns to accept their brain and not run from there thoughts they will finally start to find some peace of mind in their life. Curtis
- Date posted
- 6y
@Curtis Love this!!!! Your experience with this will help so many people. I believe our struggles can transform us into pictures of success and happiness if we move through them and don’t let them define us!!! So happy for this reality!
- Date posted
- 6y
@asdf So what’s helped me is to realize the event we are afraid of has nothing to do with that terrible gross feeling in our gut that comes with our OCD. If we separate the fear and realize the fear is not real and irrational, we can take control back from fear, which is often irrational. Does that make sense? Hope this helped
- Date posted
- 6y
im still working on thinking this way
- Date posted
- 6y
YOU ARE SO AMAZING FOR THIS! this literally inspires me and gives me more hope!
- Date posted
- 6y
@Bluestars first off that’s awesome to hear! And ?yesssssss this came through last night. It’s not the thought but any resistance, or fear of an emotional reaction (or the anticipation of one). For me it’s the integration aspect of this realization that’s helping, because it clicks, but it’s consistently integrating that in moments when a thought arises that is the practice for me right now. Thank you for sharing ☺️
- Date posted
- 6y
Bluestars- how do you take away the negative feelings attached when you think you may have done something awful in the past and just can’t remember? This one is very challenging for me, as I feel convinced that I really did such awful things..
- Date posted
- 6y
@ocdistheworst - What I think may help would be thinking that people you love and know wouldn’t do something bad - possibly could have done the same thing. In other words, you aren’t anxious about having done something bad - even though that is the reoccurring thought - you are rather feeling anxiety and guilt for another reason (or for no reason at all which is normal for everyone) and you are trying to rationalize it by putting it in something that is anxiety and guilt causing. Does that make sense? Hope this helps :)
- Date posted
- 6y
That makes a lot of sense and is very helpful!! Thank you so much for taking time to write back :-)
- Date posted
- 6y
You are so welcome! Here for you!!!
- Date posted
- 6y
How do we remove the negative attachment? It’s like my mind automatically assumes it’s a threat.
- Date posted
- 42w
Helpful
Related posts
- Date posted
- 21w
I hope everyone is doing well today, and for those of you who are struggling my thoughts and prayers are with you. Just know your moment of peace is coming soon. I think it’s important that we post / come on here every now and again even when we are not in a moment of pure panic and fear. Remember that we are not our thoughts as hard as it is to understand. Remember that OCD makes it feel “real” and that OCD will always make us think the most inappropriate things and the most inappropriate times. Remember that all humans, have thoughts that come and go and as hard as it can be to understand you are not alone in your thoughts that feel so unique. For me I get a lot of anxiety from thoughts I used to have , which of course makes them return in full throttle. The more I push them away the more they come back. And those thought makes new connections to those things in my life I value. OCD is a pain but it’s important that as much as you hate it you learn to be compassionate and understanding that it’s there to “help” you no matter how bad it does it job sometimes. Stay strong everyone
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 16w
I see a lot of posts and comments here along the lines of... "the thoughts/urges aren't you -- they're just OCD." Though this is often true and comforting, isn't this just a form of reassurance? The way to beat OCD is by accepting that the distressing thoughts MAY be true/real, a.k.a. "from you" or "not just OCD." By brushing distressing things off as "just OCD," you excuse the thoughts and therefore feel reassured. Obviously it is good to be aware of what OCD does to you and know when you're experiencing a spiral, but crediting all distressing thoughts to OCD is a way of finding certainty about them. What do you guys think of this? Am I right or wrong? This is just the way I think about it, but I see the "this is just OCD" thing so much on here and I often wonder if that is a form of reassurance.
- Date posted
- 13w
Remember thoughts are just thoughts, feelings are just feelings. We generally cannot control our thoughts or feelings, and even groinal responses. No matter how much you want to, they just happen and they 100% happen more when you’re worried about them happening, instead except it. Say “that’s just my silly thoughts again” or whatever it may be, say oh it’s just that silly thing again. Don’t try to work it out, don’t try to ignore it, allow them to come but don’t solve them. Just expect that they’re there . The best advise I was ever told is OCD is like a drunk person, they start to say silly things such as “omg I’m such a silly person” or “Ong you’re so great you’re the strongest person alive” you don’t actually believe what they say because they’re speaking nonsense, but you most likely will reply with “oh yes you’re right” because you’re trying to just please them, but it doesn’t mean you agree with them. You’re just trying to “shut them up” basically. For example if you kept saying “no I’m not” “not that’s not true” “no don’t be silly” the drunk person would carry on saying “no yes you are” etc etc… this is the same with ocd, the more you try to argue with it and say “no this isn’t true” the more it’ll say “yes it is” however if you just say “yes okay you’re right” (even tho it’s not) it’ll start to show ocd that you aren’t picking a fight anymore, you’re just excepting it and it’ll start to get easier. Trust me you aren’t alone in this. Ocd is scary. But you can do this. Some other techniques that have helped me massively is this… When you’re getting these unwanted thoughts etc, name 5 things you can see around you, 2 things you can smell or 2 things you like the smell of, 3 things you can hear and 5 things you can feel, such as touch your hair etc and describe how it feels, etc. this is a way of just distracting yourself. It’s a very good technique for ocd and I went from getting 20 showed a day due to my ocd down to 3 showers a day…. From using this. It works!!! Or take deep breaths that also helps people You aren’t a bad person, you’re just suffering with ocd and that doesn’t make you a bad person
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