- Date posted
- 4y ago
- Date posted
- 4y ago
Intrusive thoughts that are sexual and inappropriate are very common in OCD and have nothing to do with abuse. Someone might have them and have a history of abuse, but it’s not a prerequisite. Stop digging into your past: that’s a compulsion called mental reviewing. It will only feed your obsession. And it will never get your certainty or help you understand/explain anything. In fact, it will only breed further confusion.
- Date posted
- 4y ago
I struggle with mental reviewing almost all the time. So terrible.
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 4y ago
Yeah, mental reviewing , checking things from the past, trying to find certainty of past events are compulsions and get you nowhere except more uncertain, in fact in my experience, it led to false memory ocd. When I accept the fear and uncertainty and let it scare me, instead of trying to fight it ,hard as that is, gradually, the fear reduces and it starts to lose its grip. Then a more realistic view begins to emerge.
- Date posted
- 4y ago
Thanks for the reply. I know that it just feeds my obsession, but I cant stop! So I'm not only mental reviewing, but then I have to think of whatever im mentally reviewing a certain number of times in the "right way" and if I dont I have to start over. Also, if another thought enters my head, i have to deal with that one, and the one i just was. So if i keep getting a new thought, I'm pretty much stuck in that cycle for a while. It is very hard to explain, but it is absolutely miserable. Also, when i do try to just let the thought be and go one with the day, it is still there in the front of my mind. So I might not he going into all the compulsions of thinking, but it is like it is stuck in my head. So, should I literally just let that attack my brain all day, and that's how eventually I will be able to just let a thought pass through my head? I'm really trying to just understand more about my OCD and what I need to do to not let it defeat me all day long. Any thoughts are much appreciated!
- Date posted
- 4y ago
@Melissar3 Yea I didn’t know that was a compulsion you see I unfortunately don’t have enough knowledge on ocd so these new sensations and compulsions are scary and unaware
- Date posted
- 4y ago
@Melissar3 Best advice I got is always refocus on ur work when they get to strong
- Date posted
- 4y ago
@Melissar3 Stopping all compulsions all day cold turkey will probably be too much too fast if you’re not used to ever resisting them. That’s where some scheduled ERP work can come in! And why it’s important to be gradual. If you normally mentally review for 30 min after a trigger, try reducing it to 15 for a week, then 10, then 5. Then stop. You have the right idea with just letting these thoughts be. That feeling if it still being stuck in your head is totally normal and expected: your OCD is used to getting what it wants (compulsions) and when you resist, it will basically throw a temper tantrum and keep trying to get you to do them. Stop trying to get rid of them and OCD loses its power. It’s tough to stand up to OCD but if we can truly just allow the thoughts to be without wrestling with them, they do eventually drop off. And the more we practice this over time, the easier it gets. When you have this mindset switch, keep in mind that you aren’t going to get relief immediately (that’s why compulsions make us feel so great, they DO work immediately.) it will take time and commitment. Most people require 2-3 months of consistent ERP to see noticeable results and changes to the quality of their lives. But that doesn’t mean there won’t be a lot of little victories along the way to help keep you motivated! Write down a list of reasons why it’s important to resist compulsions (ie, it’s only hurting me in the long run, it’s not actually giving me certainty, I’ve done this a million times before and it’s never helped heal me from ocd, I want to get better for my loved ones, etc) and look to that when you don’t feel strong enough to resist. You can do this!
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 4y ago
Same with me. I spent over 40 years trying to think my way through the obsessions, it doesnt work, trying to get the right feeling or having to start all over again, is just making it worse. I completely agree with pureolife. That is how you will recover.
- Date posted
- 4y ago
That is such, such helpful information! Very kind of you, I appreciate it. Doing these things, how is your OCD?
- Date posted
- 4y ago
It’s about 90% better than it was before I got treatment. It has given me so much of my life back.
Related posts
- Date posted
- 21w ago
My OCD wants to keep switching “themes” on me, but once again it always concerns my mom or family. This time it’s sexual-related. The one I experience the most is the harm-related thoughts towards her, thinking I want to hurt her or thinking she abused me in the past (she did not) so that’s why I have these thoughts. My mind is always trying to see if there are deeper meanings to these thoughts and how I really feel. Yesterday my thoughts started going towards - “what if I’m attracted to my mom?” I was reading a book and it was a romantic scene and an image of my mom popped into my head. I tried to just dismiss it since I know we can’t control what comes into our heads, but I of course ruminated about it more and it has become a full-blown obsession. I have started wondering if I really am attracted to her or not, do I want to be in a relationship with her, am I just denying my feelings, etc. It sounds so disgusting and disturbing to share these things, but it’s difficult to disengage with this kind of thinking. Like it’s too disturbing to just let it go. Which leads to other worries like what if I can never be in a real relationship because I will just keep having these thoughts, what if this is true and how will I live with myself, what if my mom sexually abused me as a kid and that’s why I’m having these thoughts, etc. I know I’m going down the rabbit hole, but I just keep coming up with more and more “reasons.” Trying to go about my day and not pay them any attention, but it has been difficult to focus on anything else. Which then makes me wonder if I’m actually just fantasizing now and not actually obsessing.
- Date posted
- 8w ago
I struggle so bad with intrusive thoughts. They can be so bad that I'll cry because I KNOW that's not how I feel or want to do. (Too embarrassed to say what they're about) I'll constantly try to figure out why I have them, and constantly figure out what they mean, causing me to constantly circle around and around. I had to get on anxeity meds, which helped a little but the thoughts still happen. How do you help yourself with this? How do you know that you're just not some physcopath? 😅
- Date posted
- 6w ago
Hi, I’m new here!! I’m praying I don’t get judged for this. But, back in late May of 2022 ( literally right before I graduated high school), I added this one random girl from my school on Snapchat. She posted something about a graduation party , so I swiped up on her story basically saying how I can’t believe we’re almost graduated. She replied and we had a really short and simple conversation. The next day ( i believe) , we started talking a lot , and I just so happened to see her at the highschool when we were grabbing our graduation outfits and doing the rehearsal. When I saw her irl, I kinda got turned off ( I heard she was kinda crazy) , and on top of that , she was a little ugly irl. I remember seeing her Snapchat bio , and she was close friends with my female cousin ( a year younger than me) , who I happened to experiment sexually with when I was 10-11 years old. I remember going to work later that day and having sort of a lightbulb flick thought ( it wasn’t a good thought though) , what if my cousin told her about what happened when we were younger? So I started to kind of panic and immediately distanced myself from that girl. I also experimented sexually with one of my female friends when I was 10-11 , and from that day onwards, I’ve been pretty much living in paranoia and a little bit of guilt about someone finding out and my life being ruined . On top of that, It’s gotten worse to now sometimes I wonder if a girl I added off of quick add ( Snapchat) is underage even if they told me they were 18+ or had 18 and above in their bio, and I get so much guilt and anxiety about that. I even had a quick thought last February on what if I did something inappropriate with my younger cousin when I was 15-16 but I just can’t exactly remember when it happened , and it still eats me alive when I think about it, because I don’t know if it happened or not. I’m sorry for the long vent, I just wish I felt normal again. No matter how much I try to do things that old me used to do, life always feels “ off”. I always kept the top part about when I was younger a secret up until early (ish ) 2024, then I vented to one of my best friends and he told me that that’s a normal thing to do at a young age. Since then, I have told multiple friends and they all say they did similar stuff, but my brain just can’t accept that. Please help me, I quite literally overthink everything nowadays. 2021 was the last full year that I felt normal ( coincidentally, the best year of my life so far) . It’s not just about sexual related things either, sometimes I’ll wonder if I messed up something at work or hit a car while driving/hit someone and drove off. I just wanna live my life how I was supposed to live it after highschool ( carefree and happy) before whatever it is ( I think it’s ocd) hit me unexpectedly. Thanks to anyone who read this , I just needed to pour it out regardless of how negative I felt typing this, I hope someone can relate , because I feel so alone in my head at times.
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