Your ocd literally cannot survive without your compulsions. Without compulsions, ocd eventually goes away. This is in our hands, the choice to do compulsions and continue the cycle, or not. What will you choose?

It depends on severity and longevity of ocd. I had to resist compulsions (still am) for about 2 weeks to feel better. But its so worth it. I've had untreated ocd for 15 years and im 20 and recovering

@Dianaaa i’d say it’s been bad for about a month and i’ve had it all my life just recently it’s flared up. how do you resist mental compulsions? lately i’ve just been ignoring thoughts and i think its working but i’m not sure if that’s the best option.

@ocdm.7 Ignoring and suppressing thoughts is also a mental compulsion. Try not to do that and ur anxiety will increase, but then decrease alot more. What you resist persists.

@Dianaaa Accept the possibility ur worst fear might be true, because reality is, it may be true or come true. Accept that uncertainty. Its hard but its the only way to treat ocd longterm

@Dianaaa ok i’ll try that this week. thanks!

Recovering :) its always a process but it gets easier the longer u recognize and resist compulsions. It isn't linear or perfect tho. But the only thing you have to do is resist compulsions, and accept the possibility of your fear being true.

100%. I have quit most physical compulsions but still ruminate a lot 😤

Mental compulsions r the same as physical compulsions. They’re there to protect ocd and hurt u, u should resist them just like u do a physical one❤️

Yes I have pure ocd. My physical compulsions stopped about 2 years ago. Its just stopping any decisions or efforts you make to suppress ur anxiety. Like reassurance, self reassurance, checking, telling urself "this is just ocd, its not true" etc. You stop all mental compulsions and replace them with, my fear might be true. It may come true any moment now. But I will sit with the anxiety

Just try think if there’s any weird things u feel the need to do in her head a lot. Maybe something related to cleansing ur mind, counting, trying to banish intrusive thoughts, and more. But if it’s thought challenging or distracting that’s not a compulsion🥰❤️

Mental compulsions are often self-reassurance, "this is just ocd, it isn't real", reassurance seeking, googling ocd, asking others if what you have is normal, checking ur emotions or thoughts, etc. Mental compulsions are treatable but they almost always accompany some physical ones, such as asking others or telling urself ur ocd isn't true. Ur ocd thoughts might be real thoughts. No one knows for sure.

Thought those immediately when they pop up and eventually ur subconscious will know everytime they come that it’s false. I used to get those too, but they do go away over time🥰❤️

@Megan Weston I would disagree with what you're saying here. Logic never works with ocd. Accept that you might have raped someone. You might rape someone in the future. Accept u might have, and accept u can never know for sure. Feel this anxiety and resist compulsions. Telling urself "it's not real" will make ocd worse.

@Dianaaa That works too! This is just how I was taught through treatment, either way works it just depends on the person🥰❤️

@jumac Ikr like I feel disgusting I don’t wanna be a rapist

@jumac My OCD doesn't cling to such subjects, so I have no problem contemplating that possibility. Just I have no problem contemplating the possibility that the roof should fall on my head. You have to understand that just because you get a particular emotional response from a possibility does not mean that it is more real.

Thanks for sharing your wisdom. Your approach makes sense and ll prevent relapse if people consistently do not react to thoughts.

@Sunflower 1234 Also don't suppress them too. Just allow them to be there. Don't ignore them or tell yourself they arent true. They are there, they are allowed to be here, and they might be ocd thoughts or actual real thoughts. No one knows. Welcome the uncertainty: )

@Dianaaa You need to post more. You have a lot of wisdom to share. 🙂

The goal isn't to stop. It's to accept the discomfort of rumination. What we resist persists. The more you hate and don't want to ruminate, the more u will ruminate. All we can do is accept our thoughts and feelings, accept the uncertainty of our worst fear maybe being true, and resisting compulsions. If you try to do all these, ur ocd will lessen.

what exactly is ruminating if you don’t mind me asking?

@ocdm.7 Ruminating is just constantly thinking about something. Just thinking abt ur obsession alot of the time. Rumination decreases when we accept it, dont try to stop it, and also begin to stop doing compulsions. Ocd can't survive without the help of our compulsions, and rumination doesn't happen when ocd lessens. :)

@Dianaaa oh omg i definitely have that i didn’t know there was a word that defined it lol! thank you for the clarification!

@Dianaaa I think we have different definitions of ruminating. I thought ruminating is a form of mental compulsion when you try to think of "positive thoughts" to neutralize the obsessive thoughts.

@ocdm.7 A memory from the past and how something bad may happen because of that memory. I must have thought about dozens of incidents and contemplated hundreds of worst case scenarios. Trying to disprove each one.

@Dianaaa According to ocdgateway website, ruminating is spending an excessive amount of time analyzing, debating and trying to understand and ocd theme. That sounds like a mental compulsion to me.

Interrupt your ruminations with statements that accept uncertainty such as this thought may or may not be true or this may or may not have happened.

@Sunflower 1234 Ruminating can happen voluntarily (us meaning to do it) or not voluntarily (our brains obsessing over and over again on the theme). I have dealt with ruminations (constantly thinking abt ur theme) that my brain was doing and I wasnt meaning to do. They can mean both

@Dianaaa If you google it, the first definition that comes up is "continuously thinking the same thoughts over and over again".

@Dianaaa This article and website really helped me to understand what ruminating is. https://drmichaeljgreenberg.com/articles/rumination-is-a-compulsion-not-an-obsession-and-that-means-you-have-to-stop/ Here ruminating is described as a intentional mental act of trying to solve/analyze a thought/problem over and over. Its been very helpful for me.

@Ladyoftheleaves22 Thank you. This is helpful.

@Sunflower 1234 Youre welcome! Glad to help 😊

@Ladyoftheleaves22 The article explains it well. I was confused but the article clarified things for me. 🙂 I ruminate a lot. It is helpful to know I need to cut that down for sure.

@Sunflower 1234 Its so hard to stop doing but you can do it with practice! I notice that im ruminating when I have to stop what im doing and purposefully think about something. Analyzing is definitley a conscious and deliberate decision to think about something. It also helps me to think of my thoughts as a river, they come and go. If i have to stop my natural stream of thoughts (the thoughts that you cant control/change) to analyze/solve a thought repeatedly, then chances are Im ruminating.

@Sunflower 1234 Different articles say different things, I've seen ocd articles that state rumination is not voluntary and is our brain just looping. Whatever the case, purposeful or not, do not try to suppress your thoughts or ignore them or not think them. This will make you ruminate more! But if it is a mental compulsion you are actively choosing to do, then yes that compulsion would he helpful to stop! :) but yeah I've heard it can be both purposeful and not purposeful and just our brain looping.

@Dianaaa It can be so confusing sometimes! 😣

@Ladyoftheleaves22 Definitely! But we have the power to recover because we choose to either do compulsions or to resist them. We have this. We are in charge!

@Dianaaa Totally agree! 😊

@Ladyoftheleaves22 When I try to argue with OCD thoughts then I know I am doing mental compulsion. I agree that it is confusing. It takes practice to even realize when we do compulsions. Some compulsions are sutle too.

@Dianaaa I appreciate your attitude. I started feeling better when I admitted that I am responsible for making my OCD worse. Having an ocd brain is not my fault. But if I keep choosing to do compulsions my OCD will get worse and I am responsible for it.

By facing my worst fears and accepting they might be true. And also resisting compulsions. It is so hard, but its worth it! I had ocd untreated for 15 years and im 20 so I have a lot of experience 😂

@Dianaaa You inspire me. I have had OCD for 12 years. I just started doing erp 6 weeks ago and I am already seeing progress. I am excited and I ll keep pressing harder to get better. Recovery is very possible.