Reminder to self: 1. My brain can and will generate “intrusive thoughts” at anytime. 2. I promise to accept them as OCD related thoughts and to realize that they are false alarms. 3. I promise not to allow these false alarms to trigger me to respond by turning these thoughts into feelings of self-doubt and fear. 4. I promise to be kind to myself by not allowing uncontrolled thoughts to run rampant causing me anguish, fatigue and pain. 5. I will not be critical of who I am and will not compare myself to others. I understand that life is precious and that I have a lot to offer everyday.

But... not everyone is what they fear and that’s why they have certain OCD themes... lol because they are obsessing over something that they’re scared is true even though they know it isn’t. A lot of OCD is a conflict between your frontal lobe (reason) and hippocampus (fight or flight). Your hippocampus is over firing when triggered before your frontal lobe can respond. This causes confusion. Like bruh I know I’m not gay. I know I won’t hurt anyone in my family but this “what if” sticks around... and then it becomes this internal conflict because my brain just. Wont. Let. It. Go. So sorry. I just don’t agree with you.

@Jayy0101 (It’s the amygdala that causes flight or fight, that’s what my psychiatrist told me)

@Jayy0101 thats absolutely right. Not everyone is what we fear. But to treat ocd, clinically and scientifically, (also from the advice of the best ocd therapists out there) we need to accept the uncertainty that we may or may not be our worst fears. They may or may not come true. No one can know for sure about anything. That is what will kick ocd out the backdoor. Saying "im not my theme" is just self-reassurance. I did it for 4 years in a 15 year long battle with ocd. And it didn't work. It felt like it did for a little, but ocd will always doubt what we tell it. But it can't doubt uncertainty because it isn't a solid thing. This is the only way to recover, based on personal testimony and many many ocd specialists and even nocd specialists. Its really difficult to accept, because it is scary and we hate thinking of it as a possibility, but it is the only true thing in the universe really. Because everything changes, ends, begins, etc, the only thing that is certain is uncertainty :) praying for your recovery!

@JustRob LMFAO that’s what I meant. Thank you for the correction! :)

@Jayy0101 Also when we accept we may or may not be gay, murderers, etc, our true selves learn to rise back up and we become who we normally are. Bc our ocd is recovering and can't latch onto certainty. Ocd is about certainty, and uncertainty is its only remedy.

@Dianaaa I guess it’s all in the wording. I don’t like the uncertainty personally and it gives me more anxiety. It’s going against the grain. The way I was told was personally more helpful, which is that OCD is me ruminating about things and attempting to self coach and justifying the ruminations instead of just leaving the thoughts alone and letting them sit there and exist. The more you don’t engage the weaker it gets. It’s like squeezing a basketball while telling yourself to drop it. I respond better to that wording than “welp you just might turn into a serial killer but we just don’t know do we?” Like that’s messed up... that’s hurtful. I get what you’re saying but again, it’s in the framing. I don’t think it’s helpful for some people. I will not tell myself something that I know I know isn’t true. It personally feeds into my ocd and causes me to ruminate when in reality I shouldn’t be engaging with these stupid thoughts at all. But I feel you. We are all different in our approach and what works.

@Jayy0101 Thats how you know you have ocd. I hated uncertainty for forever until I was 3 weeks into recovery. Ocd hates uncertainty and gives us more anxiety. accepting our uncertainty of our fears coming true is the only scientific way to reduce symptoms. My ocd is as good as gone since I've resisted compulsions, accepted uncertainth (mine is suicidal themed ocd, I accept i may end up hurting myself etc). believe me, ir approach worked for me for a good while. Until it started not working years later. So much scientific research is supporting accepting uncertainty and the anxiety it brings (intense anxiety) is the only way for your brain to heal. As someone who has tried both, please even though it is hard, it is the only way to true recovery....

@Dianaaa Thanks for this discussion Diana. I really appreciate it and I’ll take you at your word.

@Jayy0101 Thank you as well. I rlly just want the best for you and i wish that I could take back those 4 years of self-reassurance of disproving my thoughts because it did work for a bit but it made my ocd worse over all. I just dont want you to go through the same thing because it does work for a bit but when it stops it rlly sucks :(

@Dianaaa I personally just need to get with one of these NOCD therapist but it’s expensive and they don’t take my insurance. I’ve noticed my OCD has been slowly getting worse even though I feel I have a better understanding and have long periods of being and feeling fine. It sucks. I can’t enjoy my life like I want to. Like I use to. It just is so hard for me to not ruminate or stay still enough to meditate. It’s hard to focus on not interacting with the thoughts and going down rabbit holes. It’s all a mess. Yuck.

@Jayy0101 Right? I totally get this! 1. Don't try to suppress or resist the thoughts 2. Resist any compulsions. Compulsions are the only things that continue your ocd! 3. Expose yourself slowly to your fears 4. Feel the icky and terrible feelings that is behinddd ur ocd. Feel them and realize you can cope with them, and the more you feel and don't resist them, the easier they become and eventually go away. 5. Don't self reassure or seek reassurance! This is a big one that keeps many ppl stuck. 6. You are going to feel very very scared when you resist your compulsions. Very trapped and afraid. Feel this terrible feeling and wait for it to go down naturally. It will. This is ocd treatment! It's so hard but so worth it!

@Dianaaa I had similar experience. I used the approach "It is not me it is my OCD" years ago and it worked for a bit but then ocd came back with a vengeance this year. You are absolutely correct. The only way to true recovery is acceptance of uncertainty and anxiety that comes with it. I have tried to eliminate all compulsions that last 2 days and stopped self assuring. Anxiety has been high but I am hopeful for some progress in the future.

@Sunflower 1234 Yes it worked for me for 2 years too! Now its back and thankfully pushing me to recovery! I am feeling relief with 2 weeks completely compulsion free so yes I do believe uncertainty and no compulsions is the only way! I've tried everything else and it doesnt work 😂