- Date posted
- 4y
- Date posted
- 4y
by trying to prevent the thoughts you are increasing the fear and anxiety that comes with them. pushing thoughts away doesnt work for long, cos we always end up thinking about what we don't want to think about. the goal is to let thoughts flow by, without reacting to them or figuring out what they could mean.
- Date posted
- 4y
I appreciate your response
- Date posted
- 4y
But why do I feel like I CAN control my thoughts? Like for example I was bathing my daughter and I was attempting* to practice erp. This is one of my triggers. I went to wash her and had the thought like “this is your chance to wash her and get any weird urges out of your system” - normally, If I had this thought I would then avoid washing her. A compulsion. This time,I fought the compulsion and I continued washing her, but then I had more thoughts, that I didn’t try to fight and I continued washing her regardless. Now I feel like the thoughts motivated my actions or influenced them. I feel like I Purposely brought on bad thoughts because I was “taking advantage” of the situation.
- Date posted
- 4y
People cannot control what thoughts pop into their head. Thinking about killing my grandmother, or my cat, having sex with the baby next door, sinning etc... it can pop into my head anytime. I cant help it. No one can. Feeling guilty for something you cant control seems hard. This reminds me of my obsession about "If I think wrong thoughts I am a bad person". Maybe the idea that you should control your toughts is an obsession?
- Date posted
- 4y
Sounds like progress to me! Well done for not giving in to your compulsions. 🖖 Figuring out if you control your thoughts, may it be another compulsion?
Related posts
- Date posted
- 21w
I been dealing with OCD my entire life but recently I been finding it really difficult to find the slightest relief. I know it’s not good to do but I been trying not to think of the thoughts but of course they come back even stronger. Does anyone know what I could do in the meanwhile ? Thank you
- Date posted
- 15w
Another way to describe it is a loss of ability to let uncomfortable thoughts flow through our minds. It's like a fire alarm going off in our heads and an urgency to work out what these thoughts mean and what we can do about them and it's the exact reason why going to talk therapy is the worst thing that someone with OCD can do.
- Date posted
- 10w
I few years ago, I did self-harm a few times, and then I got super into spirituality, and about a year ago, I remembered I did self-harm and ever since haven't been able to shake the guilt off... Constantly, every day, my mind would make me feel guilty about it and think about it all day. It's like my brain knew the thought that I could/ have cut myself scared me, so it kept bringing it up. My family had no idea I had ever done this, so my OCD told me I was a liar for not telling them about every day. I was afraid that they wouldn't love me anymore and send me to a mental hospital if I told them. About 2-3 months ago, I had gotten so fed up with having these thoughts every day and confessed to my mom what I had done, and her reaction was great. And I thought I'd never have thoughts about when I did self-harm again because I finally confessed. I was wrong. Even with people telling me that it's okay, I did that, I can't shake the guilt I had around this event, and even more so the fear/guilt around my own thoughts... My therapist and I talk about how the problem isn't the thoughts but what the OCD does to them. I try to create positive neural pathways, but that just makes me more stressed about it. There are things I'm supposed to tell myself when I feel negative, but I think I get that confused and tell myself those things every time I have thoughts about what I did. Which is feeding into a mental compulsion (replacing every "bad" thought with a "good" one. What works for me is (if I can) do nothing and have the thoughts... It's been hard to get better because I have had no idea what's been happening to me and felt like for the last year I was going crazy... I always thought OCD was cleaning stuff and physical compulsions . Everything that happened to me happened in my head. On the worst days when my OCD is really bad, every single time I was conscious and aware, I was thinking about the fact that I did self-harm. I would lie in bed all day trying to figure out my thoughts because I thought if I watched TV, I would be avoiding important things. I thought I had to figure out all my thoughts. I would ruminate, replay, and second-guess all. day. long. It was hard to recognize it was OCD because I thought I had done something seriously bad and wrong, and that I must deserve these thoughts. I think the trick is that you feel like you must have positive thoughts, and the most distressing thing wasn't necessarily the fact that I did self-harm, but the fact that I couldn't stop thinking about it. I find the best thing you can do is just have all your thoughts in your head and try not to separate them from good and bad, if you can. It's nice to have people who understand!!!! More to come, about the journey. My favorite thing to say when I'm stuck is "that sly devil... OCD. Silly OCD is getting to me right now, but it won't last forever. That sneaky guy tricked me again" Love you!!!
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