I started to tell myself “leave it alone” every time I got a thought to remind myself not to engage and just leave it there but now I say it in my head when I anticipate a thought or even think about my situation at all. I’m kind of saying it to myself a lot now and I think it might have turned into a compulsion on accident but I’m not sure?

Baba

Date posted: 6y

Well, compulsions tend to become obstacles in your daily life. Is it turning into something annoying and troubling you? Bc if so then, yes, probably. With unwanted thoughts I usually think of my mind as a pretty wild playground where ideas -my own and the alien ones I've picked up from outside- move around and transform. It helps because I stops the impulse of associating all my thoughts with my person and so, there's no need to engage to "fix them" Meditation could also help, dont stop thoughts. Just let then flow. I've been using this app called Simple Habit for over a month now and its got some useful tips if you wanna check it out. You can do it Sara ♡

Anonymous

Date posted: 6y

I’ve had the same problem! Try not to worry about it becoming a compulsion; the thoughts only have power if you give it to them. Still, if you’re worried, consider alternate things to say or do to relieve yourself. For example, I’ve been trying to distract myself by driving my mind to good memories—the three times I’ve outsmarted my brother playing video games, when I made a miraculous recovery on my grades in school last semester, my 13th birthday—it doesn’t have to be anything big, as long as it makes you feel better. I’ve also found it helpful to breathe. Slowly count to three or five as you inhale, hold on three, then slowly exhale as you count to three or five again; rinse and repeat until your anxiety has passed. I hope this helps ☺️

Maybe

Date posted: 6y

Thanks! I've just listened to a meditation, it's really good.

vickyy

Date posted: 6y

Thank you I’ll try both of these!

Maybe

Date posted: 6y

@Baba Can you recommend some meditations from this app?

Baba

Date posted: 6y

Of course! I'm still pretty new myself but I've been enjoying the Simple Habit Starter series a lot- it's simple and the guide is nice- and been using the Unguided ones once I felt I was getting the hang of it after some exercise. The app also sometimes lets you have a trial of premium, so if there's a series you have interest in but it's locked, you can try waiting for that chance and download them all to use when offline ♡

moon0270

Date posted: 22w

Realised I have another compulsion

I actually didn't realise this til now because I just assumed it was a coping mechanism from when I was really young. But when I tend to get stressed out or overwhelmed, I'll often start talking out loud to myself (which mostly means just whispering to myself because if i spoke really loudly, my mom would hear me lol). But nowadays with my fear of being surveilled, I keep having to catch myself because it's such a habit at this point for me to whisper out loud. Especially with me trying to reason through my false memories or really bad intrusive thoughts. Another compulsion. And then I keep thinking omg did I have my phone with me when I said that. Is anyone watching me rn? What if this person (that probably doesn't even exist) thinks my thoughts are true? What would everyone else think? And then I spiral afterwards. It sucks because I feel like I'm policing myself even when I know these are all just things I'm saying out loud and they don't mean anything— they're just thoughts after all. But I have this worry that if someone overheard me or all of this was suddenly revealed, that it might change how people see me or people might hate me or think i'm a bad person. And then I worry about me being worried about that because then I ask myself would a good person be worried about this? Anyways, another long post with me waffling and rambling. Thank you for taking the time to read this ❤️‍🩹

nae nae

Date posted: 17w

"I am" statements?

Is it okay to use "I am" statements when intrusive thoughts come up? I'm afraid of telling myself the wrong things and it becoming a compulsion. If anyone has advice, I'd appreciate it! 🤍

Jesuslover28

Date posted: 14w

I'm scared

Why is my mind saying I should say my thoughts out loud and that it will be ok, I don't want to because it goes against my beliefs and it freaks me out because my mind is like you've done this and this an other bad things this can't hurt you, saying it will give you peace and it just randomly started yesterday and idk what to do. It's like I have no will power to want to stop it's like my mind wants me to say it and idk what to do.

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