You guys got this! You are not your thoughts! Something helpful I got from “Overcoming Unwanted Intrusive Thoughts” was that when an intrusive thought pops into your head, label it. Say “this is an intrusive thought.” It helps to separate you from the thoughts. Good luck guys! I can post more tips from the book below if you’re interested

Ok! Here are the 7 Commonly believed Myths that the book debunks, lmk if you want me to expand on each! 1. Our Thoughts are under Our Control -most of our thoughts aren’t under our conscious control. This often leads to the misconception of replacing negative thoughts with positive ones. It’s important to change your relationship with the thoughts themselves. 2. Our Thoughts Indicate Our Character -thoughts have nothing to do with your character. Character is what you choose to do or not do. A thought is not a fact or statement about your self. 3. Our Thoughts Indicate the Inner Self -thoughts aren’t ‘paths to our inner selves’. Everyone has weird thoughts. There is no truth that the blips of intrusive thoughts and images reveal underlying truths of ourselves. 4. The Unconscious Mind Can Affect Actions -an example is the belief that thoughts of doubt are messages, signals or warnings from the wiser, more perceptive unconscious. It is not true that feared thoughts are fueled by underlying wishes or warnings that should be heeded. 5. Thinking Something Makes it Likely to Happen - some people believe that negative attracts negative and positive attracts positive. (I believe Chrissy Hodges has a video about the ‘law of attraction). This is called thought-action fusion, or magical thinking. A thought is not a message of what is about to happen. Your thoughts cannot make unwanted actions or events happen. 6. Thinking Something Makes it Unlikely to Happen -People sometimes believe that thinking about something will make it less likely to happen. For example, that worrying about someone is a way to protect them. Thoughts don’t change probabilities in real life. 7. Only Sick People Have Intrusive Thoughts - just about everybody has weird thoughts. Apparently Mother Teresa had unwanted intrusive thoughts. It’s just a part of being human. For people with OCD, the thoughts tend to stick. The stickiness is because of our thoughts and feelings towards these intrusive thoughts. 8. Every Thought is Worth Thinking -our brains are like cable TV and have many different channels on at once. It’s impossible to think about them all. It’s also like how when there’s a song stuck in your head. You didn’t really choose it, it just popped up. You can sing along or you can try to go about your day and ignore it. 9. Thoughts that Repeat are Important -You may believe that thoughts that repeat must be important. It seems like if they weren’t important, then they would just leave. This isn’t true. Thoughts actually tend to repeat if they are resisted or pushed away. It’s like when you’re trying to fall asleep and all you think about is how you’re trying to sleep. The thoughts amplify when you try and push them out. Love y’all, let’s get through this together 💪💪💪

please !