Am i the only one that gets anxiety from thinking about thinking

I understand. Avoidance isn't helping you. Ask yourself "what exactly am I afraid of?" Thoughts are only thoughts. We're just hyper aware of them.

@JaJoWo For sure, avoidance definitely makes things worse. And that’s a great question, I guess I’m scared of the thought happening but it’s literally a thought and has no power. My mom tells me that too, I just need to learn to accept that and not let the fear cloud logic and reality

@Where’sMySerotonin🦋 I like to remind myself (since I've had OCD for years) that when it's a horrible thought that I've several times in the past, I remind myself that it's never come true despite my worse flare ups so what's so special about it now that'd make it come true? Just knowing it's OCD chattering helps a lot.

@JaJoWo EXACTLY! I thought that too! I was doing really good for a while and resisting compulsions pretty well but I recently had a setback :/ there was a few coincidences where I had a magical thinking OCD thoughts and something happened, so that’s making me scared. Obviously the thing didn’t happen cause I thought it, but you know how OCD is

@Where’sMySerotonin🦋 Setbacks happen to everyone, in any form. OCD people or not. Don't let it discourage you. If you didn't have a setback then you wouldn't be human! I use a technique and it works VERY WELL for me. I have my own terms so apologies if I'm using the wrong words but... Whenever I have that "moment of clarity," you know, that special moment when you realize how silly your obsession is and you know how far off you are with the belief? I use that moment and I label it as an "anchor." So basically when I'm obsessing over some fear or bizarre thought, I reflect back to that special moment of clarity (the anchor) when my brain previously recognized the obsession was bizarre and irrational. I'll grab on to it so it forces me to remember the time my brain was clear and I can downplay my obsession and recognize it as invalid. It really helps a lot and has completely crushed or prevented old obsessions from flaring up.

@JaJoWo Oh wow, I’m so happy that you found something that works for you!!! I’ll definitely give that a try 😊 that definitely sounds like something that would work for me too!

Honestly,as time passes by,you just learn to accept and live with it,for me i go through many intrusive thoughts throught the day like these and they dont really bother me like that anymore,at times they do but i just remember that you’ll probably be on the next one a few hours later and another tip is,just distract yourself with something you enjoy.