- Username
- abx850
- Date posted
- 3y ago
The rumination is the compulsion and the way to break it is to do nothing with the thought. When it pops up, don’t engage with it. Look at something next to you or name 5 things you can see. Always redirecting the brain to see or do something else
Yes. When u start to notice your mind drifting in the direction of ruminating the thought..:redirect yourself to do what you need to focus on like ..oh I’m going to ruminate, imma finish reading my book. Or there goes that thought again I’m going to watch a show.
Your ocd is a tantruming child and giving It attention by engaging with it makes it stronger and scream louder
Mine was based of something real too then OCD likes to twist it around and make it lie on me. In a weird way it’s trying to protect me. It’s exhausting. All I can do is refocus and redirect my thoughts. Like bumpers on a bowling lane. The ball is the throught and it wants to go all over to the next lane (aka rumination ) so all I can do is but those bumpers up and redirect myself back to whatever game I need to focus on.
Oh my god mine sounds so similar. Honestly, even though this sucks so much, I’ve grown so much as a person. I developed a mediation habit, mindfulness, great exercise routine and all and I’m hella motivated. And i genuinely feel peaceful and happy at moments. I honestly feel in a few years I might look back and think this was like the best thing that happened to me, albeit incredibly draining and scary at the moment, because it’s shaped me into a more calibrated, peaceful and focused person.
Yes they’re called intrusive images! I have them too
They seem so damn real, it’s scary. And like the effect of ignoring a summons is also bad - like not that bad cuz it can be reversed. But then I’m like what if I get the other one instructing me I should vacate a default and forget about it? I’m basically just driving myself crazy thinking I’ve been summoned to court and forgetting about it, when I don’t recall anything.
@abx850 I have intrusive images and obsessions regarding legal stuff as well. The best thing to do is to not ruminate. If you read dr Michael Greenberg’s website he talks about it. It’s really helpful.
As in don’t give the thought credence, focus on the present moment, recognize that I’m ruminating and all and refocus on something important to me?
This is great thank you so much! Are you someone that has recovered from these legal fears and all that - mine is based on a real legal event (I won handedly thankfully) from like 2 years ago I just keep getting stuck on and being unable to move on. Even though like everyone is like “chill bro, live life, move the hell on”, but I’m like what if the Karen tries to find something stupid to get back at me again.
I totally get where you’re coming from. It’s something that changes you as a person since it was kinda traumatic. Maybe talking with a therapist who can do trauma work with that event and rumination could be helpful.
@flore122 Honestly I did that and it’s worked out great actually. I’ve even gotten into so much mindfulness, mediation and yoga stuff and I’ve been wanting to get back on social media and do all my exposures. But every time I feel like I get a handle on this stuff, I can control compulsions, and I genuinely feel at peace, a new fear pops up. Before it was about getting sued, now I’m not scared of that. It’s not knowing when someone comes to my door that I’ve been sued, which is so scary bc then I’m afraid of forgetting and all. It definitely was traumatic but I feel I’m not scared as much anymore. I’m just scared of it coming back that’s all... and I’ve even accepted uncertainty in that anyone can be sued, etc etc. but now this thing ugh.
@abx850 I get it. Totally trauma based. Have you ever looked into EMDR therapy?
@flore122 Oh my god, I have not but it looks amazing and also hella expensive haha. Thanks for sharing! Have you tried it?
@abx850 Yeah I did . Specifically for the legal event that happened. It helps reprocess the memory and put it to rest.
Initially I read your post to tell you that you are not alone, which you aren’t. Many OCD sufferers can have intrusive images as a part of intrusive thoughts. But now I only think it’s fair to let you know you have triggered me. I am named Karen. It has been hard to have my name turned into a derisive term for hateful, bigoted, racist, willfully ignorant women. It is also very distracting from the serious issues for which the women in questionable events of such negativity and hatred are called “Karen”. As in, hearing my own name despite the perpetrator of hate not being named Karen, naturally distracts me from the important issues at large. I don’t want to report this post because all the actual Karens I know are caring and understanding. However, I do think it’s right to stand up for ourselves. If letting you know how triggering it can be can help another Karen from losing sleep, then it’s worth it, even if I do sound like “I want to speak to the manager.” (And that last part is my coping mechanism to try to make light of the situation to counteract the sadness and distress.)
Hi everyone - having a pretty bad episode currently and can’t eat/sleep. On Thursday, I went out with my boyfriends friends and got a little too drunk. I remember getting to the bar and I made it home safely, I just don’t remember the in between. (I know the consequences of alcohol and OCD - this was an accident and will be avoided!) On Friday morning, I woke up in intense distress that something happened with one of his friends at the bar - so much so false (or real??) flashes of a memory popped in my mind. I can’t tell if it’s OCD again or real this time. Cheating ocd is a common theme for me but still feels really scary and real. I’ve avoided asking the guy bc that could come off bad/crazy or remind him it actually happened if it did?? But the guy liked my IG story and a post and it’s sent me spiraling. I feel (and my friends I’ve asked feel) if something actually happened I’d be confident that I did something bad and have heard something by now but what if the information is being hidden? I’ve been running all around on Reddit, forums google etc. for answers if it’s OCD. am I just faking the OCD fear to absolve myself of doing something bad? Is it real this time? It feels really bad and scary but I haven’t heard anything? It’s getting a bit better but is my mind just hiding it from me? Any tips? Please help. Would I know for sure if this happened? Would someone tell me? Help.
I always worry I’ve accidentally cut someone off in traffic and caused a major accident that I didn’t see. I always feel like I’m on the verge of being arrested at any moment for having unwittingly harmed someone. Sometimes I’ll turn around, others I’ll look online for traffic accident reports. Other times it just won’t get out of my head, and I just try to remember every detail to quell the anxiety. Sometimes I worry it’s not OCD, it’s paranoia…budding psychosis. If you feel safe/comfy, would you share your similar experiences?
I read multiple articles on false memory ocd an now I’m confused. I actually thought that false memory ocd is marked by things that are actually completely fabricated by the brain. But I keep seeing things like „an event that may or may not have happened“, does this mean that it could actually be true? Are there any ways how to find out if what you’re going through is real if it’s an actual bad act? Because for me I have been completely focused on false memory ocd lately and while I was ruminating on another one, I suddenly got an image of sth even worse that could maybe be like 7 or 8 months ago. I never remembered this happening and for months I’ve been convinced I had never hurt anybody but then I got this image. I instantly also thought that this didn’t happen and that I would definitely remember if it had happened because it’s actually horrible and it’s not just something you would quickly do and then completely forget, it’s an actual entire act. And I never was close to that person. But I keep being like „but what if I listened to my intrusive thoughts? But I can’t remember doing that and I even have posts on here from around that time saying I was too afraid of that person and that I would never ever listen to my intrusive thoughts… but what if I tried to get rid of my ocd theme by doing this? Nah that’s not what I would do and I know that… I’ve never done any harmful things just to get rid of this theme this is stupid“ etc etc. Like I keep fearing I might’ve done this and done it for various reasons. But I can’t actually remember doing it. All those scenarios feel like they’re just imaginations. But I can’t let go of it. And usually for memories it’s that with time you start to be able to puzzle it all together trough evidence and u don’t forget bad things you’ve done. For example, I know that like a year ago I pushed my sister while I was having an argument with her. I remember everything from then because in my entire life I’ve barely ever done anything to others and so I usually remember those events almost 100% perfectly. I also remember sth from almost 10 years ago in which I called one of my friends (and ik this is bad, that’s why I remember it) fat. I lost a few details but I still remember what exactly I did and that the exact same day I called the parents and apologised bc I felt bad. But for this scenario, I’ve been ruminating on it for TWENTY days and I’m still in the doubting stage. I have spent hours ruminating by now and I still don’t have any actual memories back, just things like „but what if I was mad and then just did this and instantly forgot about it?“ and all this. But not an actual full scenario of me doing this even though it could only be a few months away. Idk what To do, I can’t continue living with the uncertainty. If it’s real, then I won’t even continue living. People like these are terrible and disgusting and don’t deserve living and everybody can agree on that.
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