I was struggling with the same thing with my ocd intrusive thoughts in my NOCD therapy because I didn’t understand the accepting uncertainty. My therapist wanted me to say maybe, maybe not and in my mind that was 50/50 chance. Now some of my intrusive thoughts were so abhorrent and terrifying I couldn’t possibly imagine saying that. Then I read online that accepting uncertainty can be 1 out of any number. And this has helped tremendously. So for example I would say sure there’s a 1% chance this intrusive thought could be true out of a million, billion, trillion. They way I now do it is I say: sure there is a 0.000000000000000000001% that what my ocd is saying is true, but there is also a 99.99999999999999999999% chance it’s not true, sure there’s a smidge of a chance but I can accept that uncertainty. I’m more likely to have a multi car accident on the motorway, and a plane fall out of the sky into the wreckage of my car which then gets ploughed into by a coach and a nearby train de-rails and smashes into this pile of cars, coaches and airplanes and causes an enormous explosion killing hundreds of people! It’s has really helped me begin to recover because it puts into perspective how ridiculous my ocd is. It takes the wind right out of its sails. I’m not there yet but I feel this has helped me make big strides in my recovery. Maybe it could help you too?
Yes! This is very helpful information. Thank you for sharing! Now I just need to work on the second part of the problem…purposely thinking the thoughts which to me is just as bad as doing it in real life.
Yes, this has been huge for me too. I have nothing Harm OCD and Pure O as well as a few others. I think people with OCD get confused about the difference between possible and likely. For example I like kinda close to an airport. So I see planes flying over a lot. Its possible one could fall out of the sky, burst into flames and kill me as I sit out on my patio. Is it possible yes. Is it likely? No. Anything is possible. We are never going to get a 100% guarantee that it won't happen. But as you said realizing that there is a 99.99% chance it won't happen makes it much easier to sit with the uncertainty. Its not like we are being asked to walk off a 200 ft cliff. We are being asked to step off a curb.
I love this way of looking at it. It is very amusing! Thank you!
I have a very vivid imagination. Sometimes I almost want to laugh at some of the crazy scenarios and thoughts my brain comes up with. It definitely gets an A for creativity and originality.