- Date posted
- 3y
- Date posted
- 3y
Hi! Do you mean intrusive thoughts (upsetting thoughts that pop into your head; not something you can control) or mental compulsions (things you think on purpose to make your anxiety go away; for example analyzing or “replacing” your intrusive thoughts).
- Date posted
- 3y
Yes they’re intrusive thoughts, but they’re compulsive as they won’t go away. For example if I don’t do something a certain amount of times someone I know will get sick (even tho I know it’s not true my mind makes me think it will happen). They’re disturbing thoughts like this I can’t control and don’t know how to cope with them. I’ve limited my daily activities at times due to these thoughts because they begin to cause me major distress
- Date posted
- 3y
@ching I’m sorry you’re going through this. I know how hard it is. Intrusive thoughts are one of the main features of OCD. Everyone gets intrusive thoughts, but while most people are able to totally ignore them as irrelevant background noise, people with OCD assign meaning to the thoughts and do compulsions to try to make them go away. One compulsion is avoidance: limiting your daily activities may be avoidant behavior. I HIGHLY recommend working with an ERP therapist if you can. In ERP, you do Exposures that confront you with your fears (for example reading articles about illness) and learn Response Prevention techniques to help you stop doing compulsions in response to your fears. When you stop reacting to the thoughts, they don’t go away entirely, but your brain learns that the thoughts are irrelevant and that you don’t need to panic or pay attention to them. ERP helps people live normally and focus on the things they love and care about rather than focusing on their fears and intrusive thoughts. I hope that makes sense! If you’re able to, start therapy with a NOCD therapist! It’s life-changing.
- Date posted
- 3y
My counselor sent me this. It helped a lot https://www.sheppardpratt.org/news-views/story/how-to-respond-to-unwanted-obsessive-thoughts/
Related posts
- Date posted
- 24w
I’m having a big OCD relapse and would like to hear anyone’s tips on how to be present and healthily deal with these intrusive thoughts and the “need” to preform compulsions. Thank you!!
- Date posted
- 24w
whats up guys what are some tips dealing with ocd and what to do when a thought makes u anxious ??
- Date posted
- 23w
I struggle so bad with intrusive thoughts. They can be so bad that I'll cry because I KNOW that's not how I feel or want to do. (Too embarrassed to say what they're about) I'll constantly try to figure out why I have them, and constantly figure out what they mean, causing me to constantly circle around and around. I had to get on anxeity meds, which helped a little but the thoughts still happen. How do you help yourself with this? How do you know that you're just not some physcopath? 😅
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