I get intrusive thoughts regularly, but I only spiraled once where it was really bad, and it ended up almost destroying me and begging for the knives to get locked away e.g. I really do not want it to be triggered in another direction, I think I am good with knives even though I get nervous that our knife block is up again but it would not be good if I had another spiral, I have managed to fend things off for a while by just breathing and reminding myself that a thought cannot harm me or change me to be a bad person all of a sudden but it keeps latching itself into my brain and sticking despite me letting go and not panicking about it, I am finding it exhausting and on my toes advice?
How do I prevent intrusive thoughts from ... - My OCD Community
How do I prevent intrusive thoughts from happening?
Hello - I'm sorry you're having trouble right now. I really am. Intrusive thoughts from harm OCD can be really troubling. However, this is a symptom of the OCD and not a judgement on yourself. OCD is a liar and a bully and tells us the opposite about ourselves. From your post I can gather that you're likely really kind and concerned about the people around you
Have you talked to a doctor and/or therapist about what you're dealing with? The goal with the medicine/therapy isn't to get rid of intrusive thoughts but to be able to tolerate them. Over time the brain gets bored and the thoughts get less intense. ERP is useful in this regard and is the gold standard in OCD treatment. What really helped me with harm OCD was realizing that OCD isn't a "thinking" problem but a "feeling" problem. If we didn't have such an intense reaction to the thoughts they wouldn't bother us! That's the difference between you and someone who would actually act on the thoughts. A person who wanted to hurt people would actually enjoy those thoughts.
It is possible to go weeks (or months) without having any OCD thoughts. I and many other people on this site are proof of that. It does take some work and it isn't easy, but I can say that it is possible.
I hope you find the peace you deserve my friend. May God bless you.
Thank you so much!!! I did bring it up with my therapist as it came on suddenly however he wasn't an ocd therapist as I was seeing him because of chronic nausea coneccted with emetophobia- his advice was to meditate and that was literally it so it didn't really help. Your kind words are so cherished, I can tell you are also a really sweet and nice person! It makes me feel better knowing and talking people who suffer the same as me, it helps with the convincing myself it is just a part of my ocd and I am genuinely not a bad person- although I get that now it could be a reassurance part of ocd constantly looking for that, but it makes me feel better so oh well. I didn't think of it as a feeling problem instead of a thinking problem- hopefully that will help change my view of it a bit so moving on it might help me a bit.
I think a thing as well is my main fear with the HOCD is that I DO enjoy and and I AM genuinely someone who wants that, so It generates a second intrusive thought- I think an intrusive urge or smthing? where it makes me question whether I do enjoy it or not- I obviously don't as I have never had the proper desire to do anything like that, but when I am deep into it I felt like I couldn't connect with other people with harm ocd as they all talked about having immediate strong reactions to it whereas I was more passive and what scared me more was the enoying the act instead of the act itself.
Nevertheless thank you so much for your kind words it truly helps me- I feel much calmer now and have a more sense of self knowing that I would never do anything to people like that god bless you I am glad you found your peace and continue to do so
I'm glad it helped 🙂
The constant questioning of whether you "enjoy" the thoughts is a classic OCD symptom. Years ago it was called "the doubting disease" for a reason. OCD can make you feel like you're alone or are broken. Know that this is not true and there are literally millions of people who want (and can) help! All you need to do is be brave and reach out 🙂
I think IStillHaveHope summed it up well. The only thing I would add is that the thoughts stick when we attach meaning to them or engage with them. Everyone has intrusive thoughts but it’s our response to them that can give or not give them power.
Thank you! I completely agree, thoughts only stick when we give them power- I think from now on since the whole look at the thought and let it leave is not really working for me, I am going to just look at the thought more intensely for a few seconds then just let it linger for however long it wants to- I found that when I did this it went quicker than we I immediately 'let it leave' lol cause I would always be checking to see if it was gone. Much love for your msg!
The goal isn’t to get rid of the thought or have it go away. It’s accepting it (acceptance doesn’t equal approval), not attaching meaning to it or engaging with it. The intrusive thought is a neutral thing. It’s just a thought, nothing more. An OCD intrusive thought will try to grab onto you through uncertainty and doubt related to something you value. It may seem urgent. They kind of remind me of spam mail that tries to grab your attention and demands that you urgently need to take action to avoid distress or a potential consequence. Looking at spam intensely gives it power. It gives it a chance to get a foothold.
no worries!
hello,
I am so sorry to hear you have been going through that. Know that worrying about worrying is also a way for ocd to try to latch on. Sometimes when I’m better I too have that fear of “I don’t want this to come back and be worse.” That is very normal to feel that way and very common for ocd to try and latch onto that. Know that this is nothing more then another ocd thought, and to treat it as such. Try not to give it emotion and rather shrug it off and saying things like “okay ocd, thank you for playing the same movie again” are things that really helped me.
thank you so much! I recently had a really bad dip, and this gave me some hope for recovery
You’re welcome. And just know that these bad dips do not define how you are recovering. This is a roller coaster. There will be days you feel really good, maybe even a few in a row, and then it dips back down a bit. That’s the time to not get frustrated and not get upset. But to recognize this is to be expected, and continue the hard work you are putting in.
honestly yes, Im feeling so much better because I've taken a step back and started my own erp since mental health services are taking so long- all the matters is I keep going with it and one day I can become someone without ocd for the first time in my life lol