Keep scaring myself - why?

EddyJ · Post by **EddyJ** » Sat Jul 03, 2010 10:59 am

Hey,

I want to recommend a book for you. This kind of OCD called Pure-O is fairly recent that they have been treating it. Most of the literature out there is about ritualizers like hand washers or hoarders. But I found a book through BarnesandNoble.com that is specifically about obsessive intrusive thoughts.

Overcoming Obsessive Thoughts - Christine Purdon and David A. Clark

My therapist is a specialist in OCD and she has gone to some of the conventions where Christine Purdon has spoken and she says she is very good.

Also The Imp of the Mind by Lee Baer helped me tremendously

Best wishes

Eddy J

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Jul 03, 2010 3:48 pm

Eddy your response about living with uncertainty is brilliant. I think this is what drives ocd. OCD strives for perfection, and it's the compulsion/runimations we do to achieve this perfection. This however is impossible to achieve. And even if you do put something to ease, the obsessions are just going to go to something else because that is the nature of OCD. For me, I feel I have to pray to God to thank him every time I have some success with my ocd. A also feel I have to constantly tell him that this is not me saying these things. I have had much success with my overcoming my ocd thoughts lately, and this part is the only part that is left. I think God knows these thoughts do not belong to me, and that I don't need to tell him that anymore. Instead of trying to make it "feel right" I will just live with this uncertainty.

EddyJ · Post by **EddyJ** » Sun Jul 04, 2010 7:54 am

Hey,

Living with uncertainty is the key. But I believe God knows who you are from the OCD, he knows everything right? I thank god for everyday, not because I have to or feel the need to ritualize, but because I am genuinely grateful. So the fact you do it is not a bad thing

. Its nice to give god some of these thoughts, hes always listening after all.

Your right that is how obsessions work, the thoughts themselves dont matter. But use your experience that got you this far

You seem like you have gotten far with this. God Bless

EddyJ

JL20 · Post by **JL20** » Sun Aug 01, 2010 10:16 am

I find myself doing the same thing! especially after my first session with a psychiatrist (where they have to ask questions for an evaluation such as "do you see things that aren't there, or do you hear voices") I know that I don't but after they asked me I began to constantly question everything, if I hear a noise i constantly ask the person i"m with "you heard that right?" and of course, the answer is yes. I agree with what everyone else said over and over again, ocd is a doubting disease it even makes you doubt what you know is and is not. Good luck and you are not alone!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Aug 05, 2010 3:03 pm

I know exactly what you mean about doubting everything. I too doubt anything and everything, and could easily convince myself or create a new obsession out of something meaningless. This is really the way we look at things, we just take neutral things and twist them around until they become threatening and then obsess over them. I think once we do this enough, we expect it to happen with everything. At this point we begin to doubt what we once knew, and ocd now runs everything. Like I said before however, I think this can be reversed and that ocd can be beaten mostly. I have been doing erp on myself, and recently started therapy with a psychologist. I feel 50% better, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I think once we learn not to react to these irrational fears and to live with doubt and uncertainty, our minds begin to shift back to "normal". mode.

highanxiety · Post by **highanxiety** » Sat Aug 07, 2010 11:57 am

I am so glad uve said that football00, i thought that was just me and i was crazy! I can create obsessions out of something completley random and make myself 'sick' by thinking the thoughts until they become 'threatening to my sanity'. I am constantly waiting for the next thing to obsess or become anxious over i just wish it would go away for good. Mostly I can control it, but i go through periods of 'complete meltdown mode' where i constantly feel anxious, get weird thoughts etc for no reason. I am also obsessed with my obsessing and have lost interest in many other things in my life. I think that this all comes from a deep rooted fear of going crazy though, i still dont know the answer but i sure as hell dont want this for the rest of my life!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Aug 07, 2010 12:40 pm

If we can take something random (something that does not have any importance of relevance to us) and purposely try to create an obsession out of it, and successfully do, then this proves why so many random, bizarre things become obsessions. So if we take neutral things and perceive them as threatening then we are not crazy, we just have a distorted way of looking at things. We understand these distortions, but it is the anxiety that keeps the cycle going. It really is nothing more than that. Whether it is a thought that if you see the number 6 your child will die, or something bad will happen to God, or you are homosexual, or you want to stab someone you love, the context of these thoughts means nothing, it's just the anxiety distorting the way we look at things. With high levels of anxiety comes high levels of uncertainty and doubt, and these things can indeed create the most bizarre, illogical thought and thinking habits.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Aug 08, 2010 3:33 am

Juts something I want to add that I was just thinking about. I remember a long time ago I kept on thinking about breathing, so instead of just letting it happen, I would constantly think about breathing, and when I should do it, and this caused me to have breathing problems. Here I took something that is not suppose to be paid any attention to and made it a serious problem. If most people thought about breathing, maybe they would think about it right then and there, but their minds would not fixate on thinking about breathing, they would forget about the idea and move on, and breathing would just happen unconsciously and naturally. With the ocd person, we would keep thinking about breathing, and turn it into a problem. Our minds would get fixated on it and it would become an obsession. I actually remember doing this about 10 years ago, and it made me think that this is really how all obsessions are formed. We just react and get fixated on things that should not be paid attention to. I just want to say again how I really think this can be beaten. I think just how we can train our minds to make something an obsession, they we can train our minds to look at it from the other side as well, the "normal" side.

highanxiety · Post by **highanxiety** » Wed Aug 11, 2010 3:33 am

SNAP! Ive had that same obsession too. Like i had to consciously 'think' to breath. That went away with time. About a week or so i had that one and it just faded away. Once i have got rid of one obsession i think of another. The latest obsession i have is to be afraid of 'men' like i said completley random and weird and out of the blue! I am a woman i have a boyfriend i know the fear is irrational and i darent tell anyone about it. I even keep going up to men to talk to them just to prove myself and the ocd wrong. The thoughts then shift too, well what if i can no longer live with my boyfriend? What if i am afraid of 'people/humans' all together? What if i end up a recluse for the rest of my life? I am seeing a therapist and she seems to think this will pass and told me to just let the thoughts come the trouble is the thoughts are so scary when they do i am certain i am crazy and she has missed something. Not having a great time right now, but i beat the other obsessions and went into remission for about 2 years so im sure i can beat this one too!

brandonmississippi · Post by **brandonmississippi** » Wed Aug 11, 2010 6:36 am

I relate a good bit. Every day there's a new obsession. About something so stupid, and I sit there and ponder until I feel like I am brain dead. It totally disables me from doing the things I should be doing. And it's like I could try to go on with other activities, but I don't for fear of not being able to solve what i'm thinking about. My obsessions are 99% about right and wrong, in one form or the other. I feel insane sometimes!!!!!!

AHHHHH.. "Jumping off building" JK This sucks