Stress Center Peer Support

Hello all,
Does anyone know if an obsessive scary thought can be a thought of a violent phrase? For instance, like the phrase, "hurt him." I am sure this is not an audible voice but I doubt myself sometimes and wonder is this a thought or a voice? How can you tell the difference? But, I'm pretty sure it is a thought that I think. It causes me anxiety. I think it all started when I was doing some "what if" thinking and I thought, "what if i go crazy and start hearing voices that tell me to do something like hurt him, or kill him?" Then, the phrase stuck. I've noticed it only comes up when I start getting anxious and thinking, "what if I think that right now?" Can anyone relate? Thanks...

Personally I use this as the barometer for crazy/not crazy:

If you think you're crazy, you're not. Crazy people think everyone else is crazy.

I've had phrases stick in my head (complete with sound effects) that scared me. I remember once I saw the original "Shining" and the kids voice saying "Redrum" stuck in my head, and freaked me out. I think if you gave the statement no importance in your life, it would soon pass with no effects. Given you're prone to anxiety/OCD, you're giving it more importance that it deserves, and frankly probably using it as a way to distract yourself from something else. Ask yourself, "what's going on in my life that I'm distracting myself with these scary thoughts?" Putting something off?...in a bad relationship?...Spending/eating too much?

You don't have to answer, of course, I'm just challenging you to recognize that these scary thoughts are just a distraction. Good luck.

hey growing2,

I have had phrases like that too. And they use to scare me because in my head they were not coming after the words what if... But here is a link to a video that really helped me and others here on the forum out. it is Dr. Steven Phillipson, a leading expert in OCD and scary thoughts. He is explaining a lot of what we go through. Check it out.

http://www.vimeo.com/1120239

Hope this helps you

Eddy J

Thank you guys so much for your replies. I feel a lot better. The link was informative too. Anxiety can take so many different forms!!