OCD and The Secret

[Moonbird]

has anybody watched The Secret, with the hole having positive energy and the things u want will happen.

I really think this is like a OCD provoker. I watched it long ago and for someone with ocd this is really a bad thing. it just emphasises the hole negative positive connotation to everything and drives u to believe that ur irrational behavior can really really affect u.

Also has anybody had the effects of the actions and thoughts come true

 

[MsBuzzkillington]

I was actually thinking about this same thing earlier today.

People with OCD, do their rituals because they are trying to prevent something from happening. (well.. some people anyway)

Thoughts do not make something come true. If you think something negative, it's not going to come true, just because you thought it. It's not that we have the supernatural power to control things with our thoughts, I think what The Secret is trying to say is it's mostly that having a positive attitude will help you obtain the things you want.

If you believe that you can do something and focus your energy on making that happen, it will have a better chance of coming true than if you just sat around and thought about it. This could work with getting a job, the more positive you are about getting it, the better chance you will have.

I am not doing a very good job of explaining things.

But on the other hand, if you are always negative and down (I am definitely guilty of this) everything else seems to kind of, fall negatively around you. Mostly because the drive to make things better, isn't really there. It's mostly just wishing it was different. But not really taking action.

Of course there are a bunch of different actions that have to take place and a bunch of different variables.

So it's not just, you think something and then poof a year later it happens.

 

[Aussie_Lad]

For anything to come true with the LOA (Law of Attraction), firstly you must subconciously believe that it will come true and also put some emotion behind it. However just because you do this does not mean that you will attract this. If you have contradicting thoughts that are powerful enough, then they will in affect void the future transaction. Is it any wonder that people can't use the LOA to full advantage, because most people think contradicting thoughts all the time.

"I want a new car, but cannot afford it"
"I want a relationship, but no-one likes me"
"I want to give up smoking, but smoking relaxes me and I can't handle the stress otherwise"
"I want a job, but employers are looking for experience and I have none".

So yes you can attract bad things by thinking about them. I did have one incident which proved this to me, which I won't go into at this time, but it opened my eyes as to what can happen when you think negative thoughts.

 

[daisy123]

Moonbird - I joined just to reply to your post.

I saw your post on the other thread, and I know how you feel. Haven't actually seen any other posts that describe my situation so well, so I think I kinda know what you're going through.

My OCD is basically about indecision. I feel like EVERY little action I do can have consequences..bad ones. And it's always the little things. What I eat, the music I listen to, which cup I use, which pen I use, wether I read this book or not. Even while typing this i'm doubting if its the right decision. These feelings have no logic behind them and they drive you crazy because you want to do something, but there's this weird voice inside of you going "are you sure this is right? doesn't doing this feel better?".

The worst thing is when nothing has that "right feeling" and you have no idea what to do.

My advice would have to be; try and label these feelings as "OCD", and realise they're not real.

This tends to work for me temporarily, but after a while I think to myself "is this actually intuition?". That's the problem with this idecisiveness, you never know if it's the OCD telling you that you're making the wrong choice, or if it's intuition. Basically when I think it's intuition, I go ahead and give into the OCD....which drives me absolutely nuts.

 

[Feathers]

oh gosh, daisy 123, thank you for posting!!

I can soo relate...

I actually believe in the LoA thing, like Aussie_Lad said, you can have many subconscious obstacles... and like Miss Buzz said, it's attitude+action most often that makes things happen!!

I've had things happen that may have been LoA in action... or just a funny way how the Universe works.. I don't know... I only know some things happened when I pictured a positive outcome and felt good about it... then let it go.. and sometimes forgot all about it, or was cool with either option happening (I had backup plan and such) 'if it's meant to happen, it will' or something like that..
relax and easygoing, or excited, like, oh wouldn't it be FUN if this happened?? (and when I was worrying and picturing the worst, or eaten up by self-doubt, they didn't... lol..)

There's an element to LoA to really let go and don't expect anything, and if it happens, it happens... this may be really hard to do sometimes, and maybe it's the hardest thing of all..

Also, a lot of this LoA talk may be just heavy marketing... A lot of people have written about similar stuff ages ago...
And even those kind of books say thoughts do not really determine who you are and what happens.. you determine the thoughts...

We are all also different.. A friend of mine says that things really only get better when she 'gives up', kinda the same as I wrote above, I think, to 'let go'.. Some people also do this naturally (picturing themselves in a new outfit or car, with a new person...)

Some may have too much negative self-talk and thoughts from before so that CBT/de-negativizing or other things like EFT/TAT/etc may be really helpful to counter those negative thoughts that can 'hamper' one and replace them with more constructive ones that actually allow one to change behavior and do better things... (Louise Hay and CBT describe this nicely)

So it's not just LoA, you can use it in combination with other things/approaches... I haven't watched The Secret mind you, it seemed hugely overblown at the time lol.. I watched Louise Hay's film on YouTube, it was quite interesting... Though it's important to go for the overall message, not obsess over every little individual thought.. some people even went as far as to 'blame' others for thinking negatively that got'em ill... This can be a danger.. Don't go there..

Our thoughts can be influenced by various things, like nutrition, environment, and toxics etc. And yes, even things that happen to us, people around us... So it's a combination of factors...

It's good to go for constructive thoughts and approaches - if LoA doesn't work for you, something else may be way better!!

 

[ulinerjohn]

The Secret does not teach you to be a rational person . It teaches you to be an emotional person . That means to move away from pain as much as possible . But you can't really run away from that . Yin and Yang happens in this reality no matter what you do . So being emotional all the time has it's perils . Also being rational all the time has it's perils . So what do you really do ? Well ... society teaches you to work 5 days a week and on 7'th day to go to church and rest . So you are being a more rational person 5 days a week and on 7'th day you rest and charge your batteries . You must expend energy in order to get healthy energy back . Moving away from the bad energy all the time is not a solution . Viktor Frankl said for example that ... that tension you feel inside your brain is very healthy for the brain !!

 

[ulinerjohn]

In the movie the Secret ... there is a guy who says you should take a rock in your pocket every time you feel down . Well ... that is OCD . That movie only guarantied for sure , success , for the persons who made the movie .

What you need is healthy energy ... that means expending energy to get energy back .

 

[ulinerjohn]

Thoughts are just like lighting ... it can't hurt you if they don't hit the ground . If electrical discharge is made only between clouds ... there is no danger for you on the ground .But if lighting is done to the ground ... then that lighting will hurt you in some way . You will get an electrical discharge through your body , which for a thought means anxiety . You will then try to compensate that anxiety with a ritual that makes you feel good .... but you don't need to do that . Just witness your thoughts detached ... like it wasn't about you . And switch that attention to something that is about what you want ... . Sail that ship from that storm to good peaceful waters ... meaning using your attention ( rudder ) and the wind ( breath ) . When you get anxiety ... your stomac tends to tighten ... that means that the real danger is that feeling right there .. which you can move from with the help of your breath .

Pranayama is 2000 years old maybe ... I don't say anything new !!

 

[kirikeks]

I find that too much of this superficial stuff gets me into ruminating alot and thinking and trying to "understand" and figure out and somehow "control" my thoughts which of course never works and then at some point i just freak out becouse i "fear" that i kinda F**ed up my whole mind.

Yeah... ocd is tricky.... i now read this book now called: freedom from ocd

its really good i think and it emphasises that the actual key is accepting the uncertainties behind all the "what ifs".

Most chapters tell you things like this:

"Yes i could loose my mind, rape someone, go to hell, (attract "bad" laws of attraction) or whatever but i will fight this ocd and resist the urge to neutralize, its not worth it."


Also response prevention seems to be pretty good. It pretty much tells you to "stay" in the fear/anxiety and not to neutralize, becouse thats how to get better in the long run.



And if you want to laugh about "the secret" the watch the act dave chapelle made on it

 

[MotherWolff]

has anybody watched The Secret, with the hole having positive energy and the things u want will happen.

I really think this is like a OCD provoker. I watched it long ago and for someone with ocd this is really a bad thing. it just emphasises the hole negative positive connotation to everything and drives u to believe that ur irrational behavior can really really affect u.

Also has anybody had the effects of the actions and thoughts come true

I think The Secret was just saying that the way we think creates our reality.

Like, you could be the most powerful person in the world and still be suicidal because of negative thinking.

 

[EasySkanking]

I don't know how to best say this, so I will just say it. Hopefully it'll help someone out there. The Secret/The law of Attraction is all bullshit. Plus, it's extremely dangerous for people who have mental illnesses already. Just the idea that your thoughts create everything in your life, should sound crazy enough... and it is. People who come up with such things are usually schizophrenic and really believe the things that they say and really are trying to help people... what they don't realize is that they're crazy. The tricky thing about such things is that they do make sense and are even intelligent. The mistake that we make is to think that we're too intelligent to be fooled... but it's not so, anyone can be fooled - the most intelligent and the most dumb. Just because something makes sense it doesn't mean that it's true, it's a mistake that we often make: to think that something is true simply because it's reasonable or makes sense.

My advice: stay away from the law of attraction. It's dangerous.

 

[ApplePie4Kitty]

I know about the secret. I try to make it part of my life

 

[gustavofring]

I think it and many self-help stuff can lead to "psyching oneself out" and becoming obsessed and restless.

Constantly having all those catch phrases in your mind and stuff, spending more time reading the books then actually dealing with problems. You basically become brainwashed. Like a drug, it may help on the short term, but then the high wears off and people fall right back into old routines. It's not a lasting thing. People with mental illness benefit from some practical help, steady routine, healthy habits, rest in their heads, and physical and mental energy, not some kooky philosophy made up by other people. I'm not against positive thinking, but thoughts can really only do so much and are not the basis for everything.