Successfully beating an intrusive thought?! Oh yes

[Dudley]

I have a rather proud moment to share.

The other night, one of my cats was asleep on my bed when the smaller cat came in and bopped the bigger one on the head while he was asleep. They started to fight and the bigger one was yelling and growling (something he never, ever does). They both ran out of the room, chasing after each other.

Since they were fighting so angrily, I immediately thought they would kill each other or roll down the stairs or something and die. This became an intrusive thought: "get up and check, your cats are dead."

After a few minutes of this, I just started to think things through logically. The big cat is so fat and low to the ground, it would be next to impossible for him to get hurting going down the stairs. The little one is so light, he couldn't do any actual harm to the big one.

The thought just dried up like a puddle in the sun! Logical thinking actually beat an intrusive thought! I got a good night's sleep, no OCD or anxiety all night! It can be done!

 

[getbornagain]

Good work. I also had an incredibly successful day with fighting the obsessions, however, I noticed as the OCD took a back seat, my generalized anxiety went up. I couldn't be myself in public. Weird, but expected.

 

[DaaaBulls]

If you can catch an OCD thought right when it starts and tell yourself, "hey this is just an ocd moment" then you can hopefully stop it before it keeps going. But once it gets going it sucks

 

[Dudley]

Agreed, realizing it before it gets out of hand is a huge help in beating them.

 

[Sacrament]

Good work. I also had an incredibly successful day with fighting the obsessions, however, I noticed as the OCD took a back seat, my generalized anxiety went up. I couldn't be myself in public. Weird, but expected.

That's because you've let OCD become your biggest personality trait. Keep on fighting it, though.

 

[Ryobi]

Yes, I use this kind of thinking for intrusive thoughts and even situations when anxiety sets in. It does really help to think 'they can't be talking about you because of this reason, this reason and this reason' or after watching Criminal Minds; 'there are no serial killers loose in your area, you have already checked the database while watching the show to make sure no suspicious characters have been seen around your suburb also the chances are incredibly low because of this and this, you're being paranoid, go to sleep' etc.

The only problem I find with the method, is that a lot of time, I find I need to instead get up and find more proof as to why I shouldn't get up and obey and intrusive thought to begin with. Which just sets me back up at square one.

However, I don't have OCD, I haven't been diagnosed with anything officially, so this is just a personal problem.

 

[Tyguy]

Any time you tell yourself "NO!" when an obsession comes is a moment of victory and helps future obsessions assuage themselves. Try applying this to everything. When you have a developing obsessions, let reason and logic dictate the obvious answer. Anxiety will skyrocket, but that's what you want. You want to be able to be put in those anxious situations and not succumb.

 

[x000x]

One of my four cats like to sniff the stuff in the refrigerator when I open it. Whenever i close the refrigerator door I think "Oh no, I closed the cat in there!" or "Check to make sure the cat is not closed inside". And I check one or two (sometimes three) times to make sure that I did not accidentally close him in there. I've only been able to beat this thought about 25% of the time. The other 75% of the time I check to make sure he isn't closed in there. So yeah, that's just a weird one that I have.

 

[getbornagain]

Any time you tell yourself "NO!" when an obsession comes is a moment of victory and helps future obsessions assuage themselves. Try applying this to everything. When you have a developing obsessions, let reason and logic dictate the obvious answer. Anxiety will skyrocket, but that's what you want. You want to be able to be put in those anxious situations and not succumb.

I agree and disagree. Saying NO every time you get the thought is effective when it comes to avoiding compulsions. That is a definite step in the right direction. But saying NO every time you get a thought is still considered acknowledging the OCDs presence. When you truly bury it, you get the thought but give it absolutely no attention, and after this habit is developed the level of anxiety created by each thought lessens over time, and eventually frequency lessens as well. It is all about consistency; as we all know, relapse is VERY hard to overcome.

I am yet to completely bury mine.

 

[getbornagain]

That's because you've let OCD become your biggest personality trait. Keep on fighting it, though.

Absolutely true. I am a very sociable person, I never had problems in the social network before OCD took my life over. I understand everything is all in my head. I am hoping to attain mental discipline in the near future and be myself again.

 

[Tyguy]

I agree and disagree. Saying NO every time you get the thought is effective when it comes to avoiding compulsions. That is a definite step in the right direction. But saying NO every time you get a thought is still considered acknowledging the OCDs presence. When you truly bury it, you get the thought but give it absolutely no attention, and after this habit is developed the level of anxiety created by each thought lessens over time, and eventually frequency lessens as well. It is all about consistency; as we all know, relapse is VERY hard to overcome.

I am yet to completely bury mine.

Over time, yes, the thoughts will diminish in capacity. However, as presented in the OP's case, their obsessions are not in a state where they can even control them. Baby Steps