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Intrusive thoughts are fading, best next step?


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I've been finding my intrusive thoughts and images are fading a bit now, not as frequent and not as powerful.  I've been practicing mindfulness and just letting the thoughts be, ignoring sensations etc but I'm still being hit hard by the "branches" its spouted especially anxiety, depression, mind-reading and future-thinking.  What might be the next major step I need to take in this forums opinion?  I've been doing CBT and am on meds and their helping but mentally I'm still very unsure about how I should be progressing.  Thank you in advance.  

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Hi Zazoo. 

Re the future thinking , not sure what you mean precisely as I don't recognise it as a usual cognitive distortion like mind-reading is. 

But what I can advise is that worry or concern about the future is as you seem to appreciate not helpful. 

So I would suggest you believe that with the help of CBT the meds and forum support you will continue to make progress with your OCD.

Imagine that you are the captain of a large ship.

If part of the ship breaches, after necessary evacuation the captain can press a button and watertight bulkheads will seal off that section, protecting the rest of the ship. 

So imagine you can press a mental button and a bulkhead will close shutting off the future, leaving you working simply on your issues in the present. 

Mind-reading in its simplest form is deciding that someone else is thinking negatively about you. 

From what I have learned, CBT deals with mind-reading by considering the rational response. So look for the evidence that what you are mind-reading is true, and consider that more likely you are inventing it and the likely impression of the other person would not be so negative. 

Re your progress on the OCD, you are doing well. OCD is a devastating disorder especially with intrusions and connections you are experiencing - I know because it also affects me this way. 

There are methods you can use to defuse the power of thoughts. Use the search field top right, then after the initial response select "defusion"  in the content title only. This will greatly reduce the searches to explore. You can use the same technique to search for other information. 

I find writing a great way to refocus from intrusions. Also doing a couple of things, that are safe to do, simultaneously such as washing up while listening to the radio. The OCD then has less chance to impact conscious thinking. 

Edited by taurean
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