Intrusive Thoughts/Compulsions - "The Four Steps" - Breaking Free From Being "Stuck"

[taurean]

I have read a lot of posts on this forum and time and again I see the same issues holding people back/causing them to post for re-assurance.

So I thought I would make this post to try and help people so they perhaps had a better understanding of why it is with OCD that they must put in the work, and they must experience the anxiety and be patient, in order to break away from being "stuck".

OCD thoughts/visuals are false messages to our brain. I first experienced this back in 1971 when, going out for the evening, I used a hair lacquer (common in those days) then was plagued all night by thoughts that i had sprayed my hair with paint! I didn't know until much later that this was OCD. Another time when using fibreglass I suddenly had the thought that all my clothes were made of fibreglass, and my whole skin would erupt in a vicious reaction to it.

Now I hadn't sprayed my hair with paint, nor were my clothes made of fibreglass - i knew that - nevertheless I experienced these intrusive and repetitive thoughts.

I managed to deal with them by rational response - and they eased away- the "brainlock" causing these thoughts and repetitions was not too bad then.

Where we get problems with The Fours Steps (an OCD management system set out in the book "Brainlock") seems to me to be that we need to anticipate getting these thoughts, or that others in a different guise will present themselves, suggesting doubt, demandfing certainty - so that we are ready to re-attribute them to OCD - without posting onto the forum and crying out for help and re-assurance.

We also need to be aware that because the biochemical inbalance in the parts of the frontal lobe of the brain is at the heart of our problems, it can take weeks or months to retrain the brain ourselves so that our OCD issues are minimalised. People on the forum panic when they get more intrusions after starting the programme - they should be expected and dealt with as per the original thoughts. Patience therefore is paramount, it is pointless and improbable to expect very quick results especially on thought intrusions.

And what we are seeking to do in the programme is not respond to the thoughts and urges, we can't make them disappear and we can't control them.

In the refocus mode - step 3 - we need to acknowledge that because of the power of the compulsive thought/image, we may only be able to manage this for small periods initially. The programme suggest starting with 15 minutes, and gradually looking to extend from that; the actual timescale is going to depend on the individual.

So, recognise the OCD at work, expect the intrusions , expect compulsive urges to be strong when looking to wean away from them, don't beat yourself up when you give in to compulsions, seek to do better the next time.

And resist re-assurance-seeking.

Edited September 20, 2014 by taurean

[Guest lizinlondon]

Why do you think we get more intrusive thoughts when we.start the programme? I.had this experience.

[taurean]

Whatever "existence" OCD has within us, it does seem to have the ability to know when it's threatened, and it is certainly a formidable foe and can try new tacks to get over its message of fear,doubt and uncertainty.

I think that is why we are told to expect intrusions/compulsive urges anytime really, and to be ready not to engage with them, to resist the compulsions, work out a graded hierarchy to wean ourselves off them.

Re-assurance-seeking, other than to check some specific in the therapy, just hooks people back into the cycle of distress - we have to stand up to the beast, and that does involve enduring discomfort and anxiety as we work through the programme.