Defusing OCD Intrusions - Easing Their Power

[taurean]

Engaging in any way, including overthinking ruminating, checking re-assurance seeking etc, will strengthen them plus bring on more.

We need to leave them be and carry on.

Here are some ideas as metaphors to aid that.

The intrusion is a just a puncture on an enjoyable cycle ride. Take out your kit, mend the tyre then ride off again.

The thought/image is just an unwanted guest at your party - ignore it, devote your time to the other guests and keep refocusing back to them when that guest tries to approach you - fill up the space around you.

Intrusions are turbulent waves on an otherwise calm sea. There may be 2 or 3 of these waves in your field of vision - note them, but focus on all the calm around them.

I was reading a book last night. I must have read several thousand words - OCD focused on a couple of words/phrases and sought to apply an OCD false meaning to them.

I saw what it was doing - realised those words - in the context of the story - were good, so refocused to that meaning and read on.

Typically with OCD, it highlighted just those words out of the several thousand I read.

Edited January 19, 2016 by taurean

[biscuitcat]

It's incredible how receptive ocd can be to related words.

I like to think about intrusive thoughts as dust when cleaning the house/moving furniture. When you get a thought the dust is flying around, instead of trying to actively get rid of it just let it settle and move on with the next thing. The image of dust settling for me is quite calming too. Could be done with the imagery of feathers as well.

Thank you for your posts Taurean, I can always count on your wisdom for an extra insight into Ocd when I need it.

Always appreciated

[Guest yinyang]

The thought/image is just an unwanted guest at your party - ignore it, devote your time to the other guests and keep refocusing back to them when that guest tries to approach you - fill up the space around you.

I like to think about intrusive thoughts as dust when cleaning the house/moving furniture. When you get a thought the dust is flying around, instead of trying to actively get rid of it just let it settle and move on with the next thing. The image of dust settling for me is quite calming too. Could be done with the imagery of feathers as well.

These are good :original:

It's incredible how receptive ocd can be to related words.

I like to think of metaphors as unlocking 'mental doors' to a different way of thinking, in my case usually with a clunk ! ... :confused1: >> :Lighten: >>

Edited January 21, 2016 by yinyang

[Hal]

........ in my case usually with a clunk ! ... :confused1: >> :Lighten: >>

Absolutely brilliant :clap:

[taurean]

Sir William Osler came up with a great concept he picked this up when on an ocean liner, and given a tour of the bridge.

The captain explained to him that for safety purposes the ship was split up into watertight compartments, and in the event of a wateer breach, he could have a compartment cleared, then with a press of a button from the bridge, close the water-tight bulkheads that sealed off the breached compatment. The ship could therefore remain afloat and seek assistance to make harbour.

He applied this concept to the problems of daily living, suggesting that we all live in "day-time compartments", taking each day as it comes, leaving the past behind, and not being concerned about the future - we would mentally shut off the watertight bulkheads blocking out the past and the future.

Great for those worriers or OCD-ers bothered about the past and the future.

But also has applications in being able to "compartmentalise" our thinking, so that we can lay things to one side that might otherwuise trigger us; a nice defusion strategy, but of course we still need to separately use ERP on those triggers at an appropriate time to work towards rendering the trigger benign so that it is inert, and won't stick in our mental focus.

[biscuitcat]

My counsellor (not my therapist) suggested a good way to think about thoughts is to categorise them into CD's.

For instance I might have a different CD for work, home, relationships, negative thoughts, etc.

When I know I have to go to work I change the CD to the work CD, when I am travelling home I switch to travelling etc.

By doing so I can focus on the present.

She also suggested that we have thousands and thousands of CD's full of memories/negative thoughts anxiety can play at any given time, but to throw away or keep the unhelpful CD's in storage and focus only on the ones we need.

I haven't put this concept into practice as I haven't felt I need to, but I guess it's just a metaphor which could be put into practice if needed.

My boyfriends mum was telling me Churchill labelled his depression as a 'black dog'. I like imagery and metaphors for anxiety, although I would never associate a dog with my anxiety

[taurean]

i like that.

When I was working, the moment I turned the key in the lock at home, i left home issues behind.

When I opened the cabinets and switched on the computer at work, I entered work mode.

In between time I was in a relaxed, travel mode.

This was tremendously successful for me.

I really do think non-OCD sufferers/non-worriers do this compartmentalising automatically. For example, reading the news - it is completely information-only, third party to them. The knowledge may be useful in terms of their work, or discussion with others, or their financial affairs, but they don't remain in focus on it, or worry about it. It is in a separate mental box, and next time the news is reviewed, the new stuff "over-writes" the old stuff.

Edited January 21, 2016 by taurean

[gingerbreadgirl]

Great thread x

[taurean]

Let's also remember the good old concept of the "OCD twin".

When the theme of our disorder is plagueing us, let's consider how someone we know well without this theme, whose judgement we trust as sound,would deal with such intrusions.

We can then see that they simply wouldn't focus on them. They would consider the thought, decide it had no relevance, and dismiss it. so we need to aim towards that goal.

[taurean]

Here is another technique.

When plagued by persistent intrusions in the mental chatter in your brain, imagine them "in a silly voice" - see if you can raise a laugh with this,

How else might you be able to consider them to see them as the mental chaff they really are, the error messages from a misfiring brain?

Another way - to get you started - is to add a defusing prefix such as "I am having the thought that...."

All these tools are designed to help us break the stranglehold of intrusions so that we can leave them be and refocus from them - cut out gradually each and any compulsions - obvious and hidden, since carrying out the compulsions keeps the thoughts around and indeed may bring on more.