Imhotep

Hi all, Wanted to post some success that I've been getting recently in the hope of helping out, and show no matter how bad the content of your thoughts are, you can get through the other side! My OCD flared up quite badly last month and was riddled with anxiety and intrusive thoughts. Having looked back at my notes, re-watched helpful videos, and upped my medication my symptoms of intrusive thoughts and anxiety have reduced dramatically over the past week. Here's what helped for me: . Accept the intrusive thoughts, no matter how untrue and disgusting they are. There's a huge difference between agreeing and accepting thoughts, and by accepting you simply observe the thought and act with indifference, not to give it any further attention, recognise it as a thought and re-focus applying mindfulness. . Being brave also helped, don't get me wrong I have been terrified at points the last month. But we have to teach the brain that it is ok to have these thoughts and that by letting them in and not responding, we are teaching the brain these are not dangerous after all. Save the flight or fight response for real, physical danger. . Looking out for compulsions, which for my pure-O are primarily ruminating and judging/finding meaning. I have been catching myself doing this at times and put a stop to it immediately, then re-focusing. Having been out with friends last week, I thought how 'normal' I felt and that they have the potential to think the same things I do, they just don't have the obsessive mechanisms that work to make horrible thoughts get stuck. . Medication almost certainly helped me, and upped my Prozac dose. This has helped with reducing anxiety and improved my mood. I'd rather not take it, but see it as a tool which allows me to have my anxiety under control and to do the ERP work. I've also started taking multi-vitamins with winter approaching and this maybe has had an effect on my mood too, although I can't be sure if they are having an effect or it's just coincidence. I wouldn't say I'm completely cured of OCD at this point, I'm still getting intrusive thoughts but they bother me a lot less. In time they will fade too.

Great to hear this! And you are totally right. The second best time to start is now. Keep up the good work, and work on relapse prevention plans.

Hi all, Having put cutting out compulsions into practice over the past couple of days, I've realised how bravery is a key component to feel better. And we are ALL capable. When going into the 'unknown' with OCD without our usual safety behaviours and our brains screaming for relief, we just let the anxiety pass, see that nothing about us has changed (from a pure-O perspective) and our dearly held morals and values still intact.

It was as written and variations of that statement, yes.

Yes quite right CBilly. I went to IKEA today and my brain was on fire the whole time, I'd get thoughts like "I have the urge to harm someone" and worse like that when walking around the shop. Having come home I'm now quite calm, having applied to it that these are still just thoughts, and trying not to assign meaning.

Yes I see, but at that point, is it not just a thought about an urge? Like having a thought about an urge doesn't make it an urge. When doing compulsions, I have the urge to rid myself of anxiety, for example.

Thanks DeValentin, you are absolutely right that the mind or brain self regulates, and the unnecessary desire to control of our minds is why we have problems in the first place.

Hi all, I've been doing really well of late, and have been watching lots of helpful OCD videos and applying their techniques. I was watching one video about thought content, and had made a bit of a breakthrough from it. However I read the comments and one mentioned something about urges and has triggered me badly. I know so much about OCD but very little about intrusive urges, as I rarely get them. Of course the OCD has latched on this uncertainty and applied it to my theme, such as "what if I get inappropriate urges about harm or around children?" At the moment I see this more about ruminating rather than actual urges, but some advice would be welcome.

Thank you for your input, Garfield. That makes sense, I will get to work on dismissing this thought.

Hi all, I have been dealing with a flare up, using techniques that have worked for me in the past and re-learning. I was heading in the right direction, then mid morning I had a truly awful thought about my little niece, whom I love dearly. Although I know it's OCD, I'm very upset by the content (I know, I know, it's not about the content) and now I'm worried about these thoughts around her. I'm also worried about the future, my wife and I would like to have children one day, and I don't want to have these thoughts around my own children. I feel like my future plans are in doubt, I don't know if I can be a good dad with this nonsense in my head. I'm going to try to apply a compassionate outlook on things, but some advice would be appreciated.

I'm exactly in the same boat as you. I literally had the most awful thought about 30 mins ago and cannot believe my mind came up with this. I'm in the middle of trying to get better, but OCD is fighting back. I think one way to improve is to stop the ruminating, the thought has happened there's no need to dwell on it. Your family will still love you for who you are, not these weird thoughts that pop in and have nothing to do with you. That urge to say the thought is a compulsion, this you can control and try to re-focus.

Thank you Simonsky, I'm kind of relieved I'm not the only one who's had these thoughts. I will be putting those techniques into practice over the weekend and looking back at my notes.

Hi all, It has been a long time since I've posted, however I've had a pretty bad relapse. I recently got married, and in the run up to the wedding I was quite stressed, understandably so. My thoughts have surrounded my new wife harming me, which I know to be untrue, she is nothing but a sweetheart. I don't want to become paranoid and have no reason to do so. I've never had these thoughts after over 5 years with her and never felt unsafe around her. The OCD has made me extremely nervous over the course of the day, and it hasn't stopped me from doing things on my honeymoon. Please advise how best to tackle; although I know I'm not in danger, the 'flight or flight' response really kicks in and makes it difficult to disregard

Been putting that into practice and yeah, seems to be working. I'll try to keep it up for a few days.

Hi all, I've been making headway against this recent relapse I'm experiencing. However, my OCD is trying to get my attention by repeating incorrect statements over and over again. The statement is " I am a paedophile" I know it's completely false, I have never engaged in any such activity or have those desires at all, but it's still bothersome. I don't know how best to approach this, maybe a "maybe I am, maybe I'm not" or "Nice try OCD, you can't fool me that easily"?