PolarBear

You repeatedly ask questions like this. Is this OCD? What about this? This feels different so it's probably not OCD, right? You're looking for certainty, which is a hallmark of OCD. Unfortunately, OCD will not let you be certain, so you go round and round in your head. Asking all these questions, which is a way of seeking reassurance, is a compulsion. Compulsions do no good. Sure, they may give you temporary relief, but soon enough another doubt arises and you want to seek more reassurance. You get stuck in an endless cycle. The way out is to break the cycle. It's not easy. It can be terribly difficult. You have to try and keep on trying. Teach your mind to not pay attention to these thoughts that bother you. Teach your mind to pay attention to other things, good things, worthwhile things.

Hehe

Laying in bed and thinking is about the worst thing you can do. No good will come of it. You'll just go round and round in your head. Get up and do something, even if you don't feel like it. Get your mind on other things.

Some sufferers, especially contamination obsession sufferers, have ingrained rituals that are done automatically. I've talked to several who, for the life of them, can't pinpoint an obsession occurring, before or after. Typically, we see obsession, rising anxiety, compulsion. Caramoole says she gets anxious first, then experiences an intrusive thought. I guess the moral is, we aren't all typical.

You are on the right track. The more attention you pay to your obsessions, the more they'll come back and bother you. So, conversely...

That's exactly what you did. You fed the monster; a monster that has an insatiable appetite. OCD is very much a function of give an inch, take a mile. If you go Thursday, you'll feed the monster again.

Kcbell, again, you are catastrophizing. What if this? What if that? Thinking absurdly worse case scenarios. Try to leave it alone. Take the car in. Let your mechanic do what they do.

What is your purpose of writing out the above post?

Your response to a light bulb turning on is way, way, way overblown. You need to be able to see that. You are catastrophizing here, thinking your life is over because a little light bulb is on. Is it a pain in the butt? Yes. It's just another tiny thing that life throws at us all.

I'm going to ask you to please stop asking me the same question on multiple threads and by private message. I do not use messages to offer advice or answer questions about OCD. Multiple people have tried to help you. You are stuck. I get that. You are stuck on a few insignificant words this person said. I, and others, have already talked to you about this. More words on the subject will not help. The reason you are stuck is because of OCD. Asking the same questions over and over is a compulsion. I won't help you with your compulsion. You need to let this go.

Good! Keep at it. Get mad. Tell OCD off. Be defiant. Get back into the life game, even if you don't feel like it.

So common for sufferers who were doing fairly good on meds to come off them and then find themselves in the OCD whirlwind again. Many stories like yours on the forum.

My advice is stop trying to convince yourself that things aren't dirty. Face it. You've done that a lot and it isn't working, right? So stop doing it. Instead, when you get a thought that something is dirty, tell yourself, yup it probably is, and then just get on with your day.

Unpleasant does not equal high anxiety and obssessiveness. Think of reactions to situations on a line, with I COULD CARE LESS on one end and THIS IS AN EMERGENCY on the other. Somewhere in the middle is where most people end up. You are way over on the emergency end. In order to get yourself to the middle, you have to push yourself way over to the opposite end, and stay there for a while. It sounds crazy, but that's what you have to do. Ashley, the head of OCD-UK, had contamination issues. Through lots of therapy, he eventually got to the point where he stuck his hand in a toilet. That's going to the other extreme so that he could bounce back to the middle. I'm not saying you have to take such a big leap right away. Most sufferers take baby steps.

So, everything you wrote in the last paragraph are compulsions. You need to stop doing all of them and start enjoying your life.

Do exactly the opposite of what OCD is telling you. Have fun. Be around people. Communicate. Be goofy. Guaranteed if you crawl in your shell, you will have an awful time and OCD will win. Again.

Alas, OCD sufferers in general suck at critical thinking. Logic doesn't work and they can't rely on their gut feelings. You mentioned two things sufferers can do. There is a third. Walk away. Leave it completely alone. Get on with your life.

What kind of stories?

Giusss, you don't need to write anything, ever. That would actually be a compulsion. There is some confusion on the forum when people say you should sit with your thoughts. That actually is a small part of ERP, but you don't do that all the time. When an obsession strikes, you can simply put your attention onto something else. Whatever you were doing before the obsession struck is fine. This is very simple but for most people, very hard to do. It takes a lot of practice and you will make mistakes along the way.

I know what it's like. An endless loop. My advice is get your mind on other things, whatever they may be.

Simply, you let it go. That means you put an end to your compulsions. You are causing your problem, not the bitumen.

What do you do when the fight or flight response is triggered when it shouldn't be, which is the case with OCD sufferers?

Dogacan, take some deep breaths. You are getting anxious over nothing. You've asked me to clarify what I said several times on this thread and sent me three private messages. It shows how anxious you are but it is really too much. Others have answered you and given you great advice. I did not realize this woman you talked to is not a therapist. Perhaps you need to find someone qualified to help you. All I meant by my previous post is that perhaps the person you were talking to was cautioning you that you could slip into doing more compulsions, including ruminating. You also need to understand that we are all volunteers here. None of us are here all the time.

It is important to point out that exposures are one of two parts of ERP. It is not enough to just expose yourself to an obsession. You then must practice the RP or response prevention, which means abstaining from doing compulsions.

When an obsession strikes, put your focus on something else. I suggest whatever you were doing just before the obsession hit. That's it. In practice, your mind will act like a petulant child and demand you pay attention, but with practice you can learn to ignore it.