PolarBear

Your OCD is trying to rationalize you getting better. Will you know with 100% certainty that you didn't do anything wrong? Probably not. What will happen is your need to know, your need for certainty, will go away. You simply won't care one way or the other.

The exact opposite. We want our obsessions to not bother us. We want them to enter our heads, float aroundand dissipate. The trick is to not read anything into it, don't overthink the situation and just let the thought be.

It is very common for sufferers to keep morbid/harm/sexual obsessions a secret. We are certain people will think us crazy or at least think less of us. We have a big fear of abandonment should people know. We fear being ridiculed. We feel embarrassed and ashamed. You have to throw caution to the wind, walk into your doctor's and say, "I think I have ocd and I.need help." The doctor will ask what makes you think you have ocd. You tell him. You list your obsessions and you only have to say, "sexual obsessions." You don't have to go into detail. You won't have to.

Urges like that are obsessions, nothing more. I know unwanted urges is listed as an obsession on the OCD-UK website. Yes, you let the be and resist any compulsions that try to pop up.

That's the ticket!

Therapy wad never designed for 2 am. Might I suggest you pick up a knife and handle it before going to bed? You do want to train yourself that sleep time is for sleeping.

Just means your obsessions have shifted. It happens all the time. In this case we call it magical thinking. Like any other obsession the key is to realize it is ocd and resist those compulsions.

Awwwwww, thanks. You really do need to remember that you love her. That's the truth. Keep on resisting those compulsions. Sounds like you're doing well.

Welcome. You seem to have a thing about odd numbers, especially three, which is not uncommon. Do check out the main forum. That's where most of us hang out.

Change through ERP is slow. It doesn't happen overnight. I know a number of people on the forum have mentioned they feel down because they don't know if they are doing it right. Just trying is right. Small steps are great. You can support your son by reminding him of that if he gets down.

If you keep doing what you're doing, you will keep doing what you are doing. You have to live with the anxiety and doubt about your teeth.

There are suicidal obsessions. It doesn't mean you're suicidal.

You have to begin resisting your compulsions. Your constant checking of your teeth is feeding your OCD.

Live through being uncomfortable. Resist the compulsion to decontaminate.

I agree with that. The typical lists of OCD obsessions and compulsions are inadequate. I've come across the darndest obsessions since joining the forum and I'd be hard pressed to find them mentioned on any standard list.

So in that context of compulsions it is easy to see the thoughts are obsessions.

Caramoole, when I said not any thought can be an OCD obsession, I was referring (and should have explained) that we don't tend to obsess about nice things. We tend to obsess about perceived dangers, things that go against our inner morals, unsolvable problems, etc. I guess the commonality is they are all negative in nature.

Not really about anything but they come in a broad range of types. One of the easiest ways to determine if a thought could be OCD deals with what you do after the thought surfaces. Most obsessions are followed by compulsions. So what do you do when these thoughts surface?

I have 3 out of 5 siblings with OCD, so that's 4 out of 6 of us. Of 9 kids if ours, 4 have OCD.

You don't have to be perfect. You try your best. Sometimes OCD wins, sometimes you do. The longer you practice ERP the better you get and the less hold OCD will have over you.

I think the two definitions have been around the same length of time. Since obsession comes from obsidere, which in Latin means 'to besiege', it is the right word. That said, I see where the mistaken definition comes from.

Next week for your viewing pleasure we present Schizophrenics at the CIA, Make my Depressive Mother a Happy Clown and Panic Attack Fighter Pilots!

I understand.

The thought doesn't leave you because you keep reinforcing it through compulsions. You have the ability to change what you're doing. It won't be easy, your anxiety will go up in the short term, but it will be worth it.

By sending it back you've given in to the compulsion, which will deeper entrench your concern over radiation. Maybe next time.