obsessive thought sufferers

[Guest lol]

I have had ocd diagniosed for 5 mouths. I have been battling bad thoughts that make me feel guilty because I don't want them. This bulliton board has been relly good, and it has been good to get support from you all out there who have or continue to suffer from bad thoughts. I am now having cbt therapy. It is a slow process but hopfully it wiil help.

Like many of you out there will know some days are better than others. I am still finding it hard to deal with these bad thoughts as I am a decent kind of guy and hate it when it happens, I would love to hear from any of you out there who are suffering from bad thoughts. So I came get reasurrance for my self and stop feleling isolated. I can also try help you as well!!!

take care lol

[Mcajshaw]

Hey mate, I wrote this earlier...is any of this in tune with your suffering?

dont know if any of you can identify with this. I read a lot of accounts of people obsessions being with knives, killing others, hurting people etc. However my OCD (if I do have it) is just about have crude thoughts about people, both friends and strangers that leave me feelign very guilty and anxious.

A few examples :

1) see someone fat, and call them a fat soemhting in my head

2) see someone who is poor and get some crude remark in my head about their lack of money

3) Same might apply for people who aren't very good looking

4) might have evil thoughts at a funeral or at highly sensitive times

It happens all the time and is really bothering me. Many people with OCD seem to talk of just one or two thoughts continually popping up like "killing a baby". Can anyone identify with mine where you might get dozens of thoughts a day like the ones I outline, with your head putting forward somethign nasty at the worst time?

[Adamski]

Hi,

Many definitions of OCD liken it to a constant stream or irrational and uncomfortable thoughts that cause marked distress to the sufferer. If that is the case then it is fairly safe to assume i think that a lot of sufferers will identify with your posts, and that includes me if i am to be honest. I too have also had a lot of malicious and guilty thoughts run through my head. I think the best place to put these in terms of labelling the ocd is within the pure 'o' area. As with people who focus on one thought i guess the way to manage the stream of uncomfortable thoughts is to recognise them for what they are and work your way around them.

See ya

Adam

[Guest napo100383]

Hi Lol,

I have had it for a while.I have obsessive thoughts about

-killing family,

-tellin ppl i was abused when i wasnt

-killin myself,

Each time they go away but it is hard really hard,I have led a normal life though i am in college and still am normal with all my friends and they dont know i have it hope your ok,

[Guest lilyelspeth]

Hi lol,

I think the best and most simple advice I have received is: these thoughts are OCD, not you. The fact that you don't like what you are thinking shows you that. Like me, I'm glad you have found the board to the helpful. I think what you are doing is the right thing: talking/writing these feelings out just to show you how ridiculous they are and sharing your experiences with others who can relate.

Hang in there!

Lily

[Caramoole]

The thing is that most of these thoughts about someone being fat, someone being poor, or scruffy or whatever are simply 'Observations'. They possibly are fat, or ugly or whatever.....it's the mind making a mental note. Everybody (or every truthful one) has these thoughts but generally they filter through without you paying attention....with OCD your mind latches on to them and thinks OMG how awful am I?

It's the fact that you would never dream of being so rude or voicing those opinions that causes the distress. Our safety filters are being 'Over Cautious' and the fact is we would be LESS likely to say anything inappropriate than others.

It's the content matter that upsets us...we all think and evaluate everything we come across, every moment of the day...You might go into someones house and think 'What hideous purple wallpaper that is' and an observation like that probaby wouldn't worry you. If you thought 'He's fat' (which is also just an observation) you would worry because the last thing you would want to do is hurt someone by saying anything. These thoughts are normal but exaggerated observations.

[catherine]

Hi lol

I too suffer from distressing intrusive thoughts and the approach my therapist takes is to encourage me not to let the thoughts get to me so much ie have them but don't get guilty or hung up on them. To be honest though, this is very much easier said than done as the very nature of them makes you feel bad about yourself.

the last thing you would want to do is hurt someone by saying anything.

I would like to reinforce this point made by cameroole. I always lived in fear that I would one day be compelled to act on my thoughts, and I've found it a great comfort to learn that this is not a characteristic of OCD. It would be different if we gleaned some sort of enjoyment from the thoughts, but I've never met anyone with OCD who has nor am I ever likely to

It's really tough but I guess we can only try to fight them by ignoring them or giving them less importance in our lives.....not easy

Catherine

[Guest floyd]

i know what you mean lol, and ive had those exact thoughts too macjashaw, about thinking bad things about people that you dont mean. but they dont bother me that much however, dont know why. hope you find a solution

[Guest andyman]

I thought that I would add myself to your list of fellow sufferers.These type of thoughts are amongst the broad range of disturbing subjects that I regularly get invading my brain at the most unwanted of times.

One thing that really helped me was finding this website and realising I wasnt alone and also reading as much as I can on the subject.There is an excellent article on the anxiery care website that was recommended by somebody on this site.Although I still get thoughts they dont have the ability to disturb me as they did 18 months ago.From my own experience all I can recommend is reading,learning as much as you can about ocd and putting yourself out there as much as you can even when it feels unbearable.I dont think there are qny quick fixes,just hard work and repetition.

Just hang in there,be strong and things can and will get better for you.

[Guest Tulsas]

Hello friend...Sometimes the thoughts I have are so bad I think I must be the worst sufferer of ocd in history...The problem is my thoughts repeat itself over and over again like a song in my head and drives me crazy sometimes..the only good thing I get out off this is to know that the thought WILL pass