OCD vs. "Normal" Thought Processing

[Guest ocd13]

Hi guys and gals,

I thought I would share the following extract with you from a book I have just started reading:

Most of our self-talk is unconscious; we are not even aware of it.  At times our self-talk comes in feelings that can't quite be put into words.  At other times it comes in little flashes, flickers of thoughts which never quite catch fire or glow bright enough or last long enough to become ideas, clearly thought out and understood.

All of our thoughts, all of the pictures in our minds, are always tied to something else that we already know about.  If you are given a new thought or a new picture, one you have never thought about or imagined before, your brain will immediately find something else in your mind to tie the new information to, to give it sense, to help you understand.

Every new thought you think has to have some old thoughts to stick to, a proper place to fit.  When you are told something new, your brain will, in a fraction of a second, scan through literally millions of mental filing cabinets, filled with every idea or thought or impression you have ever stored.  In that same fraction of a second, based on the information already stored in your mental files, your brain will send you an instant telegram, telling you how to feel about this new thought, where it should get filed, and whether you should accept it, believe it, keep it and use it, or disapprove, disbelieve, and throw it out.

The more we believe about something, the more we will accept other ideas which are similar.  The more files we have in our mental filing cabinets, which tell us something about ourselves, the more we will attract and accept other thoughts and ideas which support and prove what is already stored in our files.  The more you think about yourself in a certain way, the more you will think about yourself in that same certain way!  The more you think about anything in a certain way, the more you will believe that that is how it really is.  The mind works that way because the brain always tries to tie any new thing you think to something you already believe.

I found this very interesting to read. Not only because it confirms that everyone - every single human being on this Earth has these thoughts and mental images CONSTANTLY running through their minds, whether they have OCD or not, but also that the reason we are not 'filing the thoughts correctly' is because we have a disorder and that my friends, is what we need to accept. Accepting this I guess has to be the first step towards getting better.

That last paragraph in my quote also helped me to see that because our 'self-talk', our 'thoughts' and 'mental images' are filed in relation to similar ideas, it makes sense that the OCD disorder is forcing our thoughts to be filed incorrectly and it also helps me to understand the reason why our thoughts change as we go on. For example, if we have had a mental image of us abusing an animal - that would be filed in a certain category within our brains. Brains which are functioning normally will file it into lets say a folder marked 'disapprove'. It could be that OCD brains also file this thought into the 'disapprove' folder, but there is a glitch somewhere along the way that 'catches fire' to the thought, making us fully aware of it, even though we disapprove of it. Where I said the last quoted paragraph helps me to understand how our thoughts change with time is because our next mental image say six months down the line could be of us abusing a child. According to that last paragraph, our brains automatically categorise the thoughts with similar ideas. Therefore the scenario that we're 'abusing' something or someone would be linked to the 'abusing animals' thought, processed (again correctly if the brain is funtioning normally and incorrectly if the brain is functioning abnormally), and then filed along with the animal thought in the 'disapprove' folder - because that's the most closely related 'idea'.

It's the same with any thought, mental image or idea that we have - that everybody has. This goes on to prove that it's not the content of the thought that is the issue here - everybody has them, it is in fact the way the brain is processing them. Somewhere along its travels, the thought which should have no meaning to it, is being wrongly ignited; a spark is created and the thought catches fire, causing the brain to become aware of it.

If all of this is correct and thoughts and ideas are linked together and filed in specific parts of our brains, then it makes sense that if we're watching something on TV - for example 'Animal Hospital', we are taking in new ideas and so our brain is automatically connecting the scenes we're seeing on TV of say a dog, with the scenes in our mind's filing cabinet of the mental image we had of a dog being abused.

I guess all in all - this is the concept of 'memories', and unfortunately for us OCD sufferers, these memories were wrongly processed and so as soon as we 'remember' them or something 'triggers' them, we feel the anxiety attack coming on.

Our brains are not functioning how they should be because of a glitch in the system, and as a result, our minds are confused. We therefore (as we've learned recently) need to fix the 'processing' glitch in our systems, not the actual content of the thoughts.

Anyhow, that is my scientific and philosophical analytical approach for today. I hope this will get you all thinking and I hope it was interesting to read.

Any comments would be greatly received!!

From 'Professor' Andrea. :grin:

[Caramoole]

Our brains are not functioning how they should be because of a glitch in the system, and as a result, our minds are confused.  We therefore (as we've learned recently) need to fix the 'processing' glitch in our systems, not the actual content of the thoughts.

32266[/snapback]

Lol Professor Andrea And very true!

But this paragraph is really the most important of them all.

We all take great comfort from the various books like Brainlock and Imp of The Mind and articles like the one you've posted, that's because it reassures us that this is all normal (ish) and we aren't mad. But.... if we accept the description of OCD by these professionals as true, in turn, we have to accept the advice and treatment of OCD as described by them as well.

We need to fix the glitch in our systems.

You are quite right there. Understanding OCD ain't enough, we need to find the courage to do the homework, that's when we begin to win.

Interesting article and appraisal though :lol:

[Guest ocd13]

Thanks for your feedback Caramoole!

I just thought I should point out that the book I have taken this from is not actually about OCD. In fact it's nothing to do with OCD... which I thought just proved that everyone has these thoughts - and I thought it explained it perfectly how and why our thoughts are like they are.

I just analysed the text and tried to piece it together from an OCD point of view... hopefully I did okay...?

:lol:

[Caramoole]

Yes it was fine Andrea, I understood exactly where you were coming from

[Guest Wendy]

Hi ocd13 :lol:

Just read your posting....excellent....it really makes sense!

Love Beth J

[Adamski]

Hi OCD13

A While back i talked about a book i was going to write called "The Filing Cabinet of the Mind" Foreward by David Brent.

Someone has clearly stolen my idea...might even have been the Brentmeister himself!

An interesting article nevertheless.

see ya

Adam

[Guest ocd13]

Aaaaw thanks for all your replies!! :huh: I'm glad you liked my post!!

Adamski - the text is just one part of a chapter written by a doctor who has done his own research over the years to find out why most positive thinking and self-help books have worked only temporarily - he wanted to know what the solution was to make all of these theories work permanently.

I don't see why you shouldn't still write a book about it! :lol:

Love Andrea

xx

[Guest summerleft]

that quote is so true love it!

it also helps to see what kind of thoughts are ocd and that even the feelings are'nt real

thankyou