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Advice on mental compulsions


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Hey everyone, 

I wondered if anyone had any advice on helping reduce mental compulsions? I love this forum because I've had quite a few lightbulb moments which has really helped me understand my OCD, just by reading posts of very experienced members. 

I think I've started to get a handle on my intrusive thoughts and I am persevering with a technique to support dismissing them. The one thing I am still terrible for is mental checking.. how I feel, how I feel about others, whether I feel mentally unwell or not. There's a lot of advice out there about reducing and delaying physical compulsions, but can't seem to find anything conclusive on mental compulsions. 

Any ideas gratefully received :) 

Sending warm wishes to you for a good day.. 

Thank you

Danielle 

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Hi Danielle,

Thank you for your post and I am delighted you're feeling better.

Mental compulsions - I have them badly and they are dreadful aren't they?

I think the thing is that one cannot stop the thoughts themselves. They will always come. All one can do is change one's response to them. Just allow them to be there, don't fight them and focus on another activity.

To that end, on the advice of a couple of the angels on this website (and, like you, I love this forum and would be lost without it), today I started a meditation practise with the Headspace app, and have ordered a few books. I'll reply to you again in a moment and tell you what they are.

Another thing I've found to be excellent for getting off the OCD hamsters' wheel is EXCERCISE. I've just had a nice long walk and feel so much better! Walking - all exercise - forces you out of your mind and in to your body, in to the present moment. It also stimulates the secretion of endorphins in the body which really help relax you.

Keep going, dear lady. the future is golden!

Love to you and yours,

Gerard

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Hi Danielle,

Ashley recommended the following books to me and I have ordered all of them:

Brain Lock (Four Steps) was just republished with some updated content to celebrate its twentieth anniversary. You can find it here:

http://www.ocdshop.com/product_info.php?cPath=1&products_id=272

Break free from OCD, and  

How to deal with OCD by Dr Forrester.

Love,

Gerard

 

Edited by Gerard
typos
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OK here's hoping for another lightbulb moment for you Danielle. 

Maybe first find out what your obsessional theme is - and the fear, exaggeration of minimum risk or revulsion that it uses.

Then the core belief it is throwing at you. Core beliefs in magical thinking OCD might be "I fear I will experience bad luck if I don't carry out my mental counting compulsion". Or - if I don't check that my skin is free of discolouration, I might have cancer. 

Off we then go into - actually pointless - mental activity to stop something bad happening that OCD tells us will unless we carry out the compulsions. 

Sometimes mental compulsions appear to have no fear factor, and are just wasted time on a compulsive urge. 

In a supermarket my sister HAD to read the whole wording on each product before the OCD allowed her to choose whether to buy it or not. 

With these kind of mental compulsions therapy really is similar to with physical ones. The therapist tells the sufferer that their fear is still of not carrying out the compulsion, and helps them to face the fear of not carrying out the compulsion and finding out there is no consequence - it's just a load of lies and nonsense from OCD. 

So pick a mental compulsion, work out why OCD wants you to carry out out, then determine to gradually wean yourself off it by gradually reducing carrying it out and living with the anxiety when you don't. 

You will discover the obsessional thought, and resultant compulsion, are nothing more than meaningless nonsense :Lighten:

 

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36 minutes ago, Gerard said:

Hi Danielle,

Thank you for your post and I am delighted you're feeling better.

Mental compulsions - I have them badly and they are dreadful aren't they?

I think the thing is that one cannot stop the thoughts themselves. They will always come. All one can do is change one's response to them. Just allow them to be there, don't fight them and focus on another activity.

To that end, on the advice of a couple of the angels on this website (and, like you, I love this forum and would be lost without it), today I started a meditation practise with the Headspace app, and have ordered a few books. I'll reply to you again in a moment and tell you what they are.

Another thing I've found to be excellent for getting off the OCD hamsters' wheel is EXCERCISE. I've just had a nice long walk and feel so much better! Walking - all exercise - forces you out of your mind and in to your body, in to the present moment. It also stimulates the secretion of endorphins in the body which really help relax you.

Keep going, dear lady. the future is golden!

Love to you and yours,

Gerard

Hi Gerard,

 Thank you so much for your reply. I've used / still use the Headspace app myself and I'm pretty good with mindfulness / meditative practice. I definitely enjoy the benefits of a good walk, too. But when I'm lying in bed unable to sleep and then I start mentally checking myself I can't get up and go for a walk, and sometimes my anxiety is that bad that I can't focus well enough to meditate. I will continue to practice however! I know I can do this, I just don't always feel it. Sending you warmth and good wishes.. 

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29 minutes ago, taurean said:

OK here's hoping for another lightbulb moment for you Danielle. 

Maybe first find out what your obsessional theme is - and the fear, exaggeration of minimum risk or revulsion that it uses.

Then the core belief it is throwing at you. Core beliefs in magical thinking OCD might be "I fear I will experience bad luck if I don't carry out my mental counting compulsion". Or - if I don't check that my skin is free of discolouration, I might have cancer. 

Off we then go into - actually pointless - mental activity to stop something bad happening that OCD tells us will unless we carry out the compulsions. 

Sometimes mental compulsions appear to have no fear factor, and are just wasted time on a compulsive urge. 

In a supermarket my sister HAD to read the whole wording on each product before the OCD allowed her to choose whether to buy it or not. 

With these kind of mental compulsions therapy really is similar to with physical ones. The therapist tells the sufferer that their fear is still of not carrying out the compulsion, and helps them to face the fear of not carrying out the compulsion and finding out there is no consequence - it's just a load of lies and nonsense from OCD. 

So pick a mental compulsion, work out why OCD wants you to carry out out, then determine to gradually wean yourself off it by gradually reducing carrying it out and living with the anxiety when you don't. 

You will discover the obsessional thought, and resultant compulsion, are nothing more than meaningless nonsense :Lighten:

 

Thank you Taurean, your post was definitely enlightening ☺️With my OCD I tend to check my 'feelings' to see whether I still feel the same (if I don't then I can panic). My checking is a form of evidence gathering for things not being right / going wrong / confirming my worst fears.. but the mental checking is so automatic I find the overall barrage really debilitating some days. From what you've said I've taken that actually I need to allow the checking to happen but not react to it? Is that right? I just get so confused about what works for which bit. Definitely something I want to discuss with my CBT therapist later this week. 

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15 minutes ago, Danielle_l said:

With my OCD I tend to check my 'feelings' to see whether I still feel the same (if I don't then I can panic). My checking is a form of evidence gathering for things not being right / going wrong / confirming my worst fears.. 

An interesting specific, but obviously horrible for you Danielle. 

Can you see that there is actually no real need for the checking - we feel how we feel and our body and mind inform us - we have no need to check compulsively. E.g.when I wake in the morning and feel stressed, I know I feel stressed - it would be pointless to check "just in case I feel stressed". But your OCD is trying to tell you there is a fear consequence if you don't check, hence you would panic. 

But it's all worthless nonsense. 

After time a compulsion becomes a learned behaviour and we automatically do it, even if we may have forgotten why. So we have to gently unlearn that behaviour. 

22 minutes ago, Danielle_l said:

From what you've said I've taken that actually I need to allow the checking to happen but not react to it? Is that right?

Not quite. The aim will be to feel the obsession - " I have to compulse otherwise " but think "that's just my silly obsession"  and begin to resist carrying out that urge to check, reminding yourself you do not have to carry it out, and by resisting doing so gradually, realise it is silly and there is no consequence, and anxiety starts to reduce more and more as you work this exposure. 

Then at that point we can really begin to gain success in resistance, without feeling an anxiety consequence - the obsession dies away, as too the urge to compulse. 

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It all sounds so logical when you see it written @taurean but the actual practice differs so much ?

Thank you for clearing that up. I think I understand a bit better now. I'll digest overnight and discuss with my CBT therapist. Thank you :) 

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