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False ocd thoughts urge to throw clothes away


Guest Phil10

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Why do you think that your psychiatrist did not refer you for CBT?  You said that you were going to ask. There are only two logical explanations : (a) a resource issue - there is a lack of provision or (b) a clinical issue - s/he believes it is inappropriate.

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6 minutes ago, Angst said:

Why do you think that your psychiatrist did not refer you for CBT?  You said that you were going to ask. There are only two logical explanations : (a) a resource issue - there is a lack of provision or (b) a clinical issue - s/he believes it is inappropriate.

When he discussed it he only mentioned a pycologist to teach me breathing but said YouTube was better. And I don’t think it’s either of the above he said he was happy for me to continue private CBT!

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Sounds like a resource issue. Clinically s/he is happy with CBT.  I would think about challenging the decision. You need an advocate familiar with provision and systems  in Scotland. I would contact the OCD UK office for advice.

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Guest OCDhavenobrain

You need another perspective on all of this. YOu can have all the CBT in the world if you won't try to change your wiev on things. You have to open up to the possibility that things aren't contaminated, that all of this is a figment of your imagination. 

You can have a team of doctors who slap you on top of your head 24/7, I know personally that I would be able to carry out compulsions even if I did have such a  team. If you go to the gym and you get a trainer, does that mean that you haven't need to train? No it doesn't. 

Edited by OCDhavenobrain
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6 minutes ago, OCDhavenobrain said:

You need another perspective on all of this. YOu can have all the CBT in the world if you won't try to change your wiev on things. You have to open up to the possibility that things aren't contaminated, that all of this is a figment of your imagination. 

You can have a team of doctors who slap you on top of your head 24/7, I know personally that I would be able to carry out compulsions even if I did have such a  team.

If you go to the gym and you get a trainer, does that mean that you haven't need to train? No it doesn't. 

Yes that’s true I never looked at it that way

The annoying thing is the false ocd thoughts 

but yes if I never believed the dirty washer was contaminated that would help.

My head said the zipper was dirty and I can’t explain how it got dirty yet my mind still goes on a journey telling me I need to replace and I get all the anxiety how can I stop that? You can’t stop these thoughts 

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Guest OCDhavenobrain
16 minutes ago, Phil10 said:

Yes that’s true I never looked at it that way

The annoying thing is the false ocd thoughts 

but yes if I never believed the dirty washer was contaminated that would help.

My head said the zipper was dirty and I can’t explain how it got dirty yet my mind still goes on a journey telling me I need to replace and I get all the anxiety how can I stop that? You can’t stop these thoughts 

Why are you saying "false ocd thoughts"? You mean that you realize that they are false, well that is good. 

Nobody is saying that you are supposed to stop the thoughts, that would be a very bad advice. You have to sit with all those thoughts and act differently, instead of doing compulsions when your head is telling you that something is contaminated do you need to sit with the anxiety. 

When you had therapy a couple of months ago did you also get feedback here in a thread, it was very clear to me that you where too stuck in your head at the time. That is what I mean with having a therapist, having a therapist only helps if you also do the work, you actually need to follow through on what he/she is saying, you don't need to agree or even belive what she/he is saying. If you don't believe it at the moment because your thoughts are more convincing then you still havve to act differently, which means that you will go against what your head is telling you!!

 

I promise you, we all feel like we need to act on our thoughts. 

Edited by OCDhavenobrain
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I  got in touch with my theripst tonight said I’m struggling she recommended mindfulness and told me to stick with the discomfort of the anxiety to avoid replacing 

She never offered anymore sessions though so I may have to look elsewhere if I want more therapy

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In the end it beat me this time I ordrerd a new iron board but won’t replace everything in cupboard like camera and bag and printers will resist that as I know it was irrational. It’s a bit like my urge to replace my phone as well as iPad the price was too much to replace all. Just replacing a few things will ease up some anxiety I know I can’t keep doing this though 

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I feel bad as people here have given me great advice but the replacing thing I just struggle with right now

The only good news is like I said earlier I’m resisting taking new towels and washing my hair three times I also resisted the front door so I can do it but there is times I just can’t. 

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By not feeling every time I’m out that I’m contaminating seats that helps but again the rucksack was in the cupboard and probably worry that’s dirty not ideal as I replaced my camera and rucksack due to worrying last time so I can’t keep replacing that so I may find on holidays I worry about these germs 

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I even worried my key again was dirty after my partner did a washing I worried it was some how hidden in my clothes.

i feel there is no escape right now I think I have to find a way to not believe my washing is dirty?

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15 hours ago, Phil10 said:

What can I do to reduce the anxiety when I feel all tense trying to resist replacing or doing compulsions and you worry you are going mad? Is there any tips? 

There are relaxation techniques such as mindful meditation that can help with anxiety.  Some people find exercise is a good way to cope with anxiety as well.  Finding an activity that you can do to keep busy might also help, such as reading a book, watching a funny tv show, playing a game, etc.  I like to do crossword puzzles and similar.  And anxiety will lessen over time if you can wait it out. It might also be worth discussing with your doctor whether medication might be helpful.  While it can't cure the OCD there are many options that can help reduce the symptoms of OCD and/or anxiety which might give you the edge you need to tackle the therapy side more confidently.

Alternatively since replacing items is such an expensive and troublesome compulsion, is there something you can do instead?  Can you wash the items?  Or wipe them down with a cleaning wipe?  Overall the goal would be to eliminate that behavior too, but perhaps you could use it as a stepping stone to replace the replacing compulsion and get you more confident in moving forward.

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9 hours ago, Phil10 said:

My head said the zipper was dirty and I can’t explain how it got dirty yet my mind still goes on a journey telling me I need to replace and I get all the anxiety how can I stop that? You can’t stop these thoughts 

Ok, so you had a thought "the zipper is dirty". That thought is real, it happened.  But just because the thought happened doesn't mean what it says is real.

For example, I can have the thought "i can fly like superman!".  I just had that thought (i had to in order to type it).  But just because I had the thought, it does not mean i can ACTUALLY fly like superman.  A thought is just a thought, it does not mean something is true or false, it only means you had that thought.

And yes, your mind can very easily go on a journey, especially with OCD.  Our minds are very good at coming up with "what if's", even if those "what if's" are increasingly unlikely and even virtuallly impossible.  Because of OCD we are susceptible to giving increased belief to the unlikely yet worst case scenarios.

But again, just having the thought does not mean its real. 

Its true you can't just turn the thoughts off, despite what we think, we are not in complete conscious control of our brains, in fact much of our thinking happens without any active control on our part.  BUT we can learn to break the connection between having a thought and believing its true.

You can have a thought, but that doesn't mean you have to buy that thought.  
Having a thought is like someone telling you something.  Imagine your friend comes up to you and says "Hey Phil, I saw a unicorn today!"  Does that mean your friend ACTUALLY saw a unicorn?  You can choose whether or not you want to believe what your friend says.  Thoughts like the ones you are having are no different.  Part of your brain is telling you "Hey this iPad is contaminated".  You can choose whether or not you want to believe that thought.  Its important to start understanding the difference between having a thought and buying a thought.

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A tactic I could try here is what someone said to me before keep the items away from me and let my partner use them. So I can use this new iron board and what if I let my partner use the old one for a bit to see how my anxiety is without throwing away right away like delay it? 

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2 hours ago, PolarBear said:

Phil, you're sitting there trying to figure out how you can get away with doing some compulsions. Unfortunately that isn't likely going to help. It will only keep you stuck. 

True but I’ve already done the compulsion replacing the iron board and iron and wonder if getting rid of the other one or keeping it is best?

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On ‎20‎/‎11‎/‎2018 at 17:53, Phil10 said:

The annoying thing is the false ocd thoughts 

Phil.....All OCD thoughts are false :(

Put the new ironing board in the spare room and try and work on dealing with anxiety issues whilst using the old one.  Sadly, if you carry on trying to solve the doubt and anxiety issues with a variety of compulsions (including ruminating about how to solve, modify or reduce the problem) you're not going to move any further forwards.

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1 hour ago, Caramoole said:

Phil.....All OCD thoughts are false :(

Put the new ironing board in the spare room and try and work on dealing with anxiety issues whilst using the old one.  Sadly, if you carry on trying to solve the doubt and anxiety issues with a variety of compulsions (including ruminating about how to solve, modify or reduce the problem) you're not going to move any further forwards.

Yes I mean I got the new one so if my anxiety gets bad I can use it. 

I have been using the old one this week actually as I have washed all my clean clothes over again and the new iron board has not been delivered yet so I know the iron board is fine had a real contamination happened I wouldn’t have used it at all. 

So yes you are right my first thought was to get rid of the iron board now I’m willing to keep it a little longer and work on it..

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7 minutes ago, Caramoole said:

Just be careful because you're building in safety measures here, which in the long run won't help you.

Yes I have two garden strimmers as the bin went on the grass so I wouldn’t go over that patch with the new one. My ocd finds patterns.

Ive not been in the bathroom with shoes on since i there those shoes away that the dirty Landry fell on. Tonight no washing landed on the shoes but I always worry still but sometimes I may have to go on the bathroom with shoes. It’s because I don’t have a wash basket.

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