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How often do you get intrusive thoughts


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I feel frustrated it feels like i battle ocd intrusive thoughts every day. For days and weeks it may not bother me as much and i feel good despite it. When i feel in control of my ocd i feel amazing and other times i feel ****** off when i belive the ocd or i cant shift the gear or it shifts when i am busy then i almost start examining it again snd bring it back caz it seems to important to ignore. I really try to be a positive person and am in general i just hate ocd tonight. Just venting sorry on good days its great and bad days its a constant in my mind. I pray to god that i will win the war for good xx how often do you have intrusive thoughts x

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Sorry to hear your are struggling with intrusive thoughts. Well I believe we all experience these thoughts many times every day. You can never avoid them! The problem isn't really those thoughts. It is how we handle them. For example, you say that you "examine" them. That can only lead to problems. Just let the thoughts visit you and let them stay. They are just thoughts and they don't represent you as a person. So.. expect intrusive thoughts every day and if you succeed in that they won't really be "intrusive" anymore :)

Edited by Rarity
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Intrusive thoughts I prefer to think they are coming from the subconscious.  Being mentally exhausted can cause them to surface more for me so I rest more. 

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Thank you sorry i try my best normally to be upbeat and positive last nite i just felt really frustrated and wanted to vent. Todays a new day il try my best to dust my self off thank you for your support and kindness. I means alot to get the build up off your chest and to know you are not the only one going through a tough time in silence x

Edited by angels
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10 hours ago, angels said:

how often do you have intrusive thoughts x

Well intrusive thoughts are with people every minute of the day, Rarity is exactly right... 'Will I be late for work', 'What shall I have on my breakfast', 'will my boss be happy with my work' or 'I miss my partner whilst they're away, I love my partner'... are all examples of intrusive thoughts.

But if you mean OCD related intrusive thoughts, then I am not sure that's the right question to ask, because for most people they will be somewhat constant on a daily basis (otherwise they would not have OCD) and as mentioned above intrusive thoughts are always with us, some are good, some are negative and some are bad... the difference is they don't usually stick unlike those associated with OCD.

I think a better question to ask might be 'How do I change the focus of my intrusive thoughts'?

So what this means is we don't want to get rid of intrusive thoughts (well ultimately we do), but for that to happen we have to change how we respond to those OCD thoughts.  Your beliefs around the thoughts, your interpretation (or misinterpretation) of them, your emotions at a particular time are all good examples of how and where the OCD is impacting on you processing the intrusive thoughts with anxiety.  This is where good CBT can help of course.

 

10 hours ago, angels said:

When i feel in control of my ocd

I wanted to highlight this point too. I think this is a good example of something a lot of people fall into the trap of, where they believe or think they are controlling their OCD because it's not bothersome. In my experience it's actually the other way around, we never control our OCD, it's nearly always fooling us and it's actually controlling us. Because usually when we think we're controlling it, we are just avoiding or neutralising thoughts so it's less bothersome. 

10 hours ago, angels said:

on good days its great and bad days its a constant in my mind

As above, think of it like a playground bully, we pacify it for a while and whilst the bully is picking on someone else it's there in the background but not bothering us. Until one day it gets bored and returns it's attention to us and then BANG it's right back in our face.

We can't control OCD, we can only live with it or go on the attack and fight to eradicate it... only that will give us non OCD peace.

 

 

 

 

 

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Thank you Ashley for your reply i really appreciate it. I know are brain is a thought making machine and we get thoughts all the time. Its the ocd that bothers me or should i say how i react to it the importance i give them.i suppose what i was seeking was reassurance that i am not alone in having ocd thoughts all the time and recovery is not getting rid of the thoughts they will always appear but not reacting its like that for us all. And the most important part like you say moving my focus. The difficult part for me and all of us is knowing that ocd is at play but not being able to belive it.. because ocd wants certainty and doubt and what if. i use the not getting into the thoughts and the cbt part as in this is ocd blowing things out of proposotion its ocd and not me refocus stop reacting. Using my tecnique is key but sometimes the ocd is so strong. I find myself getting frustrated. Saying that i have come leaps and bounds from where i was over the years and have a much happier full life. So how do i belive its ocd and not me not let the ocd bully creep back in. Ocd latches to my everyday life. If i have a disagreement, work, decisions i make if i am upset by an argument the inner analysing and disecting myself character etc misintetpretation i have to nip it or i am i  trouble. How do you use your cbt with this thank you x

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Intrusive thoughts are thoughts which we find distressing. They conjure up anxiety. So for most people what will I have for breakfast is not intrusive. It is a matter of choice. But if you are poor with no money with six children then the thought can provoke anxiety. It seems to me that intrusive thoughts which provoke anxiety can be caused by objective facts as well as being pure products of imagination. It is no coincidence that there is greater incidence of mental ill health in places of material deprivation.

Edited by Angst
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