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new sufferer with doubter OCD hoping for some tips on controlling my compulsions


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Hi I'm a newly diagnosed doubter (at least I think that's the category I'm closest to) and was wondering what strategies people use to quell their doubts. It's an emotional thing so I'm worried I've hurt someone close to me if I do something and also if I don't do something. I'm trying to come to terms with that I really can't do anything and that my doubts are making things worse, point is is there any strategies similar doubter/those who worry they're hurting those around them with everything they do people have used in the past which have been super effective? I'm getting my self help stuf through soon but thought people with similar experience may be better at understanding this branch of OCD

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Hi. 

There is no such thing as doubter OCD, but I know where you are coming from. All forms of OCD have doubt at their core. Did I turn the stove off? Am I a pedophile? Are my hands really clean? Did I do something that will harm someone? These questions are obsessions, otherwise known as intrusive thoughts.

The problem arises when you try to answer those questions. No matter how hard you try, you will never come up with a final answer. Trying to answer those questions are where compulsions come in.

The questions, the doubts, are not the problem. The problem is how you react to them or that you react at all.

The fix is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or CBT. It teaches you to think differently about the thoughts and change your behavior, which is all about stopping compulsions.

Edited by PolarBear
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oh ok I was using this definition from a help site Doubters and sinners are afraid that if everything isn’t perfect or done just right something terrible will happen, or they will be punished. I am booked into cbt just wondering if there's anything I can do in the meantime since it's three months

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Well, until you are in a structured setting with a therapist, try treating those thoughts and questions like a misbehaving child. The child is screaming at you for attention and while that can be unnerving, you can choose to ignore and get on with your day.

Rather than trying to snswer those questions, think to yourself, eh, whatever... I don't have to answer that. I can leave it alone.

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