POLITICS OCD?

[Lost in Thought]

So I have I 'mastered' questioning my relationship for now, but today my brain has returned to an old staple and that is worrying about political stuff going on focusing on how the government is handling the current pandemic.  It's the same with major political event, Scottish independence, Brexit, etc  (you name it I will be going over it) coming up with arguments for and against and trying to then having to remember them all. 

it's so draining, causes me a lot of anxiety and I feel embarrassed to worry get so caught up in it that I often keep it to myself. 

Does anyone else go through this or similar? 

Edited June 22, 2020 by Lost in Thought

[dksea]

Unfortunately OCD can strike basically any topic.  The solution is more or less the same, regardless of the content o the intrusive thought.  Apply CBT techniques, avoid compulsive behavior, work on accepting uncertainty.

[Lost in Thought]

Thank you @dksea

[AmandaG]

Yes, OCD can attach itself to any subject. I'm not sure if I'd class intense preoccupation with and agitation over a particular subject as strictly part of OCD, though, even if we're more predisposed to 'sticky' thought patterns. I tend to think of the core of OCD as being anxiety- driven intrusive, distressing and repetitive unwanted thoughts, causing you to ruminate/perform compulsions with the intention of allaying the anxiety.

I do get preoccupations with certain topics, almost on a par with the "special interests" phenomenon which some autistic people have, but I consider that quite different to OCD obsessions. I can get hung up and wound up about politics and spend days constructing arguments and speeches. Or I can suddenly come across a topic that sparks my interest can spend a tremendous amount of time researching it for days, weeks, months, or even years. I do consider it part of the mental makeup that runs alongside OCD, but not necessarily a symptom of an acute OCD.

Interestingly, I've found that the thoughts and obsessions that are part of my acute OCD episodes respond extremely well to a particular medication, but preoccupations are totally unaffected.

[Captain Trips]

Hi Lost In Thought

I have not had OCD about politics, but I have found that my mood is greatly improved if I do not watch the news and stay away from social media. I removed the Facebook icon from my home screen on my phone and found just by doing that I was less likely to automatically click on it.

You may feel like you're being ignorant by not keeping up with current events, but if it's good for your mental health than that's the more important.

Also remember that you can't alone do anything about world events and obsessing about them is not healthy for anyone, especially if you have OCD.

[Lost in Thought]

18 hours ago, Captain Trips said:

Hi Lost In Thought

I have not had OCD about politics, but I have found that my mood is greatly improved if I do not watch the news and stay away from social media. I removed the Facebook icon from my home screen on my phone and found just by doing that I was less likely to automatically click on it.

You may feel like you're being ignorant by not keeping up with current events, but if it's good for your mental health than that's the more important.

Also remember that you can't alone do anything about world events and obsessing about them is not healthy for anyone, especially if you have OCD.

Yep I agree I do find myself feeling better when I take breaks from the news and don’t keep up what is going on in the world. I feel like newspapers and TV news deliberately  focus on the negatives rather than positives to keep us scared/ worried so we stay in line and so we don’t “rock the boat” let’s say. Or maybe I’m just becoming a conspiracy theorist. 

[Captain Trips]

On 24/06/2020 at 10:45, Lost in Thought said:

Yep I agree I do find myself feeling better when I take breaks from the news and don’t keep up what is going on in the world. I feel like newspapers and TV news deliberately  focus on the negatives rather than positives to keep us scared/ worried so we stay in line and so we don’t “rock the boat” let’s say. Or maybe I’m just becoming a conspiracy theorist. 

It definitely focuses on the negatives. The most important tool for the powers that be is fear! I take a lot of things I hear on the news with a pinch of salt. 

When I was younger during the Kosovo war my OCD focused on it and I became obsessed that I would be conscripted and have to go and fight. This I'm sure came from constant televised coverage of it which my OCD latched on to. These days, whilst I have other issues, this particular obsession is completely gone, showing just how irrational it actually was in the first place.

Oh and as for conspiracy theories; everything that isn't what the news claims is a fact is now labelled a 'conspiracy theory' when really most news is just someone's opinion stated as a fact. As is a 'conspiracy theory' - it's just another opinion. You are well within your rights to have your own ideas and not be labelled a conspiracy theorist. Unless of course you believe the earth is flat!

[Lost in Thought]

11 hours ago, Captain Trips said:

It definitely focuses on the negatives. The most important tool for the powers that be is fear! I take a lot of things I hear on the news with a pinch of salt. 

When I was younger during the Kosovo war my OCD focused on it and I became obsessed that I would be conscripted and have to go and fight. This I'm sure came from constant televised coverage of it which my OCD latched on to. These days, whilst I have other issues, this particular obsession is completely gone, showing just how irrational it actually was in the first place.

Oh and as for conspiracy theories; everything that isn't what the news claims is a fact is now labelled a 'conspiracy theory' when really most news is just someone's opinion stated as a fact. As is a 'conspiracy theory' - it's just another opinion. You are well within your rights to have your own ideas and not be labelled a conspiracy theorist. Unless of course you believe the earth is flat!

The earth is not flat? Next you will be telling me they didn't stage the Moon landings