![]() The gold standard for OCD treatment, and for dealing with intrusive thoughts, is exposure and response prevention therapy, or ERP. How does therapy help deal with intrusive thoughts? It’s a vicious cycle, but the right therapy can help you break it. Each time you engage in compulsive behavior, you unconsciously train yourself to do the same behavior the next time you have the same intrusive thought. Whether your compulsions are invisible or not, they temporarily relieve the distress of your intrusive thoughts, but they don’t solve the problem. Some are mental rituals, like listing all of the reasons you’re not a serial killer, or counting to 25 before you lock the door. Hand-washing is a classic example of a visible compulsion, like shutting the door multiple times or clearing the room of knives so your harm OCD won’t convince you that you want to stab someone. You do it, because otherwise you believe the anxiety will overwhelm you. Your OCD brain tells you, “If I wash my hands five times in a row with this particular soap, I’ll stop feeling contaminated.” It doesn’t matter whether your rational mind believes this to be a reasonable response. An intrusive thought can be so strong and persistent that you feel like you have to make it go away. Intrusive thoughts prompt the compulsions of OCD. What’s the connection between intrusive thoughts and compulsions? Your OCD brain tells you, “If I wash my hands five times in a row with this particular soap, I’ll stop feeling contaminated.” You do it, because otherwise you believe the anxiety will overwhelm you. Unwanted impulses, like the desire to touch things a certain number of times or search the internet to make sure you don’t have the same biography as a serial killerĭifferent types of intrusive thoughts affect people differently, but they all have one thing in common: They cause anxiety and distress that can feel like too much to handle. Unwanted and possibly inaccurate memories, like wondering if you accidentally touched a child inappropriately while playing with them.Physical sensations, such as the feeling of being contaminated by a public bathroom or the sense that your breathing has suddenly become irregular.Ideas and uncertainties that your mind feels like it has to deal with, like, “What if I killed someone and I don’t remember it?”.Disturbing images, like visions of germs crawling on your body or the mental picture of a commuter that you pushed in front of a train.They don’t always realize that intrusive thoughts can also be: ![]() When people picture the intrusive thoughts of OCD, they usually think of unwanted words and sentences like the ones described above. What are the types of intrusive thoughts? You know they’re not rational, but you feel compelled to let them direct your behavior.įortunately, there is a way to overcome those intrusive thoughts - and it doesn’t involve forcing them out of your mind. They’re in your mind and body, but you feel like you can’t control them. Intrusive thoughts make OCD feel inescapable. And when OCD is involved, that “something” is usually a compulsive behavior. It tells you those thoughts must be real and valid, demanding that you do something to make them go away. They look at an annoying fellow commuter and think, “I could push him in front of the bus and no one would notice.”įor people without OCD, those moments pass as quickly as they come, but OCD forces you to fixate on those intrusive thoughts. They picture having sex with a coworker, even though they’re married. These unwanted thoughts pop up in your mind, whether or not they’re rational or in line with your values and beliefs.Įveryone has this kind of thought once in a while. Intrusive thoughts are probably the most famous symptom of obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD.
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