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They are
the opposite of what most people try first. Desperate efforts to reassure oneself by mental
checking or by asking others is common. However, the key lies in accepting and allowing
the thoughts to occur rather than struggling with them. Changing your attitude and
reaction when these thoughts occur can be extremely helpful but it can be hard to accomplish
on your own. In addition, if avoidance patterns (including neutralizing compulsions and
reassurance seeking) have developed, active exposure therapy to trigger the thoughts and
practice being dis-entangled from them will be needed for an enduring recovery.
Intrusive thoughts are ego-dystonic. This means theyre the very opposite of your character.
You have these thoughts because you DONT want them because theyre everything youre
against morally and as a result youre perceiving them as threatening, so your brain flags them
as important.
You never have to fear acting on an intrusive thought. Youre terrified of these thoughts.
Theyre your worst fears which is why theyre so hard to ignore and youre suffering as a result.
Youre not just suddenly going to reverse your character and find it acceptable to act on them.
Youre only suffering like this because youre a good, kind and moral person.
Analysing the thoughts is the problem. Every human being has intrusive thoughts. However
only OCD sufferers react to them for a prolonged time rather than shrug them off because of
how our brains flag them as important. The more attention you pay to an intrusive, the more it
sticks around because its being given importance that it doesnt deserve to have. By accepting
that youll have these thoughts and understanding that youre the one in control you can get on
with life whilst theyre in your head in confidence theyll fade out when you dont respond to
them and as a result show your brain theyre not a threat.
Spiking is a good thing. Spiking refers to an increase in symptoms (intrusive thoughts,
anxiety, compulsions) as a result of an intrusive thought that gets our attention. Spiking is
incredibly uncomfortable so is often avoided by sufferers. However, spiking is actually a good
thing, as its an opportunity to practise recovery techniques. You should put yourself in situations
that you find uncomfortable (e.g. if you have a fear of being a rapist, go outside and walk past
as many people as you can rather than avoiding going outside at all) because then youre facing
your fear and proving to yourself that youre in control.
Beware of backdoor spikes. When you start to recover youll notice a decrease in anxiety.
This does not mean youve become your fear. It simply means youre starting to understand the
thoughts are ludicrous and not threatening. If people analyse the fact theyre not suffering
anxiety as a result of an intrusive theyll ruminate in fear having become what they loathe (which
causes them to spike again) but this is simply not the case.
Knowing this will give you the tools you need to start tackling your disorder. Youll suffer more
anxiety at first (especially if youre spiking yourself intentionally), but itll lead to long term relief,
which is far better than the temporary relief reassurance provides.