I’m confused when people say accept your thoughts why would I accept the thoughts that are making me feel disgust and filth what if I start accepting them and then the thoughts actually become true?
It’s not accepting them to be true but it’s accepting that they are there and not putting so much energy into stopping them which only makes them more powerful. Don’t give them power you brain is trying to convince you that they will become true to keep you trapped in the cycle
It’s because thoughts aren’t real, we can’t even control what we think. It’s really just understanding that no person can control what comes through their own minds. Everyone is a victim to sudden thought. The only difference between us and them as that we have a disposition to believe our thoughts are true, we sadly automatically take them seriously while other people just naturally don’t let their thoughts define them. In reality it’s all apart of a normal process of thinking. All you gotta do is understand that you are not your thoughts , and all though you have them, does not mean they are in your control at all, they literally do not define you or anyone around you. At all
You’re accepting their presence and the fact that you cannot control feelings, thoughts, images, and urges—what you CAN control are your actions. Accepting their presence and then going about your day tells your brain that everything is okay and to not set off alarm bells. The more you feed OCD, the more you’re telling your brain it is dangerous. The brain is the powerhouse of human beings, but we are conscious animals—we have the ability to detach from our minds due to having a consciousness and see what’s going on, then decide how to react. And for OCD treatment, you DO NOT react.
The goal is not to accept them, but to dismiss them, tolerate them, or let them float by. When we realize we are not defined by all of our thoughts, we are defined by our response to intrusive thoughts, our actions, our character traits, etc... then we can tolerate a wicked thought without it changing us at all. ERP helps with this. For what it's worth, I also adopt a spiritual view as a Christian. In Christianity, we can experience spiritual warfare, and entities can tempt us with all kinds of thoughts. Luckily Christ has all authority over such entities and we can turn to Scripture or pray (non-compulsively) or just give our worries to God. It's a relief to know that some (I wouldn't necessarily say all) intrusive thoughts are not from us at all. God bless.
@JB1020 Same as me thank you but I’m Muslim like saying it’s whispers from the shaytan (devil) and can see it as a test and to be honest I have it helped me become a lot closer to god and I feel a lot better thank god may God guide us all to the right path🙏🏽❤️
@LaHawlaWlaQuwitaIllaBilah - Your love for God is beautiful. I pray He leads you to the truth that Jesus Christ is God and was crucified for us. But even though we have different faiths, we can still support one another in our mental health and spiritual warfare. All the best to you.
I struggle so bad with intrusive thoughts. They can be so bad that I'll cry because I KNOW that's not how I feel or want to do. (Too embarrassed to say what they're about) I'll constantly try to figure out why I have them, and constantly figure out what they mean, causing me to constantly circle around and around. I had to get on anxeity meds, which helped a little but the thoughts still happen. How do you help yourself with this? How do you know that you're just not some physcopath? 😅
There’s something that happens that keeps me stuck in a thought, it’s when I can see some part of myself agreeing with or relating to it in some way. That’s when the doubt creeps in. If I can understand *why* the thought is there, doesn’t that mean it’s not just random? Doesn’t that mean it actually reflects something about me? For example **(TMI/TW)**: I had the thought, *“I wonder what other people’s kinks are (including friends, family, even teenagers).”* And then I caught myself thinking, *“Well, I guess that could be interesting information… maybe I wouldn’t even stop someone from sharing it with me. Does that mean I actually want to know? Wait—does that make me perverted or incestuous for even having this curiosity?”* The same thing has happened with other thoughts, like wondering what someone’s privates might look like. I recognize that, on some level, that could be interesting—but does that mean the thought is truly mine? Maybe the answer is super obvious and I just can’t see through my OCD smoke. This was a bit embarrassing for me to write 🥲, but can anyone provide some insight?
I keep getting these groinal responses when I think about kids or see one and it's really distressing, I only just learned that OCD can make you feel that and it's not actually attraction but it's so hard to remember that and I've seen people talking about accepting uncertainty but I'm so scared to think "maybe it's attraction maybe it's not" instead of "no it's not attraction that's disgusting" and idk what to do
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