" Just So" OCD...if something not said perfectly..

Today I might of had a nasty 'JUST SO' OCD experience. Not sure what was said, if anything and if so - was it done so good enough for me...if after possibly trying and not saying it perfectly good enough for me more than once? Now thoughts keep popping up saying that if I was not able to say something perfectly to myself than that was because it must mean what I was trying to say but couldn't say was wrong. Just won't let go...

AnonymousCat

Date posted: 2d

Ugh so frustrating. Maybe try some somatic exercises? Or thought stopping? (I just learned about this technique where you tell your brain “STOP” and imagine a stop sign)

Hemlock

Date posted: 2d

Won't that play right into what OCD wants you to do...play more mind games. Feeding it?

User type: Therapist

Date posted: 2d

Hello Hemlock, I see you are struggling with intrusive thoughts about what you said and ruminating about the meaning of what you did say. As you indicate, OCD is fed when we engage in compulsions. The key to not feeding OCD is resisting compulsions or negating the temporary relief from compulsions by reintroducing uncertainty. When you notice yourself wanting to repeat or perfect what you say, try gently reminding yourself with statements like "maybe, maybe not" or "I don't know." This can help you sit with the discomfort and break the cycle. If you’d like additional support, feel free to book a free call with our NOCD team. We’d be happy to share more information and explore ways to help. No one has to live in fear of their own thoughts. Also here are some helpful resources: https://www.treatmyocd.com/blog/just-right-perfectionism-ocd/ Take care, Ian M. Reeder

AnonymousCat

Date posted: 2d

@Ian Reeder Hi Ian, is thought stopping a bad technique for ocd?

Tea and Honey

Date posted: 2d

@AnonymousCat I'm not sure what thought-stopping is, but it is potentially a very bad technique for OCD (if it means what I think it does). In OCD recovery, we should never try to stop the thoughts. We should not try to fight them off. We should not try to fix them. My therapist described it like a tree planted by a river. The leaves fall off the tree and float down the river. You don't try to fight the leaves off. You don't pick them up and look at them. You don't do anything. You just ALLOW them to float down the river. A lot of your OCD recovery depends on us learning how to do NOTHING. This can be very counterintuitive. At first, we always feel like we have to fight and push back against the terrible and disturbing thoughts. But that only makes them worse! In the end, we have to realize that there's nothing we can do to stop the thoughts. However, we CAN remove any power they have over us. We do this by ignoring them. We allow them to be there, but we don't take any action of them. This is key! As long as we try to stop the thoughts, we are only going to feed our fear of thoughts. Instead, we have to realize that the thoughts are DO NOT MEAN ANYTHING. therefore, we don't need to prevent them from coming. We just need to move on with our life as if they weren't there.

Hemlock

Date posted: 2d

Thanks... I have a therapist meeting here on NOCD this Wednesday.

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