OCD?

[cmarsmith86]

Hey, sometimes i have very unwanted thoughts enter my head and they scare me. I keep thinking that I am going to go "crazy", like I am losing my mind. I will have like "flashes" of hurting somone and then feel horrible for thinking that. Sometimes I will have a thought that I need to kill myself to stop these thoughts. Both of these things I will never do, but why do I feel like this? Sometimes in my mind I will make a small mistake seem bigger and feel so much guilt over it that it makes me super sad. I would never hurt myself or anyone else, but why do i have these thoughts? they scare me so much that i panic. Please Help

[Jaquta]

A lot of us have cognitive distortions.  One you mention is magnification or catastrophizing -you magnify the importance or significance of an event, situation, etc.
It is normal for us to feel sad or depressed if we have these negative thoughts.
Sometimes what you mention happens when we try hard to be perfect and then feel like a failure when we do make mistakes (no matter how trivial).
I don't know what is driving your thoughts.

Often the unwanted, or intrusive, thoughts are there to defend against our anxiety.

There are a number of criteria you must meet before being diagnosed with ocd.  If you're interested you could try searching the DSM-IV for OCD.

You're not going crazy or losing your mind but as these symptoms are causing you a lot of distress it would pay to discuss them with someone.
You could start with your family doctor but talking to a psychologist would probably be more helpful.  (Maybe even a psychiatrist for a psych assessment first??)

This is treatable so please try not to stress too much.

J

[Roger Gould, M.D.]

this kind of thought process is called an obsession.  You are having a conversation with yourself about something that frightens you, but the conversation has become limited and ritualized so it goes no place.  You can help two ways. the first is with a therapist who will help you open up and resolve your conversation. the second is with medication that quiet the voices, but won't resolve the underlying issue...