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"The Anatomy of a Horrific Thought in Pure-O"
Taken from the OCD Workbook: Your Guide to Breaking Free of OCD.
Intrusive thought --> Catastrophic appraisal of the thought --> Increased anxiety and worry --> Overcontrol strategies which include Vigilence (Could I really do it? and Covert rituals (testing) --> temporary anxiety reduction --> The cycle starts over again.
"Primarily obsessional OCD begins with an intrusive, distressing thought that the person appraises in a particularly negative way. In the person's mind, the thought is experienced as having the same reality or importance as an action. As a result, the person attempts to avoid or suppress the thought. This leads to various overcontrol strategies to reduce anxiety, including mental rituals. While these strategies may reduce discomfort, the effect is only temporary, and then the cycle begins again."
Intrusive thought --> Catastrophic appraisal of the thought --> Increased anxiety and worry --> Overcontrol strategies which include Vigilence (Could I really do it? and Covert rituals (testing) --> temporary anxiety reduction --> The cycle starts over again.
"Primarily obsessional OCD begins with an intrusive, distressing thought that the person appraises in a particularly negative way. In the person's mind, the thought is experienced as having the same reality or importance as an action. As a result, the person attempts to avoid or suppress the thought. This leads to various overcontrol strategies to reduce anxiety, including mental rituals. While these strategies may reduce discomfort, the effect is only temporary, and then the cycle begins again."
thanks! I was the person who commented on the hocd post 2 days ago. ill start my own question thread though.
GOD THANK YOU FOR POSTING THIS! I didnt know this is a thing that im suffering from. Thank you so much.
This is such a helpful thread, everyone suffering from OCD, or even severe anxiety with OCD-like tendencies need to read this and understand the process behind it, and understand that the LAST thing one should do is feed into those thoughts. Read it over and over! Print it out and tape it on your fridge.
I think it's also important to remind everyone...posting, lurking, reading that the replies that will be helpful are the ones who help the person learn how to overcome that thought process, versus entering into more discussion about the thoughts themselves.
I've seen this on the HIV forum...the more we try to reassure someone with HIV anxiety by discussing the physiology of HIV, or the facts of HIV, the more anxiety induced questions are raised. Someone with these kinds of thought processes can NOT be reassured by rehashing the intimate details of the fear. It will actually only fuel the compulsion/checking need.
I think it's an important reminder because so many OPs want to rehash the details over and over, and it's easy to think that if we do that, and give them facts, it will help them move on. That would be true in a lot of situations, but not when it comes to obsessive/intrusive thoughts. I think anyone replying to people in these kinds of situations needs to keep that in mind.
I think it's also important to remind everyone...posting, lurking, reading that the replies that will be helpful are the ones who help the person learn how to overcome that thought process, versus entering into more discussion about the thoughts themselves.
I've seen this on the HIV forum...the more we try to reassure someone with HIV anxiety by discussing the physiology of HIV, or the facts of HIV, the more anxiety induced questions are raised. Someone with these kinds of thought processes can NOT be reassured by rehashing the intimate details of the fear. It will actually only fuel the compulsion/checking need.
I think it's an important reminder because so many OPs want to rehash the details over and over, and it's easy to think that if we do that, and give them facts, it will help them move on. That would be true in a lot of situations, but not when it comes to obsessive/intrusive thoughts. I think anyone replying to people in these kinds of situations needs to keep that in mind.
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