Acting on intrusive thoughts

[rainydayinsummer]

https://www.ocdaction.org.uk/forum/o...ocd-thoughts-0 https://www.ocdaction.org.uk/forum/o...usive-thoughts Oh, and sometimes I dunno if certain actions of mine are examples of acting on intrusive thoughts or not. Like my habit of rubbing my body to relax myself. It started as me trying to make myself nervous that I was being a pervert, but I do indeed feel what is partially a sensual rush and also a relaxing rush every time I do that.

[MyNameIsTerry]

I've had a quick look at the subject of those threads. As far as the OP of the 2nd one goes, groinal response to sexual themes is recognised as is the possibility for masturbation (men & women) as a way to relieve the uncomfortable feeling of arousal.

As someone said in the link from the first thread, read reliable sources.

"Testing" is a common compulsion but it's slightly different to the compulsions we normally associate with our reaction to obsessions because it's like a trigger to the cycle too. More often than not it just causes more confusion as the person with OCD can't interpret the results objectively. Seen it in many people on here and the patterns are all the same, it's a rabbit hole into new worries about "I must be turning into that monster as I didn't act with shame, revulsion, fear, etc". They don't realise that we have to expose ourselves to fears to recover and this means losing those strong negative reactions. When they test they expect the same negative reactions even if their body is so fatigued it's not possible. The lack of the predicted reaction spikes more anxiety.

In the thread linked from the first thread it talks about this. Is touching the person's arm really reacting to my intrusive thoughts by doing something "sexual"? Notice the other OCDers arguing it's not and that it's "testing".

This can be an emotive subject as we rely on the statement that - we don't act on our thoughts. But we do, we react to them with compulsive actions that aim to mitigate or safeguard from what we fear. But it's more complicated than this because there are tiers of what is morally acceptable and what is not. Touching the person's arm and checking your thoughts ("did I feel attraction", which is testing) isn't about trying to do something actually sexual with that person, it's about checking how you feel to attempt to prove you are that monster after all.

In therapy they do Behavioural Experiments. They can be constructed in this manner, if the therapist believes they are worthwhile. But again, tiers of morally (and legally) accepted behaviour exist. In some themes this is why it's something the professionals need to be conducting so that it is controlled and acceptable under law.

OCDers may test, and it may seem like a move towards becoming what you fear, but in reality these tests may be less extreme. You wouldn't sexually touch another person without their consent but you may touch their arm in a non sexual way (to them) and think sexual thoughts as part of these test issues. You still have morals that act as a barrier to crossing lines you know are inappropriate.

In your instance, you tested yourself. Your body reacted to sensual stimulus. The body works the way it works, if you rub sexual organs they can receive increased blood flood. But eventually the "data" works it's way to the subconscious and it checks against our morals to find it's an unacceptable response. People brush it off, but the OCDer already worrying they are a monster sees it as evidence of their fear being true. It creates more doubt.

Testing is something to eliminate as it's just another OCD trap.