everything scares me/ magical thinking ocd

[scaredgirl86]

I cannot think of any guy without worrying it will cause some disease,i can't listen to music,or watch tv, everything scares me, it's gotten so bad that i cannot enjoy anything and it's not right. I fear all diseases esp. cancer and i worry that if i like a guy that looks like someone who was with someone who had cancer, you know the rest i'm afraid to even type it, i dont want to be annoying and keep posting but i really need advice, i just want to be worry free

[Oosh]

You need to notice when your imagination runs away with itself like this and send it to your mental bin.

Thoughts expend energy and these thoughts are a waste of your energy. You only have so much energy a day and there's no point wasting any of it going down illogical avenues like this.

Cancer and diseases develop in specific ways. Recognise these thoughts as just another energy wasting "what if" and drop it in the bin and start a new constructive thought on something in your day that will actually move you toward where you want to be.

If it's a bf you want then think of constructive ways you can to achieve that goal. Make a list and work through it.

These thoughts sidetrack you if you let them. They waste your time and energy. You have to learn to recognise them and take your focus away from them.
Do not give them a split second of your attention and immediately shift your focus to something on your constructive list. You will soon forget the intrusive thought if you don't give it any attention.
DONT look at it. DONT explore it. DONT TRY AND ANALYSE AND SOLVE IT.
You just get trapped.

Get into the habit of keeping your thoughts on topic, on that productive path. Any thoughts try to distract you from that ,recognise them, shift your focus off them and back on track. They'll drift back away if not given attention.

[scaredgirl86]

Thank you so much i feel a lot better

[MyNameIsTerry]

You need to be saying to yourself that its just a thought from your subconscious, you didn't put it there, you didn't ask for it, its just there. Don't analyse why its there either because that engages the part of the brain that is a problem solver and there is no problem to solve because the way out is through learning to accept that these thoughts are illogical and meaningless.

Magical Thinking is tricky, it can be very diverse. I have this myself. What I have found is that you need to do the above, invest in Mindfulness which works wonders as you can learn to accept thoughts with judgement or even use it to think about these thoughts without reacting to them.

Not reacting is key to recovery as well. Reacting confirms them so they develop further. By learning not to react, such as with Mindfulness, you will start to find they become less frequent and intense and you will have more control over them. You may still get them, all people have intrusive thoughts yet do not recognise them as they don't know what they are and they just float through with reaction, but if you do they will not cause you the anxiety anymore.

[scaredgirl86]

Thank you both for your advice:) i know that cbt helps well for this kind of ocd but i'm on a list to be seen but i will try the advice that you guys me

[MyNameIsTerry]

There is a free CBT course on this website, perhaps make a start with that?

Look at Mindfulness because therapists recommend this anyway, there are clinical studies of how it can help us. Look for Jon Kabat-Zinn's MBSR in the US or give the Headpace app a try.

Meditation helped with my Magical Thinking.

Good luck!

[scaredgirl86]

ok i'll look into it thank you!!! glad you got help for the magical thinking