Is this magical thinking??

[Megan99]

Like sometimes I think that if I just think about alcoholism, my body will become dependent on alcohol that i have never drunken in my life.
Or I always think that if I don't go on an airplane with my mother, the plane will crash.
I always feel the need to "confess" all my bad thoughts because I feel like something bad will happen if I don't.
I always feel like if I touched something with one hand, I need to touch it with the other hand or something bad will happen.
Or if I imagine a knife going through my head, I will die. (I keep all sharp objects away at all times) My ocd keeps making me imagine a knife chopping up my brains and I feel faint and terrified at the thought.
I have only just began to realize all these things in my life. i never realized how fear driven everything I did was. But is this what they call magical thinking? I will feel better if there is a name for it. Right now I am feeling downright insane.

[Clydesdale Epona]

I'm not very experienced with O.C.D but I think this is what they'd call magical thinking, mine revolves around many little safety behaviours like if I'm watching tv I won't choke on my food, if I'm wearing my bracelet nothing bad will happen, and if I take it off something will ect. x

All the best :hugs:

[MyNameIsTerry]

Yep, Magical Thinking. This is what OCD UK state:

http://ocduk.org/types-ocd

Magical Thinking Intrusive Thoughts - is the fear is that even thinking about something bad will make it more likely to happen - sometimes also called ‘thought-action fusion’.
Sufferers are beset by intrusive bad thoughts. They try to dispel them by performing rituals - magic rituals, in effect - that are often bizarre and time-consuming and involve linking actions or events that could not possibly be related to each other. *For example having the thought 'I may strangle someone' is regarded as being as reprehensible as actually strangling a person. **Another example is believing that simply imagining a horrific car crash will increase the likelihood of such a crash taking place, or a person may feel that if they don’t count to ten ‘just right’ harm will come to a family member.* Other examples of magical thinking, or thought-action fusion intrusive thoughts include:
A certain colour or number has good or bad luck associated with it.
Certain days have good or bad luck associated with them.
A loved one’s death can be predicted.
One’s thoughts can cause disasters to occur.
Stepping on cracks in the pavement can make bad things happen.
Whatever comes to mind can come true.
Breaking chain letters will actually bring bad luck.
Attending a funeral will bring death.
One can inadvertently cause harm to others with thoughts or carelessness.
Hearing the word ‘death’ will mean repeating the word ‘life’ to prevent death.
In each example listed above, the thoughts and events happening could not possibly ever be linked, but the person with OCD will believe that this possibility does exist, and as a result, this will cause them immense stress and anxiety.* As a result, their silent internal compulsive behaviours will take hours, and often prevent them interacting with anyone else during this time.

The confession compulsion is a known one. That is something often seen in themes such as ROCD. But I found my themes often overlapped or collided in some way anyway, it's just not as simple as X theme means X type of compulsion.

I had the touching things one side, then the other issue as part of mine.

Keeping knives away is a form of avoidance, it will only reinforce you obsession.

All these compulsions are something you need to work on eliminating. I found this very hard at first, when my anxiety was fever pitch, but the more I gained ground on them the easier they got to keep decreasing. I found it better to decrease them steadily rather than stop them all in one go.

[Kitmarie]

I know this is an old post but was very helpful for me to read. I am new to this site and hoping to find anyone who understands or relate. I struggle with magical thinking...rationally I know that is what it is...but even so, I sometimes wonder if my thoughts do control events.

[BrokenGirl]

I'm only after coming across this thread now and I can honestly say I nearly felt relief reading it. I always just thought I had these crazy thoughts in my head, I never realised there was a name for it or that so many other people had similar issues.
Magical thinking can be so frightening at times.
Hopefully I'll figure out sometime how to start dealing with it and even over come it..........