Mental compulsions. Tips please

[Evan155]

So I have an intrusive thought. Then I have to figure out the exact chain of thoughts that led to the final intrusive thought.( Ex, let's say my intrusive thought is.. swimming. Then let's say I'm outside and I'm thinking: " it's really hot out." Then I think: I could go swimming.) If I CAN figure out the chain, I just say I was ruminating and it led to an intrusive thought, forget about it in a couple of seconds. If I CANT remember the exact chain of thoughts, I say I had the thought because I wanted to do whatever the thought was. (Telling myself I thought: I really want to swim right now). Any tips please. Taking inositol, magnesium, sjw

Thanks

[MyNameIsTerry]

Hi and welcome to NMP

This doesn't sound like an intrusive thought, more a Mind Pop. Intrusive thoughts are typically scary and terget things that evoke guilt, shame, fear, etc.

This just sounds like a Mind Pop thought, something triggered it and then you are obsessing over determing why and what chain the thought takes rather than see it as part of the human mind popping up thoughts as it does all the time to everyone.

Learning to accept this is normal (see it as an option maybe in the case of something like the swimming?). It's really like having a hunger pang or seeing a someone eating a choc bar and thinking I'm hungry, I think I will but X, Y or Z and eat it.

Incoming data tells the brain you are hot. The brain looks to alert you to do something to cool down.

Overthinking. Trying to control autonomic processes maybe? It's like looking at your arm and wondering how you create a thought to move it when you don't have to. I rememvber doing a load of that.

Are there other fears in play too? Anything that points towards why you might worry about a thought this this being there?

[Evan155]

It's all about the same theme. I'll have a thought and remember exactly the chain of thoughts that led to it. Swimming was used as an example

[au Lait]

I do this as well. You must break the cycle. When you have the urge to mentally go back through your chain of thoughts, remember that need is just another aspect of OCD. It is the compulsive ritual that is meant to soothe the obsessive thought. By giving in to it, you are fueling the fire. In the same way that you must resist the urge to give in to any other ritual, you must ignore this one as well. Easier said than done, I know. It helps to sometimes remind yourself that people (even those without OCD) often have unwanted thoughts. People without OCD tend to brush those thoughts off as ridiculous. It in no way means that they secretly desire those intrusive thoughts.

Whenever you feel the need to give in, try to distract yourself any way that you can. Engage in an activity that requires you to focus, such as listing all the movies you've seen in your lifetime. Something that requires your full attention. I find that reading or listening to music often isn't enough to distract me, because my mind tends to wander easily during those activities.

[Evan155]

If I don't go back and go over the chain, then I always remember that thought as " I wanted to do that".

---------- Post added at 16:37 ---------- Previous post was at 16:36 ----------

Thanks for your reply! If I don't go back and go over the chain, then I always remember that thought as " I wanted to do that". And remember it for a long time.

[au Lait]

Sorry it took me a while to reply to you. I totally get where you're complaining from. But the feeling you have that not going over the chain of thoughts means that you actually wanted to do the initial thought is part of the OCD. By not feeding the compulsion you are breaking the cycle. You know deep down that you really don't want your intrusive thoughts. OCD is making you believe that you have to go back to the root of these thoughts to prove that you don't really want them. That's actually a pretty common OCD cycle. It makes sense that you feel uncomfortable when you don't give in to your compulsions. That's how OCD traps you in its cycle. The best way out is to break the cycle by not giving in to the compulsions. Try it as an experiment. See how long you can go without checking over your own thoughts. You may feel really uncomfortable at first, and that's normal. It's because you're retraining the way your brain reacts to its own thoughts.

[MyNameIsTerry]

I think your issue is with trying to take control of a largely autonomic process (subconscious thoughts, triggers of them, etc) and believing you have to determine why they go through this chain.

I don't believe it's an intrusive thought, more a Mind Pop. They work in similar ways though.

When the initial thought pops into your head, do you find it unpleasant? Or is it more that your feel anxious once they come and you feel an urge to retrace this process?

Learning to let go and accept this is how the human mind just works in all of us, no anxiety disorder needed at all, is needed because you can't create these thoughts as it's outside of your conscious control.

Do you do it with all such thoughts? For instance, if you felt the need to go to the toilet do you follow the chain sensation>subconscious thought suggested needing to go to the toilet>conscious thought deciding to go to the toilet?