I used to have it really bad when I was very young, think elementary school. I couldn't be thinking of something "bad," i.e. getting a bad grade, losing my intelligence and becoming "stupid" either gradually or overnight, not having friends, etc. If I was having said thoughts and touching something, I had to touch it again and again until I had a good thought and really concentrated on it or I was certain the bad one would come true. Same thing with looking at something. If I was looking at something and having a "bad" thought, that something would come true, particularly moving objects. Balloons held loads of horror for me, car antennaes, curtains, mini blinds. Anything like that was the worst. My dad made fun of me for this behavior because, when it takes over like that, it took up much of my time having to look at something until I had a good thought or looking and relooking hundreds of times sometimes. As I got older, I realized that that just couldn't be. I can't make something happen just because I'm looking at a moving object or touching something and having a "bad" thought. It's gotten better now, but I still have these minor obsessions and a ritual I have to go through to get rid of it. There is a ceiling fan in our house. My mother put one of those long pull cords on it. It makes a horrible racket when it's turned on as it wobbles horribly and is just awful, in my opinion. Ever since I've noticed that horrible clanking it does, I can't get my mind off of that fan and that if I'm thinking of that fan and I am thinking of a person or event, I am just certain it's going to happen..whatever it is I think. Like that my parents hate me, my brother thinks I'm stupid...my boyfriend isn't going to stay around even though he talks marriage now. Just annoying things and then I have my ritual which is to envision the ceiling fan and me using an imaginary eraser to "erase" the image of the ceiling fan in my head. It works while I'm doing it but then, inevitably, I think of that fan again and I'm back to square one. I'd like to stop doing this. Does anyone know anything I can do at home to maybe squelch this problem entirely? Some sort of behavior therapy I can try that might work. Like I have to think of the fan for a certain amount of time and whatever I think of I just let it go and don't do my ritual? Does that even work? I read it on here somewhere. Thank you in advance for anything. I'm so tired of having this OCD even if it has gotten much better.