Quote:
Originally Posted by Miswimmy1
That's a difficult question because in that particular instance, considering that the thoughts are true is not going to be beneficial because sitting with the idea of being a rapist is going to be emotionally harmful in itself. I haven't met anyone with that particular issue but my guess would be that with the help of a therapist, you would learn how to challenge those sort of thoughts, which are known as cognitive distortions. Thought challenging isn't simply saying 'I'm not a rapist' and it's not simply saying 'I am a rapist, so what?'. It entails asking yourself questions whose answers can help sort of bring you back to reality. Things such as, 'Was I ever situated in a place where I could have raped someone? No.' or maybe the answer was yes. 'If I had any urges, did I follow through? no'. Hopefully the answer is no. 'Have I ever harmed anyone in the past?' Hopefully the answer is no. 'Have I ever wanted to harm anyone before?' I'm just guessing here because I really think that this is a special case that would need to be worked on in a specific way.
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Thanks for the reply.
This isn't my case at all, I just wanted to use an example as I don't want to talk about my issues too much. I have no fears of thoughts about being a rapist, just to clarify.
I brought up rape or I could have brought up murder or anything like that, mine aren't anything morally abhorrent in the public's view or tradionalist view. But as with all mental health issues, they're personal to the person so to me the particular fears which seem to fuel my pure O seem abhorrent to me and would impact me emotionally to say "so what if this happens or if I'm this or if this means this" etc. I've tried doing that and I feel just awful and my anxiety goes up and not only that but then the pure o thoughts are reinforced by me agreeing with them and saying they're right when they're not.
So I guess the answer would still remain the same then? if it's going to effect your personal emotional compass and person then it's not benefical to say "so what if the thoughts are true. i don't mind/care" I think that would be because you would be fueling your mind with what you mentioned cognitive issues with your thought processes, correct? I'm going to look up cognitive distortion and see if I can find anything I'm able to relate to and see if it's more to do with that but I would have thought ocd is a cognitive distortion anyhow.
Sorry for all these questions but I have one more, when I've seen on these sections in forums I will sometimes see a few HOCD threads. Would the "so what" type of thought questioning and acceptance have a different more benefical impact than say a morally wrong one such as murder? Then again I guess homosexuality could be morally wrong in certain religions.
LAST question. I thought - thought challenging was a safety behaviour/symptom of OCD/Pure O? I mean, I know theres healthy and unhealthy thought challenging but I always challenge my thoughts in a sane way but it never helps it only makes the thoughts worst and I feel even more threatened when they come up. Or did you imply that was for cognitive distortions only and not OCD/Pure O? I get that the thought challenging is meant to bring you back to reality which is good but if you do it enough times it just becomes powerless, kind of like the rubber band method of getting rid of obbessive thoughts only makes it worst in the long run.