[Donutworryrelax]

Hey everyone,

I've dealt with OCD since I was in seventh grade. Although I've made a lot of progress in the past year, I often deal with intrusive, offensive thoughts. The more I try to ignore them, the urge to think them increases, until I just think them. I have a big problem with these thoughts, since they're morally offensive to me. I'm no expert on Tourette's Syndrome, so if I say anything incorrect, please don't be offended.

It seems to me that OCD is kind of like mental, inward Tourette's, which makes it even harder to explain, because no one can understand because no one can see your reactions.

Does anyone agree?

I used to struggle a lot with Pure O - aka, intrusive thoughts from OCD. They actually caused by first 4 hospitalizations and the psychologist told me it was one of the most severe cases he'd seen. I was able to overcome it though, with his help, with something called exposure therapy.

We'd sit in session together and meditate. Whenever a thought came, I was to notice it, accept it, and let it move on like a river flowing. It sounds easy but I'm sure you can imagine how hard it is to not try to shove the thought out of your mind. Unfortunately, trying to ignore the thoughts or push them away just makes them come back stronger. That's like telling someone NOT to think of PINK ELEPHANTS. Well guess what you're thinking about now? :P

The key is to accept these thoughts, know that you won't act on them, and carry on. People with Pure O may have thoughts of awful things, but they feel so guilty that the chances of acting on them is pretty much zero. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions or just need to chat/vent.

[*Laurie*]

Yes! I think describing OCD like inward Tourette's is spot on.

[Donutworryrelax]

Originally Posted by scaredandconfused

I used to struggle a lot with Pure O - aka, intrusive thoughts from OCD. They actually caused by first 4 hospitalizations and the psychologist told me it was one of the most severe cases he'd seen. I was able to overcome it though, with his help, with something called exposure therapy.

We'd sit in session together and meditate. Whenever a thought came, I was to notice it, accept it, and let it move on like a river flowing. It sounds easy but I'm sure you can imagine how hard it is to not try to shove the thought out of your mind. Unfortunately, trying to ignore the thoughts or push them away just makes them come back stronger. That's like telling someone NOT to think of PINK ELEPHANTS. Well guess what you're thinking about now? :P

The key is to accept these thoughts, know that you won't act on them, and carry on. People with Pure O may have thoughts of awful things, but they feel so guilty that the chances of acting on them is pretty much zero. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions or just need to chat/vent.

Thank you so much for sharing your story. It is both really inspiring, and gives me good advice on how to overcome my OCD.

[coyotee]

If anything, that might be a good way to sorta explain to a family or friend what ocd is like. That's like a tangible reference for someone who doesn't have it to sorta grasp the idea of it. It's always been super hard for me to explain it to people in my life. Compulsions are sorta easy for others to see. (Unless you were like me and did them in secret.) The O part is trickier to understand. I think it's hard for people with ocd to understand themselves what's going on, which is why our brain loops out ideas. So someone who doesn't suffer from it, these kinda metaphors can be helpful.

[BLOODNUN]

one of the things that i find myself doing the most is that if a certain word or sound sounds different than normal, or if its just a normal word, ill repeat it in my head over and over and, although it sounds normal in my head, a lot of the time it will come out as gibberish if im speaking. ill repeat the word twenty times or so before eventually stopping