[eclairparty98]

I saw a really horrible video of a senseless beating which triggered memories of other horrible videos I've seen in the past which set off a terrible chain-reaction of emotions. One problem is that I have trouble dealing with this awareness that there are some people who'll go out of their way to hurt another human being or animal. I'm struggling to deal with this. For instance, eating or socialising has me preoccupied with thoughts about cruelty. I don't quite know how to handle this without thinking "OH, well, that's them and not me so I shouldn't think about it" if you know what I mean.

The main problematic thought process I'm enduring is this: when I'm with my loved ones or I'm relaxing with my dog, I get intrusive thoughts that are pretty much mental visuals of people inflicting harm upon them. I look at my dog and I think of animal abusers hurting him and then I get really upset that I have to lie down. Sort of similar to a paternal fear: what if I'm not there to protect my baby, who will look after them when I'm gone, what are their classmates like, what's the teacher like etc.

I hope I'm making sense. This is a real disturbance distracting my day-to-day business and it's really emotionally devastating that I go from a high to a bottomless low.

If anyone can relate, I'd appreciate knowing how you handle this yourself or any advice/suggestions from anyone else would leave me immensely grateful.

[spondiferous]

This is the #1 symptom of my OCD: intrusive thoughts. Disturbing ones. Sometimes I have to wait for them to pass on their own and in my case it has, at times, meant locking myself in my room, more or less, for days or weeks at a time because in my intrusive thoughts I'm the one inflicting the damage, and I'm afraid I'm actually going to do it because it's so real it seems like an impulse and it terrifies me. However sometimes I can disrupt the thoughts. One thing I learned in DBT is this mindfulness exercise - there's a million ways to do it - but essentially you pick something nearby - could even be something like your shirt, or a book you're reading, or your backpack, or something on your desk - and mindfully describe it to yourself. Not necessarily out loud, though if that's what you need there's no harm in it. But just going through all of its qualities and attributes in your mind: colour, texture, size, how it feels when you touch it, etc. And if your mind starts to wander, just bring it back and start again. Do it as often as you need to. Another thing that some people do is keep an elastic band around their wrist. And whenever they get an intrusive thought that doesn't go away, they snap the band against their skin, not hard enough to leave a mark or anything but just enough to disrupt the thought. Sometimes they have to do it several times. Another one is visualizing a stop sign. As in, stopping the thought. Might sound absurd or simplistic but I know tons of people who swear by it.

It's really a matter of what works for you. I am super sensitive, and I'm an empath, and I cannot handle the violence in this world. I literally cannot. Whether it's happen to people I know, or just knowing it's happening to millions of people all over the world that I'll never meet, I can't handle a single bit of it. Same as imagining people and places and things after my death. Or my life after the deaths of people I love, which I have experienced a lot of, so the imagining of that pain is far from fantasy. It's rooted in reality. So I also have to limit my exposure to certain things. Somtimes I can't handle movie or tv violence. Sometimes I can't handle movies or tv at all because the violence is so ingrained in media. Sometimes it doesn't really bother me in the sense that I can watch it. But when something bad happens to someone I almost always cry. Sometimes uncontrollably. It's something I've learned to accept about myself. It's not a weakness; it's a gift. But managing it can be difficult and even painful, and most certainly exhausting.

If you ever need anyone to talk to about this stuff feel free to message me. I don't trigger easily. Take good care.

[eclairparty98]

Originally Posted by spondiferous

This is the #1 symptom of my OCD: intrusive thoughts. Disturbing ones. Sometimes I have to wait for them to pass on their own and in my case it has, at times, meant locking myself in my room, more or less, for days or weeks at a time because in my intrusive thoughts I'm the one inflicting the damage, and I'm afraid I'm actually going to do it because it's so real it seems like an impulse and it terrifies me. However sometimes I can disrupt the thoughts. One thing I learned in DBT is this mindfulness exercise - there's a million ways to do it - but essentially you pick something nearby - could even be something like your shirt, or a book you're reading, or your backpack, or something on your desk - and mindfully describe it to yourself. Not necessarily out loud, though if that's what you need there's no harm in it. But just going through all of its qualities and attributes in your mind: colour, texture, size, how it feels when you touch it, etc. And if your mind starts to wander, just bring it back and start again. Do it as often as you need to. Another thing that some people do is keep an elastic band around their wrist. And whenever they get an intrusive thought that doesn't go away, they snap the band against their skin, not hard enough to leave a mark or anything but just enough to disrupt the thought. Sometimes they have to do it several times. Another one is visualizing a stop sign. As in, stopping the thought. Might sound absurd or simplistic but I know tons of people who swear by it.

It's really a matter of what works for you. I am super sensitive, and I'm an empath, and I cannot handle the violence in this world. I literally cannot. Whether it's happen to people I know, or just knowing it's happening to millions of people all over the world that I'll never meet, I can't handle a single bit of it. Same as imagining people and places and things after my death. Or my life after the deaths of people I love, which I have experienced a lot of, so the imagining of that pain is far from fantasy. It's rooted in reality. So I also have to limit my exposure to certain things. Somtimes I can't handle movie or tv violence. Sometimes I can't handle movies or tv at all because the violence is so ingrained in media. Sometimes it doesn't really bother me in the sense that I can watch it. But when something bad happens to someone I almost always cry. Sometimes uncontrollably. It's something I've learned to accept about myself. It's not a weakness; it's a gift. But managing it can be difficult and even painful, and most certainly exhausting.

If you ever need anyone to talk to about this stuff feel free to message me. I don't trigger easily. Take good care.

OH gosh, I'm all too familiar with not being able to leave home/bedroom - it's awful It's always reassuring to know someone else out there knows what it can be like as awful as it can be. it's not as lonesome. I'm gradually recovering from agoraphobia which started mainly because of my intrusive thoughts; what's interesting is that I never thought to link them with OCD. I'll bring it up with my therapist and see if she can help in some way, considering my thread has been moved to ''OCD''. I absolutely love your suggestions, I'll definitely try the 'pick an object in the room' as a distraction!! I've tried that type of thing before with my sleeping problems.

My goodness, I perfectly understand what it's like being a massive empath myself; it's a blessing and a curse in some ways... My friend once told me that I care ''too much'' when worrying about something happening in another country to people I'll never encounter/have no relation to, haha. But I agree with it being a gift. It's wonderful to have empathetic people, it's such an important trait. SO many careless people on this earth.

Thank you so much for your kind support and suggestions, I'll definitely take them on board