[Reina-Rena]

I have recently been diagnosed with OCD, and I know one of the issues that some have with OCD is having unwanted sexual thoughts. Sometimes these thoughts disturb me so much to the point where I feel like I am about to go crazy! The voice in my head tries to tell me that I want to have sexual intercourse with random people. These thoughts cause me so much stress and depression. Can anyone here give me some advice and tips on how I can ignore these unwanted thoughts? Thanks!

[Rhapsody]

Keeping the old mind busy with a good book or crafting project might help?

[Christina86]

Are you on any medication to deal with the OCD? Perhaps that would help with the thoughts?

I know I'm on an antidepressant, and it's made it easier to stop constant worrying and ridiculous thought patterns.

[FooZe]

Originally Posted by Reina-Rena

The voice in my head tries to tell me that I want to have sexual intercourse with random people.

Can you look for yourself and see whether you really do want to have sex with these random people? I was thinking that if you found you actually didn't, that might make it a little easier to shrug off the voice -- like, what's it talking about, anyway?

If you find you do want to have sex with some or all of them, you've probably already noticed that that doesn't mean you're actually going to do anything about it. I don't even see any harm in thinking about it, as long as you get to choose when you think about it and when you don't.

(Now if you happened to have something like two voices, one of them telling you you wanted to think about sex, the other one telling you you mustn't, I can see where you might feel kind of caught in the middle. That doesn't sound like exactly your problem, though)

I didn't get unwanted thoughts that often but I used to really hate them because it seemed like I didn't have any control over them. Quite the opposite: the harder I'd try to make them go away, the more they'd keep coming back. I'd read about that little experiment (or demonstration, or whatever it is) where you try not to think of a white elephant (it's always a white elephant, for some reason) -- and of course that was all it ever took to get me thinking about white elephants for the next 15 minutes. I'd make up my mind to really concentrate hard on something else, a green goat maybe, but in half a minute at the most, there would be the darned elephant peeking out from behind something.

"For the next 15 minutes," I said. So what would happen after that? I don't know, I guess I forgot to not think of a white elephant. I also started to notice that there had been many days when I'd never once tried not to think of a white elephant -- and never once though of a white elephant. How very strange.

I'm not exactly sure how I got to this next point, but after a few years of trying this dumb try-not-to-think-of-a-white-elephant game I was getting pretty bored with it. One time I decided I'd try once again (ho-hum!) not to think of a white elephant, but I really didn't care in the least if I thought of a white elephant or not. That was all -- about fifteen minutes later I realized I never had gotten around to thinking (or not thinking) of a white elephant. I'd forgotten all about it.

By any chance, does trying not to think of sex turn out for you anything like trying not to think of a white elephant used to turn out for me? Come to think of it, trying not to think about sex did work a whole lot like that for me too, except that I didn't usually try very hard not to think about sex, so I only thought about it for as long as I did.

[calwillnolan]

Originally Posted by Reina-Rena

I have recently been diagnosed with OCD, and I know one of the issues that some have with OCD is having unwanted sexual thoughts. Sometimes these thoughts disturb me so much to the point where I feel like I am about to go crazy! The voice in my head tries to tell me that I want to have sexual intercourse with random people. These thoughts cause me so much stress and depression. Can anyone here give me some advice and tips on how I can ignore these unwanted thoughts? Thanks!

Sex is a natural healthy thing! Only puritanical America makes it something else. Would you be upset about dreaming about eating a wonderful piece of chocolate cake?
Okay, now. Having the thoughts and DOING something about it are two different things.
Have fun with the thoughts...enjoy the fantasy...then just get on with real life. Don't beat yourself up over it. It's okay to have these thoughts and feelings.

[Maven]

Basically, what Fool_Zero said. I've had those kinds of thoughts, and knowing I have no actual desire to act out what's in my mind helped me blow them off. I don't get them much anymore, and they don't bother me when I do get them.

[Reina-Rena]

Originally Posted by Christina86

Are you on any medication to deal with the OCD? Perhaps that would help with the thoughts?

I know I'm on an antidepressant, and it's made it easier to stop constant worrying and ridiculous thought patterns.

Thank you Christina for your concern! I am currently on Prozac (30 mg) My doctors told me that it takes about a month for the medicine to get fully into my system, and I have only been taking it for about 3 weeks. So maybe when the Prozac reaches its full effect, the thoughts will slow down alot more.

[Reina-Rena]

Originally Posted by Fool Zero

Can you look for yourself and see whether you really do want to have sex with these random people? I was thinking that if you found you actually didn't, that might make it a little easier to shrug off the voice -- like, what's it talking about, anyway?

By any chance, does trying not to think of sex turn out for you anything like trying not to think of a white elephant used to turn out for me? Come to think of it, trying not to think about sex did work a whole lot like that for me too, except that I didn't usually try very hard not to think about sex, so I only thought about it for as long as I did.

Thank you for the wonderful advice, Fool Zero! Whenever these ridiculous thoughts come into my mind I always say to myself "No, thats no true. I would never want to do that!" Sometimes this seems to help, but others times the thoughts are racing so fast that I can barely keep them under control. I also have a very visual mind (its a gift and a curse!) The things my mind is telling me, I am sometimes able to see them taking place in my mind. I have learned little tricks here and there to keep this visual process under control, but when my mind starts racing it gets a little difficult.

I have heard of this "White Elephant" saying before, although the one I read about was "Dont Think of the Red Ball!" and what do you do when you are not trying to think of the red ball? You think of the stinking, red ball! Just like you Fool Zero, I eventually got tired of playing this game. It was like "Oh, here comes this little, 'Dont Think of This Game.'" It eventually gets very tiresome, although sometimes out of the blue this game still gets to me.

[dearyou]

Hmm, I thought it was normal to think about sex when you see someone that you find physically attractive. I mean, acting on every impulse would be different, but hell, you're a human being.

[Maven]

I mean, acting on every impulse would be different, but hell, you're a human being.

How do you know? I, myself, am a werewolf.

[deliquesce]

oy. my old T mentioned to me once that he sometimes gets intrusive thoughts about ****ing Jesus Christ on the cross.

i was like !!!! but the point is that everyone has intrusive thoughts to some extent, some of them we are ok with, and some of them we aren't. the more we panic about having them, the more they decide to attack us.

sometimes i get intrusive thoughts and i make myself feel better by thinking at least my old T is weirder than me. this is not meant in a derogatory way, because i respect him immensely, and i know he only told me for my benefit - to help me see i'm not an awful person because of these thoughts.

[FooZe]

Originally Posted by Reina-Rena

Sometimes these thoughts disturb me so much to the point where I feel like I am about to go crazy! The voice in my head tries to tell me that I want to have sexual intercourse with random people. These thoughts cause me so much stress and depression.

Hi Reina-Rena, I thought of this old thread again after seeing something that spiritual_emergency had posted, here (Forums at Psych Central > Mental Health Support > Schizophrenia and Psychosis > I talk back to the voices in my head...)

From the article s_e quotes:

I remained keen to find out about innovative treatments, and finally, at a mental health seminar, I heard a speaker talk about an approach advocated by growing numbers of mental health professionals that involves people engaging with the voices inside their head. He was from the Hearing Voices Network and I agreed to visit him. He said I should be frank and uncompromising with the voices. If they told me to self-harm, I should just say no. "If anyone else told you to put your finger in the fire, you wouldn't, so why act on what they say?" he said. He added that if I wanted to know why they were there, I should ask them, and if I wanted them to go away, I should tell them. It was so simple, but it made so much sense.

I took his advice, questioning them, challenging them and even cutting them off if I didn't have time to talk to them. I'd say things like, "I'm watching TV now, I'll talk to you later" or "Why exactly do you think I deserve it when bad things happen to me? You can't answer that, can you?" Sometimes I'd do it in my head; other times out loud...

It sounds like just what I would have wanted to try, if I ever had any voices to try it on.

[Reina-Rena]

Since the voices are a part of me in some weird way, I should learn how to listen to them and communicate with them. I shouldn't let them bother me seeing as how they are just thoughts, right? Thank you Fool Zero! You always know the right thing to say!