Engaging with thoughts

Of course. This is rumination. You can’t analyze OCD or use logic against it. It will always find something new to throw at you. Even when you think you have the answer, it creates something else. Try your best to not engage and just give neutral responses, and live in the moment.

Thank you!! ❤️‍🩹I'm having intrusive thoughts like: I want this. And then I think maybe I want this if... And I freak out

Yep, it leaves me feeling worse. Sometimes I’ll think maybe deep down I like this and I’m just scared of judgement. Sometimes I’ll think maybe it’s okay to think or want this. Sometimes I’ll think it’s not as bad as it seems (to a particularly vile thought). It leaves us feeling confused because it a form of checking + rumination. As if subconsciously you want to make sure you still have morals after you’ve justified something that you know goes against your beliefs (but in that moment you doubt it) Is similar to what you experience?

Oh yeah. I’ve yelled at it before “wtf do you want from me” and just get crickets… You can’t logic it , argue with it or reason with it. There is always that next “what if”. The key is to acknowledge it’s there but don’t engage. Engaging is rumination which can become a compulsion. Compulsion feeds it. OCD grows and demands more food and now it consumes your day. You can’t push the thought away, you will just think of it more. Think of it like breathing. You breathe automatically until just now when I made you aware that you are breathing and now you might be doing it manually lol. Same thing with thoughts … they are automatic and just happen. We choose to engage with them. Then they become manual. Choose not to engage. Acknowledge it’s there and let it be. It’s tuff when you start but typically becomes more easy as you practice it.

Yessss

Yes, it’s rumination and it is a compulsion that just makes OCD worse.

Yes my problem is I would be stuck in a loop with those thoughts. It only made things worse for me.

Yes all the time ;-;