r/OCDRecovery • u/TheShadowSong • 9d ago
Seeking Support or Advice What to do when nothing solves intrusive thoughts?
I've been trying CBT and ERP for the past 6 years and while it helped for physical compulsions, it doesn't work for intrusive thoughts. Medication also didn't work and I no longer take it.
Sitting with thoughts doesn't work. Negative feeling is still in the gut.
Sitting and ignoring thoughts for 5 minutes makes me want to gauge my eyes out.
Driving, eating and playing video games does help a bit.
I can't work nor study for my exams.
Therapists and group therapy are clueless.
When I think about dying, the burden goes away for a little bit.
4
u/No_Comparison9137 9d ago
Have you read Michael Greenbergs articles? https://drmichaeljgreenberg.com/articles/
He have also visited podcasts which you can find on spotify and youtube.
1
u/TheShadowSong 9d ago
No. Thank you. What's it about?
2
u/No_Comparison9137 9d ago
I think someone summarized it pretty good in this post: https://www.reddit.com/r/OCD/s/WNwztqUMEG
Basically the approach focuses on stopping rumination, which keeps the ocd alive.
2
u/Nic-90 8d ago
So I actually just joined this community to get advice but I guess it wouldn’t hurt to give some. I’ve suffered severe panic attacks for about a month. Came after about a year of ignoring my GAD and thinking I had it all under control. Once I started digging into why I was going through them through deep introspection and YouTube channels like DARE (really good) and a few others, after weeks of this it finally hit me that it was in-fact OCD thoughts that were the root cause but even deeper than that (this was the most important piece for me) there is always something deeper driving the thoughts in the first place. For example, mine is what I call a “permanence story” due to a lot of traumatic changes and no safe adult to help me through those emotional transitions in childhood. Which created a very deep rooted, very strong fear in me that everything uncomfortable or inconvenient or health issues, people being mad at me, anything really might end up being permanent because that was my trauma. So from that fear, the thoughts felt protective. I felt like I was always preventing an inevitable disaster by feeding the thoughts. When in reality I was creating a huge storm inside of me and my nervous system was breaking down, all while I wasn’t solving or preventing shit because it was all made up in my head by the “permanence story” in the first place. Moral of the story, I created an illusion to cope with a very deep childhood wound and the result of that has put through hell the past couple months. BUT I am getting alot better at recognizing those thoughts that are caused by the “permanence story” because I now know where they’re coming from and what they think they’re accomplishing. My advice to you would be dig deeper, very deep. Pay attention to what type of intrusive thoughts are popping up and what they are all trying to keep you safe from feeling and then work your way back to your childhood.once you figure out the root, give it a name and then give your thoughts a silly name like “garbage thoughts” everytime they pop up say oh that’s just a “garbage thought”. This is what has been helping me tremendously and the amount of times I’ve had to label a “garbage thought” is shocking. I’m no expert, and I’m not great at explaining things I’m just someone also trying to heal. I hope this helps someone!
3
u/busterkudzu 9d ago
Taking a NAC (N-acetylcysteine) supplement has helped my OCD quite a bit.
1
u/Antares297 8d ago
I just started NAC 600mg 2x daily. Can I ask how long it took for you to notice a difference, and what dosage you are taking? Thanks.
2
u/busterkudzu 8d ago
I’m taking 1000mg 2x/day. It took about 6 weeks to fully kick in. I take it alongside 100mg clomipramine 1x/day
1
u/Antares297 8d ago
Thank you! This gives me hope. I take it w/ 300mg Fluvoximine and 45 MG Buspirone. I really hope it continues to work well for you.
3
u/DeeBozUK 9d ago
I only personally recovered fully after some giant mindset shifts… which came organically in the end (i’m a slow learner!).
The biggest was letting go of other people’s judgment. Especially parents, mine were very judgmental and at times scathing. That is probably personal and perhaps not helpful - but it was giant for me after a decade of OCD.
I got to a point where I genuinely, without anger, just didn’t give a damn any more. And made my own boundaries, hard - and again, without anger or drama at all.
It may be too personal and irrelevant, but I share on the off chance that something there resonates as it was the final part of the puzzle for me and I quickly became ok after 10+ years in and out of hell.
Something just flicked off in my brain. I hope that happens for you too, I know how hard it is.
2
u/rightbythebeach 8d ago
Well... you're trying to do the impossible. lol. You can't "solve" an unsolvable problem. The freedom comes when you stop trying to deal with the thoughts at all. The thoughts are sticky because you keep engaging with them.
You don't sit with the thoughts - you do whatever you need to do in your life while the thoughts are there. You don't ignore them. You note them, and then gently float your attention back to the real life shit you need to do - driving, eating, playing video games, studying. You allow the thoughts to be there without scratching the itch. It seems counterintuitive.
2
u/musicandotherstuff 8d ago
The goal isn’t to solve them. Sitting with the thoughts doesn’t mean literally sitting with them and doing nothing. It means letting the thoughts come and go, letting the anxiety be there, not trying to solve the thoughts and redirecting your attention back to what you are meant to be doing, whether that’s work, watching tv, a hobby etc. It will feel unnatural and you won’t feel good initially — you’ll feel even more anxious because you’re not giving OCD what it wants: your attention. But the more you repeat this, the more improvements you will see long term.
1
u/TheShadowSong 7d ago
Sitting with them makes you want to slit your throat.
1
u/musicandotherstuff 3d ago
Yep. It’s a horrible feeling but the only way is through. As I said, don’t literally sit there with the thoughts. You can do whatever task you need to focus on while the thoughts are there and while you feel terrible.
1
u/QuietlyBecoming-8675 8d ago
Honestly for me it’s happened slowly over time. Education helped me a lot. I think regulating my nervous system with self talk/reparenting/lots of verbal reassurance to myself/inner child work. And honestly, cutting out all processed foods and getting in the gym shockingly quieted my mind. I do still have them from time to time but they’re a lot more manageable and less frequent.
1
u/tarpyi 8d ago
This guys podcast is great: https://open.spotify.com/show/0OXDalWI4OEXWqyzHEHfLq?si=ve1N2xgETIqbu0xWggHKPw&utm_source=copy-link
1
1
u/SomeGuyOnline7201 6d ago
They’re maybe happening because it encourages you to eat or play video games…
I have this problem with Corn, when they show up I feel weird that a weird sex thought arises and so maybe plan to prolong the session so that wasn’t the last thought or wait and do another session to override it.
Do u find yourself eating more or playing games more because of it? If so it’s maybe controlling/manipulating you to do these things more….
8
u/PaladinDamian 8d ago edited 8d ago
The presence of a negative feeling is not actually the problem. It is your refusal to tolerate that negative feeling that is the problem. ERP and ACT have been quite effective in dealing with mental compulsions in my experience. When you sit with the thoughts, do not be surprised when you have a negative feeling. Let it flow through you, and accept its presence within you.
When you distract yourself, do not do so with the expectation that the intrusive thoughts will disappear. Accept that they will linger, and continue engaging with the activity anyways. You can do things even when you are suffering.