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Every time I do something, I always overthink it. Iβll be washing my hands, then, out of nowhere, Iβll start thinking, βwhat if I need more soap? What if I wash my hands one more time, just to be sure? What if itβs not enough? What if I use hand sanitizer too, to make sure Iβm clean enough?β And if I donβt do what I think about, Iβll start overthinking about whatβll happen to me after. βWhat if you get sick? What if you spread the sickness? What if it spreads to the whole town? If the whole town gets sick, Itβll all be your fault.β Even when the thought sounds downright DUMB, some small part of me asks βwhat if?β Because of this, I waste time out of my day overthinking and doing whatever dumb thing I need to do to get these thoughts to stop. I tried talking to people close to me about this, but they tell me to βjust stop overthinkingβ.Β
Reallllllly useful, guysβ¦.
How do I get these thoughts to stop interrupting my day?
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β Hollow Kitty β
I would seek help to get a diagnoses if that's an available option for you. Idk if you have OCD, but my brother had that really bad when we were younger. He still has it obvs but he can manage it much better- it doesn't control him on like a cellular level anymore.
He had to do therapy for it, and I remember exposure was one treatment. His therapist had him hold a pen, and he would keep increasing how long.
My therapist is teaching me grounding rn. She says it helps most when you're in your head or ruminating. I call it 54321. Describe seeing 5 things, touching 4, hearing 3, smelling 2, tasting 1. I think that's the order? She also said you can practice with just 1 each if it's too overwhelming.
So, maybe you can combine them. Stop yourself after washing once or after you wash once and then hand sanitizer. And then use the grounding to help stop the overthinking- but you have to practice grounding when not in crisis for best results.
Good luck
my boyfriend recently read a book about becoming friends with your brainβ it mentions coping mechanisms like these. another one is to focus on something else for 15 minutes. generally, 15 minutes is enough time to break thought patterns.
for OCD, exposure therapy definitely helps, and it's one of the best ways to learn how to manage the compulsions that come with obsession.
now obviously, nobody here can diagnose you. we can only tell you our opinions based on what we know and what information you supply. but here's a good resource to give a quick read if you think OCD is something you might have:
https://www.sheppardpratt.org/knowledge-center/condition/obsessive-compulsive-disorder-ocd/
by CHAIN; ; Report
Thank you!
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CHAIN
let the thoughts in, let them happen, let them go. you can't stop them so you need to accept them and let them pass. it takes practice.
question: are these just thoughts or do you feel the need to act on them, too, to prevent bad things from happen? basicallyβ just obsession, or also compulsion? that's what makes the difference between anxiety and OCD.
I do feel the need to act on them. if I donβt, the thoughts persist.
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do you have a doctor or therapist you can bring it up to? anxiety and OCD are both manageable and treatable, but it helps to have professional guidance, if you have access to that. and as long as the professional knows what they're doing.
by CHAIN; ; Report
I talked to my doctor once about me having ocd, and she asked me a few questions about how often I wash my hands, and wether I had a lot of intrusive thoughts, but she didnβt say anything much after asking me these questions, nor did she say how to overcome them.
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