fm5
06-04-2005, 02:48 PM
Thought I would post this here as I have noticed some here suffering with violent obsessions.
There is a particular case in Edna Foa's book "Stop Obsessing" about a guy who had these thoughts regarding his daughter. Get the book and read it!
What Edna Foa suggests is to actually picture the outcome of your actions in your mind. An example would be:
"I am now in the Courtroom. Everyone I know is staring at me horribly. My family thinks I am a dirtbag for doing this. I have alienated all of my family and friends forever. It is now in all of the newspapers and everyone knows about what I did. I will go to jail where I will be by all alone and where I will probably be abused. I will then go to hell where I will be tortured forever, etc."
Go into all the horrid details of what would happen to you - this is important. I only wrote a few sentences. You can write paragraphs! The more details you write the better. Write them down or record it. If you can't write them down, then sit and just invision them. AND GO OVER AND OVER IT AGAIN AND AGAIN. You should spend at least 2-3 hours a night on this for weeks or even months until the obession fades away. If it comes back, do the exercises over again.
You will soon see how totally absurd these thoughts truly are and they will lose their sting on you. If they come back, just do the exercises again.
There is a particular case in Edna Foa's book "Stop Obsessing" about a guy who had these thoughts regarding his daughter. Get the book and read it!
What Edna Foa suggests is to actually picture the outcome of your actions in your mind. An example would be:
"I am now in the Courtroom. Everyone I know is staring at me horribly. My family thinks I am a dirtbag for doing this. I have alienated all of my family and friends forever. It is now in all of the newspapers and everyone knows about what I did. I will go to jail where I will be by all alone and where I will probably be abused. I will then go to hell where I will be tortured forever, etc."
Go into all the horrid details of what would happen to you - this is important. I only wrote a few sentences. You can write paragraphs! The more details you write the better. Write them down or record it. If you can't write them down, then sit and just invision them. AND GO OVER AND OVER IT AGAIN AND AGAIN. You should spend at least 2-3 hours a night on this for weeks or even months until the obession fades away. If it comes back, do the exercises over again.
You will soon see how totally absurd these thoughts truly are and they will lose their sting on you. If they come back, just do the exercises again.
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yfguitarist
06-05-2005, 01:02 AM
What if you don't want the thoughts to go away? Those consequences are what's keeping me from acting out, although I know I wouldn't go to hell because I'm saved.
Sari05
06-06-2005, 11:14 PM
Thought I would post this here as I have noticed some here suffering with violent obsessions.
There is a particular case in Edna Foa's book "Stop Obsessing" about a guy who had these thoughts regarding his daughter. Get the book and read it!
What Edna Foa suggests is to actually picture the outcome of your actions in your mind. An example would be:
"I am now in the Courtroom. Everyone I know is staring at me horribly. My family thinks I am a dirtbag for doing this. I have alienated all of my family and friends forever. It is now in all of the newspapers and everyone knows about what I did. I will go to jail where I will be by all alone and where I will probably be abused. I will then go to hell where I will be tortured forever, etc."
Go into all the horrid details of what would happen to you - this is important. I only wrote a few sentences. You can write paragraphs! The more details you write the better. Write them down or record it. AND GO OVER AND OVER IT AGAIN AND AGAIN. You should spend at least 2-3 hours a night on this for weeks or even months until the obession fades away. If it comes back, do the exercises over again.
You will soon see how totally absurd these thoughts truly are and they will lose their sting on you. If they come back, just do the exercises again.
Thanks for posting that, I will have to check that book out. I have violent thoughts, I have thoughts of killing my family by cutting their throats and I have thoughts of killing myself by stabbing myself to death. Its really horrible,
it is the worst feeling.
There is a particular case in Edna Foa's book "Stop Obsessing" about a guy who had these thoughts regarding his daughter. Get the book and read it!
What Edna Foa suggests is to actually picture the outcome of your actions in your mind. An example would be:
"I am now in the Courtroom. Everyone I know is staring at me horribly. My family thinks I am a dirtbag for doing this. I have alienated all of my family and friends forever. It is now in all of the newspapers and everyone knows about what I did. I will go to jail where I will be by all alone and where I will probably be abused. I will then go to hell where I will be tortured forever, etc."
Go into all the horrid details of what would happen to you - this is important. I only wrote a few sentences. You can write paragraphs! The more details you write the better. Write them down or record it. AND GO OVER AND OVER IT AGAIN AND AGAIN. You should spend at least 2-3 hours a night on this for weeks or even months until the obession fades away. If it comes back, do the exercises over again.
You will soon see how totally absurd these thoughts truly are and they will lose their sting on you. If they come back, just do the exercises again.
Thanks for posting that, I will have to check that book out. I have violent thoughts, I have thoughts of killing my family by cutting their throats and I have thoughts of killing myself by stabbing myself to death. Its really horrible,
it is the worst feeling.
dollface001
06-09-2005, 12:06 PM
That might work for some people but I can already picture the horrible outcomes and that is what frightens me. I am afraid that if i dwell too much on those horrible outcomes that they will become a reality.
dollface
dollface
vicki.j
06-09-2005, 12:16 PM
I agree, it is the worst feeling & depending on the day, it's the outcome that keeps me from acting out or the fact I'm sure it's not really me wanting to do these things.
Nobody really understands because I can't bring myself to tell anyone (outside professional help). My family try to understand my anxiety/ocd but I'm always holding something back (my violent thoughts). How can you tell someone you have thoughts of hurting them. It's hard enough to deal with the fact that I have these thoughts.
I want the thoughts to go away more than anything in the world. For me, the attraction is the persons initial reaction should I act out. How surprised would they be. It's sad that I could have these thoughts but on the other hand they seem so natural & that's scary.
They started out years ago with "what would happen if I punched this person" & have escalated to "what would happen if I stabbed this person". I've often wondered whether the thoughts come from years of suppressing the real me to be someone people expect me to be. I've always been the responsible one, the reliable one, the "in control" one. Maybe my body/mind is finding another way to rebel.
Nobody really understands because I can't bring myself to tell anyone (outside professional help). My family try to understand my anxiety/ocd but I'm always holding something back (my violent thoughts). How can you tell someone you have thoughts of hurting them. It's hard enough to deal with the fact that I have these thoughts.
I want the thoughts to go away more than anything in the world. For me, the attraction is the persons initial reaction should I act out. How surprised would they be. It's sad that I could have these thoughts but on the other hand they seem so natural & that's scary.
They started out years ago with "what would happen if I punched this person" & have escalated to "what would happen if I stabbed this person". I've often wondered whether the thoughts come from years of suppressing the real me to be someone people expect me to be. I've always been the responsible one, the reliable one, the "in control" one. Maybe my body/mind is finding another way to rebel.
dollface001
06-09-2005, 01:16 PM
Nobody really understands because I can't bring myself to tell anyone (outside professional help). My family try to understand my anxiety/ocd but I'm always holding something back (my violent thoughts). How can you tell someone you have thoughts of hurting them. It's hard enough to deal with the fact that I have these thoughts.
They started out years ago with "what would happen if I punched this person" & have escalated to "what would happen if I stabbed this person". I've often wondered whether the thoughts come from years of suppressing the real me to be someone people expect me to be. I've always been the responsible one, the reliable one, the "in control" one. Maybe my body/mind is finding another way to rebel.
I have the same issue. There is really very few people I can talk to about these thoughts I am having.
Regarding whether the thoughts come from years of supressing who we are... Everyone always thinks I am calm and collected, but I tend to supress my feelings a lot. I think sometimes the ocd thoughts are just my brains (weird way) of purging itself of normal feelings of anger, sadness, etc.
They started out years ago with "what would happen if I punched this person" & have escalated to "what would happen if I stabbed this person". I've often wondered whether the thoughts come from years of suppressing the real me to be someone people expect me to be. I've always been the responsible one, the reliable one, the "in control" one. Maybe my body/mind is finding another way to rebel.
I have the same issue. There is really very few people I can talk to about these thoughts I am having.
Regarding whether the thoughts come from years of supressing who we are... Everyone always thinks I am calm and collected, but I tend to supress my feelings a lot. I think sometimes the ocd thoughts are just my brains (weird way) of purging itself of normal feelings of anger, sadness, etc.
fm5
06-13-2005, 01:32 PM
That might work for some people but I can already picture the horrible outcomes and that is what frightens me. I am afraid that if i dwell too much on those horrible outcomes that they will become a reality.
dollface
No, o.c.d. is tricking you again here. If you concentrate on the horrible outcomes, these will go away.
I only can describe o.c.d. as a monster at a carnival that likes to pop out in front of you and terrify you. When you stop, examine it, spend some time with it, and then take its mask off - it runs away.
dollface
No, o.c.d. is tricking you again here. If you concentrate on the horrible outcomes, these will go away.
I only can describe o.c.d. as a monster at a carnival that likes to pop out in front of you and terrify you. When you stop, examine it, spend some time with it, and then take its mask off - it runs away.
fm5
06-13-2005, 01:37 PM
Another thing I wanted to mention quickly here for those who read my original post (I also edited it and added this to it): is that if you feel uncomfortable about writing down and recording your thoughts on the repercussions of your 'supposed' actions, then just invision them in your mind. Also, as I suggested, still spend about 1-2 hours a night on these. Do it for several weeks - to months (until they fade). If they come back, continue the exercise again. Most psychologists who specialize in o.c.d. will have you do this as treatment for your harming obsessions.
fm5
06-18-2005, 03:49 PM
I know some really suffer with this. Does anyone have any questions about how this exercise is done? (I can respond on Monday.)
yfguitarist
06-18-2005, 05:33 PM
I have violent thoughts all the time but I don't suffer. I'm not interested in stopping, either