How to not give thoughts importance - Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Message Board

dannic1 · 04-29-2008, 07:49 PM

Hi all,

I was reading a response tonight on another message board regarding someone with OCD. The response was to not give your repetitive thoughts any importantance. The advise was that the more you fight the thoughts or avoid the thoughts, the more they come back or that the OCD gets worse. When you have a thought, how do you go about not giving it any importance? I'm not exactly sure that I understand how to do that. I don't recall this coming up in my behavior therapy sessions yet. We are doing the ERP therapy with my smaller issues and then working up to the bigger ones. Any advice would be helpful. It's just so hard to stop the thoughts anyway, so if I understand correctly, it's the trying to stop the thoughts that actually makes the OCD worse and not better.

Thanks.

danni

Dan.FIFA · 05-02-2008, 05:40 PM

I agree with that. The more you try to not think about something the more you will think about it. To not think about a thought you need to think about something else entirely. You can also try just sitting there and noticing your thoughts and just not doing anything. No matter what comes up just notice it and let it go wherever without you doing anything. I think if you remain like that long enough the obsessive thought will pass and you'll start thinking about something else. Thoughts come and go really fast.

dannic1 · 05-05-2008, 08:06 PM

Thanks for the response. I have noticed that if I get my mind extremely active doing something i.e. paying my bills on-line, cleaning out my closet, etc., that I can get the OCD to go away. Seems like I need to have a very "detailed" project, though, that requires my brain to concentrate elsewhere, if that makes any sense at all. I just get frustrated, because prior to this last episode, it used to be easier for me to dismiss my repetitive thoughts. I could "snap out of" the OCD cycle much quicker than I seem to be able to do now. It's baffling how suddenly a new episdoe of OCD can come on without warning. Every day I keep asking myself if not going on medication is the right answer for me, but I fear the possible side effects.

danni

Charmgirl · 05-13-2008, 05:44 AM

Hello! I finally took my daughter (age 10) for a psychiatric evaluation after 6 months of CBT with little change. She was prescribed the very lowest dose of Zoloft and we could not be happier. They say it takes about 1 month to truly become effective and in the first week we can say that we have our girl back

She is happy and carefree again. Laughing and enjoying life. She told us that on a scale of 1 to 10 she feels like an 11!!!! We will continue to get constant CBT to ensure that in 6 months - 1 year of medicine, that when she stops the medicine she has all the tools in her tool box to process thoughts etc. on her own. SHe added herself...and "Mom maybe I can help other people then". Do take advantage of trying meds. The side effects are possible nausea or diarrhea and headches and would present themselves usually in the first week. No sign of either. Every prescription of this kind comes with the warning of suicidal thoughts but it is extremely rare and also at the first signs of that you would stop taking it. If a quality of life is so crappy without it, what's the difference. It is a quality of life you should be wishing for and sometimes therapy alone is not enough. People with allergies, diabetes and astha don't try to do it alone...why should you!