Give your ideas here....

[Cortlea]

Does anyone have any helpful advice on how to stop ruminating, and get better. It can be anything from exercise to eating well. Foods to avoid or methods to use. Please, any ideas will be helpful!

[kek]

Hey, there's a lot you can do but you've probably heard it before.

If you're afraid you did something specific (or you would do something, you're bad, whatever) write an essay about why it really did happen. For e.g "this really did happen because... There is no possibility it's just OCD... I have to face up to what I did, etc. You have to think of your fear and write about it as if it's just a fact.

[crescendo]

Intrusive Thought Tool Box

1) Examine The Evidence – Instead of assuming an intrusive thought is true examine the factual evidence for and against it. Be sure to weight evidence for and against the thought equally (don’t give things that support the thought more weight).


2) The Survey Method- Ask people questions to find out if they believe your intrusive thoughts are something to be legitimately concerned about.


3) Exposure- Expose yourself to that which you are afraid of multiple times. (If your fear is of something like hurting someone tries standing close to someone and having a conversation to prove you won’t hurt them.)


4) Probability Estimation – Instead of assuming that a chain of negative events that results in catastrophe is inevitable, put a percentage on each step in the chain and determine the total probability of your fear. Convert the percent of each link in the chain into a decimal and multiply the decimals together to find probability. (MY PERSONAL EXAMPLE: 1. I am going to my grandparent’s house (100%) 2. I will be alone with my younger cousins (70%) 3. I will molest my younger cousins (5%) 4. My family will find out (60%) 5. My family will disown me (70%) 6. My family will report it to police (85%) 7. Police will find me guilty (90%) 8. I will serve jail time (90%) 9. I will be a registered sex offender (100%) 10. I will be able to find a job (60%) 11. I will be poor (70%) 12. I will be unable to have children of my own (90%) 13. I will be horribly depressed (95%) 14. I will kill myself (75%) 1x .7 x .05 x .6 x .7 x .85 x .9 x .9 x 1 x .6 x .7 x .9 x .95 = about 0.036 which converted back into a decimal is 3.6% meaning there is a 96.4% chance this isn’t going to happen.)


5) Define Terms- If you start telling yourself you are a “bad” “sick” “Crazy” “stupid” or “Freakish” person define the label. What is “bad”? What is “crazy”? Instead of saying “I am a bad person” say “I am struggling with thoughts that contradict my morals.”


6) Disconnecting From Your Thoughts- Treat your brain like something separate from you. When you have a thought say, “There goes that brain, thinking those thoughts again! Thanks for your input brain! You’re doing an awesome job worrying today!” (Don’t be sarcastic; your mind really is doing its job of trying to protect you from danger. It’s just the brain is over estimating the seriousness of the danger.)


7) Watch the clouds- imagine your thoughts as clouds in the sky, leaves on a stream, or boxcars on a long train, and let them float into your mind. Notice them without judging them as “good” “bad” true” “false” etc. and try to not get attached as they float on by.


8) Change the tone- if you are having an obsessive or intrusive thought try saying out loud in a different tone of voice. You could say it very slowly, or in a high pitched tone. You could sing is opera style, say it like you’re selling it at an auction, say it like darth vader. The point is to take away the thought’s power by making it silly.


9) Reconnect with your body- often our thoughts can be so overwhelming we lose touch with our bodies. Focus on your breathing. Do a body scan where you pay attention to each body part for a few seconds and make a mental note of any sensations you are feeling in that body part. Stand on your tippy toes. Take a cold shower. Clap your hands as hard as you can. Step barefoot in mud.


10) Let Go. Write your thoughts on index cards and keep them in your pocket for a day (to symbolize you carrying around the thoughts) Tie the index card to a balloon and let it float up to the sky to symbolize you letting go of your thoughts. When the thoughts come back picture yourself letting go of the balloon again and watching in float skywards. Note that this is not to avoid the thoughts but to accept them.

11) Physicalize Your Intrusive Thoughts-


Pick a belief/emotion/event that you have trouble accepting but cannot immediately change. To start, rate how distressing this the thing is on a scale of 1-10 (ten being the most distressing) In this exercise we will pretend this belief/emotion/event is an object outside yourself as opposed to a thought or image in your head. If you have trouble picturing this image, you may want to draw it.

If your object had a shape what would it be?
If your object had an external texture what would it be?
If your object had an internal texture what would it be?
If your object had a temperature what would it be?
If your object had a speed what would it be?
If your object had a weight what would it be?
If your object had an amount of power what would it be?
If your object had a color what would it be?
If your object had a scent what would it be?
If your object had a sound what would it be?
If your object had a taste what would it be?
If your object had a human name what would it be?

Try not to think too hard. Just let the answer come to you. Once you can clearly see your object sitting in front of you (or on paper which you drew it) look at it as just an object. What is so scary about this object? It has nowhere to go. Can you accept it into your life? Sit with “willing hands” open your hands palm up, as if you are waiting for someone to place something in your hands. Relax the tension in your body. This object is crying. No one loves it.

Imagine you were throwing a dinner party for all your friends and relatives. When you invited them, you said “Every one’s Welcome!” The day of the party has arrived, and the party is going great. Then suddenly you see a car pull up and you sigh. It’s Aunt Ida! Not only does she insult you, eat all your food without thanking you, and ask if you’ve gained weight, she rarely bathes and her cheap perfume is not doing its job! But you said “Every one’s welcome!” You know you do not want Aunt Ida to be there, but can you welcome her inside? If you refuse what will happen? She’s knocking on the door. If you lock it and scream, “Go away!” your other guests may become uncomfortable and retreat to the back of the house. If you are standing there holding the door shut, it’s not much of a party anymore, is it? What would be the harm of letting Aunt Ida inside? You could try to get her talking to uncle Milton, and offer her some appetizers that may keep her busy and then get back to chatting with your other guests. Now Aunt Ida is not holding you captive. You are free to mingle. So is she.

Refocus on your object. Try to really see it in front of you, and set a timer for two minutes. During the two minutes, keep your feet on the floor, your hands open, and your posture relaxed. Repeat to “I welcome you into my home.” over and over again until the timer goes off.

Finally, rate how distressing the object is again. Has your acceptance gone up? Has your distress gone down?

12) Write a letter to your intrusive thoughts telling them you accept that they are there but know that they are irrational and will not let them ruin your day.

Hope This Helps!
Megan

[Londonboy]

Originally Posted by crescendo

Intrusive Thought Tool Box



3) Exposure- Expose yourself to that which you are afraid of multiple times. (If your fear is of something like hurting someone tries standing close to someone and having a conversation to prove you won’t hurt them.)

I'm sorry but that is the antithesis of 'exposure'. You don't do an exposure to 'prove' anything. If you do, then you are entering into an area of reassurance that will only send a message to the anxiety centre that something IS wrong.

All this talk of using logic and fact to deal with a part of the brain that doesn't respond to such things baffles me.

[ocean4]

Why would calculating the percentages help anything?..when you are in the trenches of an obsession...logic is thrown out the window.

And any proof collecting "evidence" just loops us back in. Some of your techniques are used by therapists, but OCD is treated a bit differently.
The mindfulness technique is useful but the rest are really the opposite of what is effective for OCD.

Sounds more like techniques Burns uses for depressive thoughts.

[apollo100]

Cortlea, I can give you some suggestions but I shall be giving you one suggestion every 3 days. If you start everything that I can suggest at once, you will feel ill or at the very least will have an upset stomach. Add one suggestion to your routine every 3 days, and you will feel changes coming.

You asked about exercise - yes, exercise is helpful, and our bodies need at least a walk of 30 minutes a day. You can break it up into 3 walks of 10 minutes each.

My first suggestion is - add a small glass of orange or pineapple juice to your diet. Take it any time of the day except mornings. After a week of small glasses, increase the quantity of the juice. You can also take it twice in your diet after a week. After 15 days, start upon a large glass of juice.

I will write the second suggestion in this thread if you want to go ahead with this.

[Cortlea]

Thank you everyone for your advice. Megan, thank you for taking the time to write me such a long post. Many of the suggestions seem promising but there are some like londonboy said, that i believe could send me spiriling back into my obsession. Because if i check for evidence my ocd only gives me false evidence that the event is true. Logic simply doesnt work with ocd. But i love some of the mindfullness exercises that you provided me. Again thank you. And apollo100, I will do this and id love for you to share more. But if you dont want to do it every three days, i can limit myself. i have good self disipline. Kek, i think if i do that it will only confuse me more, if i am on the verge of convincing myself i have done something and my ocd makes up false evidence, i believe writing an essay on why it is 'true' could make me believe it, when I know it is false. Thank you everyone for your replies so far!

[Zorro]

Some of what Megan has kindly taken the time to list are COGNITIVE SKILLS and are part of COGNITIVE THERAPY teachings. I am trying to learn more about the reasons for COGNITIVE THERAPY , because the fact that it is being used a fair bit these days would suggest that there must be some evidence of it being worthwhile. I can see now that some of the techniques I have tried in the past would fall under Cognitive Therapy. At this stage, I am yet to be convinced how some of the CT teachings such as calculating the minute chances of something bad happening can assist a person. Surely the obvious response from a patient would be along the lines of “but what if that 3% chance is what I will do?”

“Once the client is well aware of his or her reaction to the obsession, the next step in the therapy process is to provide cognitive skills in challenging the “interpretations of importance” associated with the obsession. Generally, cognitive interventions are less effective in modifying faulty appraisals and neutralization responses to the obsession than BEHAVIORAL STRATEGIES like ERP. However, cognitive intervention strategies are usually less threatening for clients, and so these interventions are introduced first as a way of easing the client towards more challenging behavioural work. “ (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy For OCD – David Clark)

Here is a little more info on Cognitive Therapy : http://www.nj-act.org/steketee.html

[ocean4]

Yes it was a kind reply and post and I am sorry I sounded like a pill.
Ocean4

[apollo100]

Cortlea, the second suggestion is cold pressed olive oil (also called as extra virgin olive oil). Take a teaspoonful (just drink it) and over a period of a week increase the intake to a tablespoonful. Just like the juice, increase intake every three days until you are at 1-3 tablespoonfuls. You can take it in the morning. If you don't like olive oil I can suggest another, so please keep me posted.