If it feels like OCD…
It probably is. OCD is insidious in that it hijacks our perspective. A cascade of assumptions come in to play in what seems like a blink of an eye. It’s very easy to arrive at the conclusion, wrongly I might add, before gathering the evidence necessary to make an evaluation. It’s important to note that this behavior is deliberately streamlined in this way because it is much safer to assume that rustle in the grass is a predator than simply the wind or a harmless animal. So, to a degree humans are wired to jump the gun as it were.
Along with ERP, cognitive therapy is important. Learning how to think clearly can be a boon in the evaluation process like the revalue step in the 4-step brainlock system. There’s a downside to those who have the tendency to ruminate though. As my therapist mentioned to me my anxiety/OCD isn’t because I wasn’t thinking correctly but because of the maladaptation to specific thoughts and ideas which is why ERP is/was so helpful for me in breaking the cycle.
That said I will go through some common cognitive distortions and logical fallacies in the coming months as it tends to help with difficult emotions like anger, guilt and fear which are ancillary to anxiety and OCD.
Tags: OCD
2 responses to “If it feels like OCD…”
Leave a Reply Cancel reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Categories
Links on OCD
Links on Atheism
Recent Comments
Archives
Blog Stats
- 28,891 hits
I’m looking forward to your future posts. My OCD is also of the rumination type. When experiencing a coincidence, I have the superstitious belief that maybe God is trying to prove himself to me that he actually exists. I prefer to believe that Christianity is not true and there is no afterlife and no need to worry about going to Hell. From all I’ve read and the materialistic viewpoint that I’ve developed tells me there is no afterlife and that I don’t have to worry about what’s wrong and what’s right or if I’ve done the right thing to be “saved”. But my OCD, which I think of as an overactive cingulate gyrus, keeps giving me bad feelings that maybe I’m wrong. That’s why it’s called the doubting disease.
Excellent insight! Much appreciated. Thank you. Please continue your OCD related posts.