Can someone help me find solutions on how to deal with false memories and intrusive thoughts?

[shiroiii]

I'm a teenage girl struggling with sexually intrusive thoughts for a long time. I am so afraid that I might have done something inappropriate to my loved ones. Sometimes, I want to hurt myself and report myself to the police. I'm so guilty. I'm also having a hard time focusing on my studies because of my intrusive thoughts. I've been praying too many times, asking for forgiveness just in case I did something horrible. How should I deal with these?

[MothFir]

Since you're posting this on an OCD forum, I assume that deep down you don't really believe you're guilty of doing anything wrong. Fear of doing or having done inappropriate things is a very common OCD obsession, and "praying too many times" for forgiveness is a very common compulsion. The fears seem completely real, but unless there is an actual reason to support the notion that you've done something wrong, they are just false messages from your brain. They are no different from the false messages that make some people believe their hands are still dirty even though they've washed them five times in a row, or that the front door might be unlocked even though they've checked it over and over for fifteen minutes.

Probably the best thing you can do is find a therapist trained in OCD. He/she could help you understand why you are having these thoughts and how to ignore them. You shouldn't try to get rid of them, or do compulsions to make yourself feel better. That only makes the thoughts stronger. Therapy would consist of helping you find ways to accept the thoughts as meaningless, ignore them, and habituate to the anxiety that results. In time they would lose their power and become less disruptive.

If you absolutely can't get a therapist right now, get some self-help materials (online or books) on OCD and intrusive thoughts. It really is a common theme, you are not alone, and there are proven therapeutic methods (and sometimes medication) that can help you get some mental peace.

[sligoguy]

Hi the more you know about this illness the more you can find out the various types there are ,,the intrusive sexual thoughts are very common ,,,,and they can be unbelievabley graffic and uncomfortable ,,,that as I have said to many on this forum is how this thing rolls . Each thought tries to out do the last one ,,,,on scaring the shit out off you . Remember!!!!! It's an intrusive unwanted thought ,let it sit there ,pay it no heed and like a spoilt brat it will stop and go away ,,,,,try it xx