When rational fears mix with OCD

[Pemi23]

I think one of the toughest OCD battles is when the obsessive thoughts have totally rational reality mixed in with irrationality. Then as you try to tell yourself “ No this is just OCD“, your mind comes back and says “ Actually a lot of this is based in reality so sorry, you must continue to suffer.” This is incredibly confusing for me. How can I tell myself that this is something my head is configuring when some of the threats are real? I wonder if I will ever have peace.

[Hidden]

When the obsessive thoughts occur, try not to rationalize with them.

Do not have a conversation with the thoughts.

Sit with the anxiety and face the feared consequences.

The anxiety will be high, but it will slowly get lower.

When you do not give importance to the thoughts,

they will fade away.

I hope this helps.

[MothFir]

If you don't mind sharing, it might help to know what types of obsessions you're dealing with.

I have been doing ERP for an obsession that has a basis in real danger, but OCD has vastly exaggerated the risks. It is indeed sometimes very difficult to sort out whether a particular trigger is just OCD, or whether it is a real potential threat that warrants real action. It helped me to first do a little research on what I was afraid of (not compulsively!), and then establish what would constitute a real threat to a non-OCD person. My therapist and I came up with a threshold -- if a trigger met certain conditions, I could do whatever was necessary to be safe, but otherwise I had to treat it as OCD and refrain from responding to it.

[VirginiaGal]

Yes, some of the OCD thoughts come from repeated REAL sufferings--the fear of the real stuff coming back. I get it.

[Gimi44]

I can resonate with that. I have health OCD so there are fears and obsession that are based on real stuff. It's hard. I fear sometimes more the mental suffering and non stop compulsions that come with it that the illness itself. I have not figured it out yet. Any advice would be very appreciated!

[sligoguy]

The trick to remember is all ocd is based on the most exaggerated senario if you have ever explained your thoughts or fears to anyone without ocd they will dismiss them cos the chances are not worth the worry ,,,,we with ocd however do not ,,,,so be brave and take the chances ,live your life remember this his a what if ,,,,yes but ,,maybe ,,,illness and a doubting illness ,,,,so look at people they do not worry about every thing they do and some of the fears we have they would not even enter their heads stay strong and trust your self xx

rior

[Pemi23]

Thank you, everyone. So many good points in these responses. It's so important to be mindful while distinguishing between real fear (rational, for survival) and OCD fear. Sometimes we won't be able to distinguish, and I think during those times we just need to engage in self care and try again later when we are more stable.