Cheating

[Georgiayates24]

I got a tattoo 2 years ago. Me and the artist never spoke through the tattoo process. However, I am convinced that I became aroused by the artist. Now I'm convinced I cheated on my boyfriend. I really can't cope

[deValentin]

Scrupulosity OCD shows itself in a tendency to blow things out of proportion and imagine faults where an OCD-free person wouldn’t see any.

The autonomic nervous system is a component of the peripheral nervous system that regulates INVOLUNTARY physiologic processes including heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, digestion, and sexual arousal. Therefore, feeling aroused, or the thought that you were aroused, by a tattoo artist means nothing by itself. It’s your choice whether you give it a meaning or not.

For instance, a thought of pushing someone else off a cliff may pop into my mind. I know it’s not a sensible thought. Martin Luther said, “You cannot keep birds from flying over your head but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair.” In other words, you can’t prevent “foolish thoughts” from popping up into your head from time to time, but you can choose not to dwell or act on them, or believe they reflect your true self.

In that case, the best thing to do is to focus on something else and let unwanted thoughts die on their own. The worst thing to do is to try to argue with your scrupulosity and irrefutably prove that you did nothing wrong. No matter how strong the arguments you find are, it’ll never be enough. The more you try to eliminate unfounded doubts, the more you give them a credibility they don’t deserve. You end up telling yourself that, if after your efforts you still can’t persuade yourself you did nothing wrong, it must mean that you’re really guilty.