OCD: obsessive thoughts, states and actions

If you are haunted by disturbing and obsessive thoughts, start chasing them yourself, then they will get confused (what should they do?!) and leave you alone. This is, of course, a joke, because negative thoughts that you can’t get rid of are a serious problem. Why is this really a problem and what can you do about it?

Before answering this and other questions, we suggest testing your current knowledge:

Now let’s try to figure it out and find a way out.

What is OCD?

Intrusive thoughts are persistent, unwanted thoughts about a specific topic. Obsessive actions (compulsions) are repeated physical or mental actions that the patient considers himself obligated to perform. Patients diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) often act out their obsessions.

For example, a person may constantly worry that his house will be robbed. To cope with anxiety, a person checks the locks on his doors ten times a night. These behaviors may not actually prevent a robbery or break-in, but the person experiences significant distress if they do not follow these steps.

These conditions usually appear around the age of 19, although in a quarter of cases the onset begins before the age of 14. OCD can affect people of all ages, social classes and ethnic groups.

OCD can last a lifetime if left untreated. Symptoms can interfere with work, relationships, and overall well-being. A psychotherapist can help patients get rid of symptoms and learn to cope with difficulties.

Do prayers in Orthodoxy or Islam help get rid of bad thoughts. Is it a sin

As for religion. Prayers are affirmations. But remember, no prayers have any effect if they are said without feelings and emotions. If you just say mindless prayers for hours like a robot, it won’t do any good.

Everything is decided by feelings and emotions. Simply saying words will not help get rid of bad thoughts.

Is it a sin to have bad thoughts? If you follow church canons, then yes. But I don’t accept any religions. They are invented by the EGO to distract people from real life.

But are the restrictions and prohibitions that are so abundantly present in religions what your Soul wants? How can the Soul be purified by restrictions? And most importantly, why? She is above all this, she is God. Why does a pure God need to be purified? Paradox.

VIDEO TIPS: Predicting the future.

OCD symptoms

OCD symptoms fall into two categories: obsessions and compulsions. Intrusive thoughts ( take the obsession test ) are recurring thoughts or urges that cause anxiety. These thoughts may be rooted in disgust, guilt, or fear. Obsessions often involve one of the following themes:

Cleanliness: frequent thoughts about illness, dirt, etc. Patients overestimate the threat of contamination.
Lack of order: Obsessions are often related to symmetry and completeness. The person may feel that something is out of order or “out of balance.” These are exaggerated perfectionistic tendencies and the need for control.
Fear of harm. Often thoughts arise about accidents, injuries, etc. A person may be afraid of harming himself or loved ones. Patients may feel responsible for preventing tragedies by acting out their compulsive behaviors.
Forbidden thoughts: This category includes intrusive thoughts about committing some taboo. For example, one person may be afraid of losing control and at the same time mentally swear during a business meeting. Another may imagine setting a building on fire, even though he doesn't want to do it.

Someone may have obsessions in multiple categories. Themes of obsession may change over time. When a person's obsessions are united by a religious theme, it is called religious OCD or obsession.

Obsessions can cause serious distress when they conflict with a person's ethics and character. However, such thoughts do not coincide with intention. A person with obsessive thoughts about hitting pedestrians is unlikely to commit murder. On the contrary, he is likely to be a more careful driver than the average person because the idea of harming others bothers him greatly.

What anti-obsession strategies don't work?

When endless thoughts become unbearable, it is natural to look for any opportunity to calm down and recover. But some methods not only do not work, but also lead to even greater stress on yourself and the situation.

Finding Possible Problems

There is nothing wrong with it if it is important to you to control the situation. However, this strategy can easily backfire on you.

Let's take concerns about health. If, in the hope of calming down, you begin to obsessively look for signs of illness in yourself and your loved ones, this will lead to even more dangerous thoughts.

This method will not work socially either. Let's say you fanatically monitor your reputation and what others think of you. As a result, you will seem distant and strange, and you will certainly not be able to simply be yourself and enjoy other people's company.

Self-consolation

The cycle of thoughts often leads to the fact that a person begins to seek solace from loved ones or tries to calm down on his own after receiving answers to his questions. This seemingly reasonable strategy does not always work.

You've probably at least once searched the Internet for topics that interest you during one of your periods of obsession. And you will agree that the information found not only does not help you relax, but also forces you to push yourself with even greater zeal. This is especially true for health. Simple symptoms are associated with the most terrible diseases, and you stop sleeping at night. Thanks Google!

Overplanning

Smart planning is great. A personal diary helps you increase productivity and keep everything in one place. But some go even further and plan their entire lives down to the smallest details. And this is where the problems begin.

While you are making plans, you may have a desire to prevent all possible outcomes of events and factors that could hypothetically prevent you from fulfilling your plans. A cycle of searching for problems starts - you start to beat yourself up over something that has not yet happened and, perhaps, will never happen.

In addition, if events suddenly start to go wrong, this can cause anxiety. Therefore, it is certainly worth planning, but only in moderation.

Compulsive symptoms in OCD

People with OCD often use compulsive behaviors ( take an OCD test ) to control their obsessions. For example, an anxious patient checks the smell of his breath. Some actions are taken to relieve stress (although there are more effective methods), others are aimed at preventing a dangerous event. A compulsive action does not necessarily have a logical connection with an obsession. For example, a child may count steps to prevent the death of a parent. However, if actions and thoughts are related, the action will be very disproportionate to the risk.

Obsessive-compulsive behavior is frequently and excessively repeated. It almost always interferes with everyday life. Some people feel forced to spend hours on their compulsive needs. Others may go out of their way to avoid certain triggers. Many people with OCD know that their behavior is not “logical”, but they still feel anxious and confused until they complete the necessary “ritual”.

Postponement

It’s not for nothing that they say that the morning is wiser than the evening. Sometimes it's best to postpone your thoughts until later. For example, if you can't sleep because of bad thoughts, promise yourself that you will definitely think about it tomorrow. If the problem is not particularly serious, then the brain will easily agree with this proposal. Most likely, in the morning the negativity will no longer bother you and will even resolve itself.

This is a very simple but effective technique. It can be used in many situations. There is no point in thinking about something that will become insignificant in the future. Realizing this makes it much easier to get the negative things out of your head. For serious problems this method will not work. It is better to find solutions for them.

Compulsive behavior may include:

Check: A person may get up several times a night to make sure the iron is turned off. May also reread each email or text a dozen times to check for typos.
Cleaning: People with OCD can wash their hands until the skin cracks. They can also disinfect household items after each use (instead of following the instructions in the owner's manual).
Repositioning/Repetition: A person may press a light switch a certain number of times or straighten clothing until it is perfectly straight.
Withdrawal: A person may repeat the same phrase to “cleanse” themselves of sexual thoughts or unpleasant images.

When a person's obsessive feelings are not obvious to observers, they are said to have pure obsessive OCD (also called pure OCD). For example, a person may silently count to 100 after completing certain tasks to ensure that they end with a “safe” thought. Another, for example, may mentally recite strings of words to make sure he doesn't lose his memory. Compulsions can interfere with a person's functioning, even if they are not visible to others.

Reduction to the Absurd

You can try the completely opposite technique. On the contrary, you need to completely immerse yourself in bad thoughts and consider what bad things could happen as a result. It is most effective to imagine the most ridiculous, absurd situations. Use your imagination, use exaggeration, make your thoughts vivid.

For example, you need to pass an important interview. It is clear that many people have bad thoughts at such moments.

Imagine in vivid colors what kind of failure might await you. The head of the HR department, as soon as he sees your resume, starts screaming loudly and throwing tomatoes. You decide to escape such shame and run out of the office. But then the cleaning lady throws a wet rag at you because you trampled the entire floor. Out of surprise, you fall, get up and run again. And then you are kidnapped by aliens and taken to another planet.

Absurd, isn't it? But it is precisely this kind of exaggeration that takes away the power of negative thoughts. You just have to try it to be convinced of the effectiveness of the technique.

What Causes OCD?

There are many factors that can contribute to obsessive compulsive behavior. Both biochemistry and environment may play a role.

Important: OCD is closely related to other disorders , so differential diagnosis should be carried out by a psychotherapist. Self-diagnosis and self-medication are unacceptable!

Although many people sometimes have intrusive thoughts, patients with OCD believe that these thoughts reflect their inner character or affect the outside world. Additional attention may increase the perceived importance of thoughts, increasing obsessions. Compulsions may develop as inappropriate attempts to block these sad thoughts.

Trauma can also lead to obsessions and compulsions. Children who are physically or sexually abused are more likely to develop OCD. Traumatic events (such as a car accident) can also contribute to this.

Daily stress may not cause OCD (in adults), but it can worsen existing symptoms. The family environment may play a role. If children have a close relative (such as a parent or sibling) with OCD, their own risk of developing OCD doubles. If a relative developed OCD as a child, they are 10 times more likely to develop OCD than others.

A study from the National Institute of Mental Health (USA) linked OCD to two genetic mutations. Mutations make it difficult for serotonin to move properly in the brain. Serotonin promotes feelings of satisfaction and well-being. If serotonin levels are low, a person may experience anxiety.

OCD is also associated with dysfunction in one of the brain circuits. The circuit is activated when a person receives an impulse. After someone performs the appropriate action, the neuron's signals usually stop and the person feels satisfied. In the case of OCD, the neurons continue to fire. The person still has momentum and may have to perform the action several times before they discover the same satisfaction that others get from a single action.

Experts estimate that 1 in 2,000 children may develop obsessive-compulsive behavior after a streptococcal infection. This condition is called pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections, or PANDAS. Many experts believe that PANDAS is an immune reaction. When a streptococcal infection occurs, the antibodies sometimes affect parts of the brain. This may cause a sudden development of obsessive ideas and actions.

Other studies show that streptococcal infection does not cause OCD symptoms. Instead, the infection may cause symptoms in children who were already predisposed to the disease.

How to deal with obsessive thoughts and emotions

Physical activity has been and remains the best cure for unnecessary thoughts. It is better if it is a collective action, supported by positive emotions, for example, playing football with friends, going to a club with a large group and dancing until the morning.

Solo exercise, walking, jogging, going to the pool and cycling also have an effective distracting effect. And even a simple set of push-ups, squats and bends left and right and back and forth can reboot the brain for the next few minutes.

In second place are any household chores that require simple physical effort and take a lot of time. For example, do the cleaning, cook borscht, remove garbage from the balcony, sort through and neatly put things in the closet, remove and wash the curtains. Men can go to the garage and clean it up. Just, mind you, no alcohol!

Any creative activity is also very effective in distracting from disturbing thoughts - knitting, sewing, embroidery, drawing, playing musical instruments. Try cross-stitching some picture – any one, even one that you won’t show to anyone. Try to learn some melody on the piano - any melody, even if only you like it and you will not perform it in public anywhere.

If everything is literally “out of your hands” and you can’t do anything, try to plunge into other people’s emotions. The plot of a movie or book can distract you from your own experiences for several hours. And then, you see, you won’t want to return to them anymore.

Going to a movie, theater or concert has approximately the same effect - the plot of a film or play always involves solving a problem. It may well turn out that it is much more complicated than yours. Or, on the contrary, it will be similar to yours, and your anxious thoughts will finally be directed in a constructive direction.

Look for an interesting online crowd on social networks, for example, photographers, HR managers, lovers of rock music, cats, or jokes. As a rule, there is a lot of energizing positivity there. And besides, such online parties tend to flow smoothly offline. This was the case before the coronavirus restrictions and these are the plans of many online communities for the next year.

From the previous point follows another way to distract yourself from negative thoughts - plan a trip for next year to a city or even a new country. Even if by next year you find something more interesting to do, now is a very real chance to feel a surge of strength and gain an understanding of what to do, at least in the next 10-12 months.

Those who have experience in meditative practices can be advised to visualize the experience and “release” it. For example, imagine all your problems as coupled carriages of a train going into the distance and taking your problems beyond the horizon. Or in the form of film frames - then you just have to get up and leave the movie.

Let us now briefly summarize the above. Top 10 ways to put obsessive thoughts to rest:

Collective and positive activities - football, volleyball, basketball, dancing.
Individual sports activities - swimming, cycling, exercise equipment, skateboarding, roller skating.
Household chores - washing, cleaning, cooking, putting the house in order.
Creativity – knitting, sewing, embroidery, drawing, playing musical instruments.
Literature and art - books, films, theaters, museums, exhibitions, concerts.
Online communities of interests - photography, humor, animals, personal growth and creative development.
Travel and trip planning.
Actually travel and trips, if possible.
Meditative practices.
Relaxation techniques – deep diaphragmatic breathing, self-massage, calm music.

You can learn more about meditative practices and relaxation techniques in our “Mental Self-Regulation” program. In a month and a half, you will take control of everything that happens in your life and learn to respond adequately to stress.

And finally, what if all the methods have been tried, but there is no relief and no relief in sight? Perhaps it is for you that your situation is a stalemate. Moreover, regardless of what all the psychologists combined told you about this. Then it’s worth taking the advice of the Meladze brothers: “If things don’t work out, don’t wait!” And not to repeat the mistakes of others, clearly described in the video for the song “My Brother,” when “I spent half my life getting used to it, but I just had to leave.” Sometimes, indeed, you just need to leave and not tire with your presence those who generate negativity in your life.

We wish you extremely positive and joyful thoughts. And the more, the better!

We also recommend reading:

Storytelling
Signs of neurosis
Seven ways to stop rumination
Five problems during your first meditation
Overcoming obsessive thoughts
Post-traumatic stress disorder: briefly about the most important things
Obsessive-compulsive neurosis: how to distinguish a disorder from thought spam?
Obsessive-compulsive disorder
Dorian Gray Syndrome
Occupational Therapy - Lose yourself in activity
The best blog content in 2021: psychology

Key words: 1Cognitive science, 1Psychoregulation

How to detect OCD in children?

Some parents may struggle to distinguish OCD from typical child behavior. Some rituals, such as bedtime prayers or toy placement, may simply be age-appropriate. However, when habits interfere with school or friendships, there may be cause for concern.

Common signs of OCD in children include:

Irritability
Difficulty making decisions
An inexplicable desire to be alone
Refusal to communicate with friends
Required to stay home or at school to complete assignments
Excessive time spent on daily tasks, trouble sleeping
Extreme reactions to minor changes in daily life

Children and adolescents are more likely to experience harm-related symptoms than adults. Typically, children obsessively ask adults to calm them down. They often crave routine and consistency.

Postponement

Gender and ethnic differences in OCD

Adult women tend to have higher rates of OCD than men. However, men are more likely to develop obsessions and compulsive behaviors during childhood. Women are more likely to have cleaning-related symptoms. Symptoms in men more often fall into the categories of symmetry or taboo. Men are also more likely to have comorbid disease than women.

The prevalence of OCD is similar across ethnic groups. Internationally, prevalence rates range from 0.3% (Brazil) to 2.7% (Hungary). The age of onset and the nature of symptoms are usually the same in different countries. However, the culture of a region may influence which topics are more common.

Subconscious

Many of us understand that the subconscious mind precedes the conscious mind in understanding problems and finding solutions. It often gives us clues. However, conscious, inhibiting factors such as fear or lack of experience will reject these decisions because in most cases they do not correspond to our logic or expectations.

How much more beneficial would it be if we could understand the subconscious mind and find its hidden solutions?

The energy signature we generate is made up of the conscious and the subconscious. We can think of our subconscious and its reservoir of potentials as a small but wise child who, with his calm voice, is always trying to tell us that:

“the problem would be solved if you would only see and understand this.” However, unfortunately, we do not listen to this small voice

Galamind Applications and Their Relation to the Subconscious

Today there are many different experts, consultants and coaches who use many different methods to help people suffering from problems resulting from misunderstandings or misunderstandings that are causing them difficulties in life.

However, all of these experts and methods were missing one important component: the ability to identify thoughts. Everyone dealt with understanding a person's personality, but since they could not access the personal potential store, they could not understand why a particular person thought a certain way.

The reason is simple: this vault is protected and only allows access to that specific person (this does not apply to those who have lost their minds and whose vault has been breached).

In simple terms, none of the experts in the field of physical or psychological care could read the subconscious of their patient.

But there is another problem: most people find it difficult, or even impossible, to connect to their subconscious.

The answer to this question was found by experts who created the website Galamind.com. Using innovative insights known as "kinetic intelligence", they have developed two applications that bridge this gap.

Brainwave Energy Signals

When we think about a certain issue, the brain produces and transmits certain energy signals to the environment.

Galamind apps are capable of receiving these conscious thought signals. At the same time, the subconscious, which is encoded in our DNA, also conveys the energetic signature of our innate potentials and abilities.

Galamind apps compare energy signatures transmitted by the conscious mind and DNA and react according to the differences between them (an additional principle of physics). The only barrier facing us is how to insert the missing energy signal into consciousness?

The Brain and the Importance of Cellular Information

Recent discoveries in the field of cellular information have proven that at the subcellular level, our bodies essentially contain infinite information regarding all the capabilities that are required to do so (DNA).

Innovative medical approaches are even using this information at the subcellular level to correct defects and treat diseases by introducing the information into the body through nutritional supplements and minerals or by transplanting nanotechnology devices into the body.

In the case of kinetic intelligence (knowledge production can be referred to as kinetic intelligence), our visual channel, which is the strongest of the five senses that influence our brain, is used to deliver information to the brain.

Knowledge of the solution to the problem - as a potential one. Potential intelligence is also those decisions and answers that were created by kinetic intelligence.

New information “teaches” the brain cell how to repair it. In other words, it generates the missing energy signature that distinguishes between the actual state of affairs and the desired state of affairs.