I Struggle With Intrusive Thoughts (What Can I Do?)

I Struggle With Intrusive Thoughts (What Can I Do?)
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[@michellebh]

This hit me hard. I wake every night in a panic to check that my 11yo son hasn’t been murdered. Fear of something bad happening to him paralyses me. I finally understand why and what I need to do. Writing a letter to 9yo me to say that if I was her mother I would never have allowed her to be abused. I hope I sleep a little better tonight

[@emilyirenephotoco]

I am this EXACTY way. I have been diagnosed OCD, acute ADHD, and GAD. I have a wedding this weekend and my intrusive thoughts started up yesterday, to where the traffic on the way home sent me into a panic attack on the freeway. PLEASEEEEEE do a full episode on this. I have never heard two people say anything about how I am feeling before. I feel so alone and no one knows what is wrong with me.

[@He1iconia]

As an OCD person myself, my spidey sense was tingling. My heart goes out to her. Way to relate with the caller and give her the most relevant and compassionate guidance. 🙏

[@Ester_-eg4cs]

Exposure therapy helped me get over my fear of driving after I got in a car accident ! So glad I got over that

[@TheDeGunias]

Listening to this bawling; been literally stuck in fight or flight for years, it’s good to know my body isn’t broken, just doing what it thinks it’s supposed to do!

[@NicolesBookishNook]

If you need a great place to get an OCD diagnosis, try NOCD! I have manyyyyyy mental illnesses and one of them is OCD, and it's besties with my PTSD. But thanks to trauma therapy and ERP therapy, I've been sub-clinical for 5 years! You got this, caller.

[@lizwiens671]

I can’t relate to this lady’s issues but I feel like you really helped her. That must be a terrible way to live especially as a young mom.

[@lilithstuff8355]

Lexi, whatever else she does, should look into her B vitamins. High stress depletes and messes with absorption. I started sleeping again (cortisol dropped) when I took TTFD thiamine and B complex. It could be B9, B6 or B12 too. Especially as she has a baby. Pregnancy depletes.

[@Caelus]

Wow....this makes sense. I have borderline B12 deficiency and have GAD/OCD.

[@h.m.mccray3220]

I used to have a lot of anxiety about crime/attackers, loose dogs, demons, just overall terrible intrusive thoughts and my solution (may not work for everyone) was to take the power back by learning self defense, martial arts, and first aid. I feel now that if those bad things ever happened, at least I could stand up to them. It's like my preparation brings me peace, makes me feel powerful, and makes me proud of myself.

[@ADUSLG]

Dr. John Delony is the real deal.... love this man. 👍👍👍

[@Kasadilla1]

I really needed this episode. I have been struggling with OCD for about 4 years now, right when COVID started this thing blew up in my face. I want my old life back. I have made strides of not ruminating on my thoughts which has been good

[@om617yota8]

Holy crap. TURN OFF THE TV. Obviously that won't solve the problem, but at least reduce it?

[@TheBrendlenFamily]

This was so relatable. I feel that so many women deal with postpartum depression in this way and we’re scared to talk about it. My youngest is 2 years old now and I’m finally through it. Now I’m 7 months pregnant and doing everything I can to prevent it from happening this time around. We need more open honest conversations like this ❤

[@DR-eq6qe]

Intrusive thoughts can be sexual in nature, murderous, and so much more, which is why people don’t really talk about this. The important thing is to remember that these thoughts aren’t our own, as weird as that sounds. Definitely OCD driven. I struggle with them and I’ve had to train my brain to literally think the words “intrusive thought” when one pops into my head.

[@junbh2]

Even outside of that, thoughts are just thoughts. Having a thought doesn't make you good or bad and even without something like OCD a thought isn't entirely within our control, though in some cases we can steer our thoughts more than others. But in the end it's what we DO next that matters most.

[@sarahmathison9486]

Lexi try watching this episode of DOAC podcast with a sleep specialist Dr. Stephanie R. She discusses sleep opportunity restriction to resolve sleep issues. It's been amazing for me. Blessings on you. Praying for peace around you and in you and in yourife. ❤

[@NotedPine]

My anxiety makes me feel insane sometimes. My anxiety appears when I’m in a room of people, meeting new people, or getting any type of recognition for anything (like at work for doing a good job). I feel like the whole world is staring at me and all I want to do is bolt out of there and go hide somewhere. My biggest insecurity about my anxiety is when I get anxious I begin to sweat profusely. Once that begins, I get anxiety about my sweating, which makes me sweat even more. So it’s like a double whammy 🤦🏾‍♂️. I hate it and don’t know what to do about it because I have never met anyone who deals with similar issues.

[@Abcdefg-fl9td]

This is me. Oh my god.

[@NotedPine]

@@Abcdefg-fl9td 🙏🏾 at least we’re not alone lol I literally have never met or talked to anyone who can relate to this.

[@biellaspointofview2054]

We exist. I don’t have the sweat issue but when I’m feeling anxious and my heart is pounding hard I start getting more anxiety for being anxious. I can’t stand talking in meetings at work or being on camera at team meetings, I feel like I keep fidgeting and start wondering if others notice. I don’t like recognitions either. Annual evaluations at work we have to choose 3 individuals that we’ve worked with to review us, I hate doing it 😅 I don’t think I can access their feedback of me but even if I could I wouldn’t read it.

[@lizzetteramirez8305]

This happens to me too, I start sweating and then get paranoid of looking sweaty and panic thinking if I smell like BO. It’s to the point , where I just want to break down and cry. Some days it’s worse than others

[@wildflower7321]

Yes, I have anxiety about getting anxiety😐🤷‍♀️🤦‍♀️

[@kgdima8518]

I think her problem is whatever she watched since she was a little, she believed everything she watched was real in her mind. No one ever corrected her. For example; When my daughter was 2 yr old, We got into public bus accident. Since then everytime she gets on public bus mostly big cars she scares so much and saying the car is going to fall. So I told her many times that they car fell because they didn't have a new tires. Now everytime she gets into a car she daddy it's new tires right? I say to her yes all cars has a new tires now. I keep telling her for many yrs. Now my Now daughter is 6 and I haven't seen her say anything about it. It's all about correcting your child when you see something the really scared of. It works. Sorry guys my English is not that good.

[@CammiDred]

I’m bawling because this is actually me as well.

[@imveryhungry112]

I got the same problem. Not exactly the same, but related. I had to go on medication. Im sorry I know everyone hates psychiatric medication but sometimes you need it to keep your quality of life at an acceptable level.

[@sarash8002]

I have intrusive thoughts like this (not as extreme, but close) and I've learned that my body is just trying to get me to return to a safe place. If I'm at the store, I'll think someone there wants to hurt me because my anxiety wants me to go home. My body isn't doing anything wrong it's only trying to keep me safe. I'm working on exposure therapy and it has helped immensely!

[@Minka_6]

Oh wow I can relate. Maybe not to this level, but I keep thinking about everyone dying and being tortured basically. I'm like waiting for something bad to happen to me because it happens to other people. I don't get panic attacks but I definitely spiral and can't sleep often.

[@secretaryofoffense7118]

I am VERY much the same way! Everyone in my family like literally EVERYONE and many in extended family has ocd. Like literally, not bullshit slang word ocd.

[@crispicritters827]

If you've had OCD since childhood, it could PANS/PANDAS and can be treated medically for brain inflammation

[@anitarose7915]

I don't know what it feels like to be loved. Childhood trauma, physical, emotional, and in every wsy neglect, yet I was favored by my father, in front of people outside the house. I was treated like my value was conditional. But never loved or protected. Too much neglect with a mother who was slow with an IQ of maybe 80, who was extremely narcissistic and jealous of her daughters. I never had a weight problem, and she seemed to hate me most because she and my 2 sisters had to fight their weight. It was always a topic of conversation and judgment.

[@stephanieany5477]

only ever had OCD since i was little, but severe panic disorder when i was 19 led to several other diagnoses and medications / reactions/ diagnoses. its a slippery slope when people in that arena have agendas. which they nearly all do. whatever OCD demons exist can become much bigger demons. only seek out diagnosis if youre strong enough and capable enough to refuse medication yo

[@shaunalea823]

Prayer absolutely does help it’s not always the only fix but I definitely think being grounded in faith can really help .😊

[@mariabeckwith3336]

There are amazing KZbin prayers that are very effective with helping anxiety.

[@nema151]

"Faith without works is dead."

[@JAB2010]

For some.

[@ameliakennemer]

It doesn’t have to be “faith”- in the counseling world we call it being mindful. Whether it’s prayer, meditation, journaling, etc; whatever kind of grounds you while keeping you connected within yourself.

[@jehnyr]

Exactly. I had horrible anxiety, panic attacks, insomnia, and intrusive thoughts. I came to a breaking point where I prayed for what felt like hours and gave it all to the Lord. I had the best sleep I had in years immediately afterwards and all I was dealing with mentally was gone. Prayer can be powerful. We don't need youtube or anything else to show us how, you just pour your heart out and trust in Him.

[@Robin-uu6eg]

I have this same issue but with health issues. I have had a lot of fear of getting sick with something terminal for 16 years. I've tried therapy and it helps for a bit, but realizing I was addicted to the adrenaline rush after googling symptoms, made me think of my intrusive thoughts in a new way. EDIT: I was seen by a psychiatrist for possible OCD, and I do not have it. She told me I had an adjustment disorder which makes for me.

[@kekejefferson9219]

Turn on the radio. Stop watching tv.

[@Zer0BurnOver]

Join a CrossFit gym. Lift heavy weights. Eat real good foods and lots of water. Have great friends. Disconnect. Turn off your phone regularly. Get a flip phone forever. Etc

[@yaboikillermemestar5665]

There's a threshold of where exposure therapy is overwhelming and causes the opposite effect, it's called flooding (sorry for nerding out)

[@canadianproud1729]

If she is on the pill or some kind of hormonal therapy it may be triggering some of these thoughts, or, at the very least exacerbating them.

[@og666]

prozac is great with ocd. absolutely changed my life

[@coxrocks25]

Novel idea... Stop watching scary stuff.

[@jupiterlight7610]

What is the explanation for this if you grew up in a good household?

[@foedeer]

Meditation. Medication will never help.

[@kandymich4861]

DBT time

[@Abcdefg-fl9td]

Omg I hope she hasn’t seen the movie Scream. 😂 😂 😂

[@dylanturley7291]

Learn To fight, learn to use firearms, if your like me (prayer) helps me, learn as chessy as it sounds to make your self a weapon. A lot of things change when your learn to use tools that are really life saving devices.

[@GalaxyFluke]

Girl, learn to meditate and go to a yoga class. There are thousands of meditation videos. Learn to calm your mind and you can change your life. The Untethered Soul by Michael Singer. Caller, please read it. The Power or Now by Eckart Tolle

[@alessandrajackson3768]

This sounds like untreated OCD

[@lot2196]

Try white noise generators. I use Bluetooth ear buds and KZbin. They have hundreds of channels playing hours of sleep/relaxing sounds. Oh.....First!!!!!!

[@bacaworld7095]

Get deliverance ✝️❤️🙏🏼

[@joeriveracomedy]

Just watch marvel movies. Women never lose(unrealistically)in those fantasy pieces.

[@thematrix3663]

Seek deliverance

[@zulemaalonzo256]

Pray!!! Listen to Worship music.❤

[@thomashayes873]

Just work 3 jobs. That's all you need to do, and the rest will sort you out.