6 hard pills to swallow: mental compulsions edition
1 IF YOUR COMPULSIONS WORKED, YOU’D FEEL BETTER BY NOW
Compulsions get you nowhere, full stop. It is never “Just one more”. All these behaviors do is reinforce OCD/anxiety’s catastrophic narrative. So ideally, our responses would do the OPPOSITE of that.
2 RUMINATION IS NOT PROBLEM-SOLVING
Rumination usually happens when we try to answer OCD/anxiety questions. It feels like “problem solving” but it’s not. Here’s why
Figuring out answers to UNANSWERABLE questions is not problem-solving because the “problem” doesn’t have a solution.
It flat-out doesn’t work. Like any mental ritual, it doesn’t provide clarity. All it does is keep you on that mental hamster wheel.
3 MENTAL BACKFLIPS WON’T MAKE YOU “GOOD”
Plenty of people mentally prep for conversations and still end up being harsh.
Plenty of people mentally check for “inner motives” and still end up being bad friends.
Plenty of people ruminate about harming others, and still end up harming others.
Soooo….mental compulsions don’t erase uncertainty about being a good person/friend.
4 YOUR MENTAL REVIEWING IS MAKING YOU LESS “SURE”
All mental rehearsing and reviewing does is make things blurrier, and that will get you literally nowhere. Full stop.
The more you revisit a memory, the more confusing it gets. You actually may end up making your memory LESS reliable.
You are basically making a photocopy of a photocopy over and over again until it’s just a blob.
5 SELF ASSURANCE WON’T MAKE DOUBT GO AWAY
Self-assurance is just going to lower your tolerance of uncertainty (which isn’t going anywhere).
You can’t get rid of an emotion via rationalizing. All you are doing with that compulsion is making it feel even worse the next time it comes around. OCD is lying to you (no surprise there).
6 AVOIDANCE ALWAYS HURTS YOU IN THE LONG RUN
Avoidance and thought neutralizing will make literally everything worse and decrease your tolerance of allIII the difficult things.
Are we seeing a pattern yet?
IN SUMMATION…
None of your compulsions will actually make you any safer. OCD does not have magic powers. End of story.
OH HI THERE!
I’m Mary. I’m an OCD & Anxiety therapist with lived experience.
I’m here to show you that you can be brave and afraid at the same time.
Follow for more practical tools for facing your fears!
I’m about to call you out
As someone who felt like she was constantly short-circuiting, I get it.
Being stuck in that mental compulsion spiral is truly torturous. But we get to choose how long we stay stuck.
Now there’s no argument around the fact that mental rituals are brutal and sneaky. But here’s the reality: you’re likely justifying your mental compulsions without even realizing it.
For example:
!! you may feel that the ritual keeps you safe in some way, or that it makes you more prepared.
!! you may feel that the ritual makes you a better friend or kinder person
!! you may feel that the ritual will bring you closure/clarity.
Obviously that’s not a comprehensive list, but you get the point. OCD is excellent at getting you to justify behaviors that end up hurting you in the long run.
Welp, I hate to break it to you, but ultimately, these justifications are likely making you feel stuck.
Let’s be real. How the heck do you let go of something if you are digging your heels in and buying into the belief that thing is somehow helping you????
Answer: you don’t.
You can’t fully let go without being WILLING to let go of whatever you’re holding on to.
So, ask yourself:
“How am I holding on?”
And then let that BS go.
Want to know more about how to take power back from OCD? Follow @psychedelictrippyhouse.uk . for more!
psst! Do you struggle with mental compulsions? I might be able to help. Comment “course” and I’ll send you the tea.
