Where do obsessive thoughts come from and how to deal with them.

What do we have to do

Getting rid of obsessive thoughts is possible, although not so easy.
First of all, a person needs to realize the very fact of their presence. It is very important to isolate exactly the thought that is obsessive, because there are also rational ideas. The main ally in the process of getting rid of obsessions is logic, rationality

If you use this tool correctly, you can quickly eliminate your fear.

Obsessions significantly complicate a person’s life.

A significant portion of people believe that human ideas are their own product. They appear by the will of a person, since he himself comes up with them, thinks about them, and analyzes them. However, they are largely the result of the action of external and internal factors on a person. For example, thoughts of death arise when you lose close relatives. That is, they appear not at will, but under influence. This alone puts a person in a certain dependence, and one must learn to control it, not allow one’s thinking to be completely captured and make it driven, dependent on external influence.

In addition, it is important to realize that a person is able to observe thoughts, evaluate and comment on what is happening in the head, condemn emerging ideas and ignore what is currently interfering. A person’s volitional actions are above the thinking process; they can exist in parallel, be aware of themselves outside their thoughts and separate themselves from ideas and obsessions

This makes it possible to realize control over one’s thinking, which already puts a person a step higher and makes him the master of his life. This fact can be called energy, soul or something else, but the key fact remains - a person can control his ideas through volitional efforts.

More to read:

How to remove fear

The second step to getting rid of obsessive negative thoughts is:

• stop fighting them;
• resist and try to get rid of them;
• brush it off and forget.

Very often a person thinks that if he banishes the thought on his own, it will stop bothering him. Nevertheless, the practice of getting rid of thoughts already brings a person back and the obsessions come again. If you set a goal to get rid of them, then they will be present in a person’s mind even more often and paralyze his mental activity even more strongly.

By resisting the disease, the person himself gives negative facts an even greater emotional charge and nourishment. This increases internal tension, creates conflict, and begins to disturb even more, intensifying symptoms, up to the appearance of physical discomfort - heart pain, headache. If you don’t fight your thoughts, you can save a lot of energy that doesn’t receive adequate returns in return.

You need to watch your thoughts, even if they provoke fears and anxieties. We can say that a person enters into a certain dialogue with them, giving them a moment to speak out, but at the same time keeping his positions under control. Learning to live and control obsessions is a great skill.

In the process of getting rid of a problem, emotions will be the best assistant. A person needs to do the following:

• observe the emotions and feelings that arise that accompany annoying thoughts, even if they bring unpleasant sensations;
• do not try to get rid of emotions, even if they have a negative connotation. The appearance of such thoughts is a completely natural process; only rosy and pleasant thoughts cannot arise in the human head;
• experience emotions fully, to the end. Gradually, at the subconscious level, a transformation of emotions will occur, and they will become weaker and will not be able to control the human psyche.

If you need to get rid of obsessive ideas or fears, you should not do this yourself. A person needs competent support from a psychologist who will teach him how to control obsessive thoughts and resist them. Psychologists note that there is no need to hope for a quick result, because then the situation could happen again. You should not trust and tell about your condition to those who do not have permission to provide practical psychological assistance - this can cause harm.

Try not to fight ideas, but learn to live with them. This is more important than simply forbidding yourself to think about something. Change your perception of obsessions, but leave them alone - after a while they will disappear on their own.

Where do obsessive thoughts come from and how to deal with them.

Usually people consider a thought to be something of little importance, therefore they are very little picky when accepting a thought. But from accepted rational thoughts good is born, from accepted false thoughts failures and all evil are born. A thought is like a ship’s rudder: the direction and, for the most part, the fate of the entire huge machine depends on a small rudder, on this insignificant plank trailing behind the ship. (Ignatiy Brianchaninov)

Obsessive thoughts are the form in which false ideas come to us and try to take power over us. Every day, our consciousness is subject to their active attacks. This prevents us from soberly assessing the situation, making plans and believing in their implementation; because of these thoughts, it is difficult for us to concentrate and find reserves to overcome problems; these thoughts are exhausting, and often lead to despair and lead us to fatal decisions.

Here are some thoughts that quietly kill us: - The world is unfriendly, terrible, full of evil and stupid people, there are very few good people; - Nobody loves or understands me; - My situation is hopeless; - Life is scary; - I will not be able to achieve in life what I wanted (what was expected or wanted from me); - I will never be happy; — Losing yourself in a dream is a good break from life; - Nobody needs me, I’m a loser; “It’s too late to start something, too much time has been lost.” And similar thoughts. They permeate our consciousness. They don't let us go for a second. They make us suffer much more than the events themselves that caused the internal crisis.

There are a number of mental illnesses (depression of organic origin, schizophrenia, etc.) in which obsessive thoughts are present in the complex of symptoms. With such diseases, we know of only one possibility of help - medication. In this case, you need to contact a psychiatrist for assistance.

However, most people who suffer from intrusive thoughts when experiencing a mental crisis do not have psychopathological disorders. With the help of these tips, they can successfully get rid of these thoughts and get out of the crisis state.

What is the nature of obsessive thoughts?

From the point of view of science, obsessive thoughts are the incessant repetition of unwanted ideas and drives, doubts, desires, memories, fears, actions, ideas, etc., which cannot be gotten rid of through willpower. The real problem in these thoughts is exaggerated, enlarged, and distorted. As a rule, there are several of these thoughts, they line up in a vicious circle that we cannot break. And we run in circles like squirrels in a wheel.

The more we try to get rid of them, the more they appear. And then a feeling of their violence appears. Very often (but not always), obsessive states are accompanied by depressive emotions, painful thoughts, and also feelings of anxiety.

To overcome this problem, we need to answer the questions:

What is the nature of obsessive thoughts? Where do they come from? How to deal with obsessive thoughts?

Different schools of psychology are still debating this issue, but the majority still associate obsessive thoughts with fears. It is quite difficult to fight an enemy if you cannot see him and it is not even clear who he is.

Meanwhile, answers to questions and successful solutions to problems have been known for thousands of years. There is an effective way to deal with obsessive thoughts in a mentally healthy person.

We all know that the strength of obsessive thoughts is that they can influence our consciousness without our will, and our weakness is that we have almost no influence on obsessive thoughts. That is, behind these thoughts there is an independent will, different from ours. The very name “obsessive thoughts” already suggests that they are “imposed” by someone from the outside.

We are often surprised by the paradoxical content of these thoughts. That is, logically we understand that the content of these thoughts is not entirely justified, not logical, not dictated by a sufficient number of real external circumstances, or even simply absurd and devoid of any common sense, but, nevertheless, we cannot resist these thoughts. Also, often when such thoughts arise, we ask ourselves the question: “How did I come up with this?”, “Where did this thought come from?”, “Did this thought get into my head?” We cannot find an answer to this, but for some reason we still consider it ours. At the same time, an obsessive thought has a huge impact on us. Everyone knows that a person haunted by obsessions retains a critical attitude towards them, understanding all their absurdity and alienness to his mind. When he tries to stop them by force of will, it does not bring results. This means that we are dealing with a phenomenon when our internal observer (the RSD complex: mind, consciousness, spirit) is disoriented for some reason.

Whose force or will is this that is directed against us through our own consciousness?

Simply put, a person in such situations is dealing with an attack (attack) of social attitudes. I want to clarify right away so that no one perceives social attitudes as primitively as those who talk about social patterns, cliches and their nature perceive them. These are not the quotes that the Internet and media are full of. They have no visualization or verbal forms at all, allowing them to exert their influence unnoticed. They can be called differently: energies, information space, memes, spirits, entities, trips. It makes no sense to talk about this, but their main weapon is known - distortion of reality. So, it is social attitudes in the form of memes, archetypes, standards that are the reason for these thoughts that we accept as our own. Habits are hard to break. And we are so accustomed to considering all our thoughts, all our internal dialogues and even internal battles as ours and only ours. But to win these battles, you need to take the side of your own in them. And to do this, you need to understand where yours are and where the strangers are. Determine that these particular thoughts are not ours, they are imposed on us from the outside by a soulless social entity, alien to our personal strength. Social Attitudes (hereinafter referred to as SU) act like banal viruses, while organically fitting into the internal stream of our consciousness and capable of remaining unnoticed and unrecognized indefinitely. All these so-called memes, archetypes and other SUs operate regardless of whether you believe in them or not.

For reference:

"Meme

(English
meme
) - a unit of cultural information. A meme can be considered any idea, symbol, mannerism or course of action that is consciously or unconsciously transmitted from person to person through speech, writing, video, rituals, gestures, etc. The concept of a meme and the term itself were proposed by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins in 1976 in the book "The Selfish Gene". Dawkins proposed the idea that all cultural information is composed of basic units - memes, just as biological information is composed of genes; and just like genes, memes are subject to natural selection, mutation and artificial selection. From this idea of ​​Dawkins the discipline of memetics emerged.

Dawkins coined the term “meme” based on the Greek word μίμημα - “likeness.”

According to Dawkins, like genes, memes are replicators

(English
replicators
), that is, objects that copy themselves for reproduction. Memes can reproduce at will or against the will of their carrier. For memes, survival depends on the presence of at least one host, and the success of reproduction depends on the surrounding cultural environment and on the presence of such a host who deliberately tries to spread the meme. The information content of a particular meme also affects the likelihood with which it will be copied. Memes can mutate, combine, and split to form new memes. They compete with each other for resources (the minds of human hosts), and, as a result, are subject to natural selection.

Memes are essentially information, but their functioning has noticeable behavioral manifestations.

It is believed that Dawkins first proposed the concept of a replicator as applied to sociocultural processes, although biologists Edward Osborne Wilson and Charles Lumsden (English) Russian. in the same years, they proposed the concept of the cultural gene, which is also based on an analogy between the mechanisms of transmission of genetic and cultural information.

Meanwhile, back in 1898, V. M. Bekhterev, in his article “The Role of Suggestion in Social Life,” proposed the concept of “Mental microbes,” which “like real physical microbes, act everywhere and are transmitted through the words and gestures of surrounding persons, through books, newspapers, etc.”

Horizontal transfer of ideas occurs between people of the same generation who are not connected by a mentor-student relationship.

Examples of memes given by Dawkins himself are: melodies, stable linguistic expressions.

The idea of ​​memes is discussed in the famous book by Douglas Rushkoff “Media Virus. How culture subtly influences your consciousness." Memes in the book are discussed in connection with their ability to spread through media channels and the Internet, causing socially significant consequences (for example: influencing the elections of politicians, changing public beliefs, influencing children's audiences, etc.). Complex meme (memeplex).

Memes often form groups - complex memes that unite several memes to jointly capture the minds of their carriers and to strengthen them in the fight for them. A complex meme is also called a memeplex

) - this abbreviation is derived from the words "memetic complex".

The best examples of complex memes are religious or political doctrines. The concept and theory of memes is developed within the framework of the science of memetics, whose proponents seek to understand the causes of the emergence of memes and the mechanisms of their spread. Memetics also raises questions about the extent to which people are susceptible to memes and the ability of different people to spread memes. Among other things, memes (the term “media memes” is also sometimes used in this context) can be spread through the media. This aspect of the phenomenon was studied by American media researcher Douglas Rushkoff, who used the term “media virus.” Viruses of the Mind is a key element of Alastair Reynolds' Digital to Analogue, which describes a "memetic epidemic" spreading through culture and media. In the science fiction detective novel In the Land of the Blind,[6] Michael Flynn calls a meme any common phrase or idea that can become meaningful to a person.

- You see, ideas are the key to everything. Ideas—we call them “memes”—guide people's conscious behavior in the same way that genes control their instincts. "Memes." Something clicked in her memory. She remembered the names of the articles in the Index. —You used to call them “ideons,” right? He blinked in surprise and looked at her with respect. - Yes. These are elementary ideas. By analogy with elementary particles. Protons, electrons... and ideons.

- “In the land of the blind.” Chapter 9

In the same place, M. Flynn puts into the mouth of his hero the idea of ​​the role of memes in manipulating mass consciousness:

“They are raising a nation of slaves,” he said in a low, tense voice. - Technoslaves. They support every meme that deprives a person of the ability for independent analysis or, conversely, encourages obedience, lack of will, and uniformity of thoughts.

- “In the land of the blind.” Chapter 10

Destructive social attitudes can become decisive in the process of destroying the fragile human psyche; the thoughts and dreams they introduce seem to be born in the person’s very personality, and not as a result of an imperceptible imposition from the outside. Perceived by a person as his own unique thoughts, acting however against the very personality of this person, gradually destroying the fragile psyche.

The criterion for determining the true source of our thoughts is very simple. If a thought instills in us anxiety, fear, self-doubt, a sense of self-importance, shame, envy, desire for revenge, regret, self-pity, and the like.

True, we are not always able to correctly assess our condition. The lack of constant internal work on self-control, critical thinking and conscious management of one’s thoughts also affects. One can also believe, with a greater or lesser degree of obviousness, that some thoughts, which, by the way, are always almost felt as alien and even forced, violent, actually have a nature alien to a person. A person is often unable to discern the true source of his thoughts, and the psyche is permeable to social attitudes. It is memes that support all our addictions (alcoholism, gambling addiction, painful neurotic dependence on certain people, etc.). Thoughts that we mistakenly mistake for our own push people to suicide, despair, resentment, unforgiveness, envy, emotional distress, and the inability to see and accept their mistakes. They obsessively “dictate” to us, masquerading as our thoughts, to perform very dubious actions in relation to others, depriving us of the opportunity to rethink. These thoughts prevent us from taking the path of development, instill in us a feeling of superiority over others, etc. Such thoughts are these “viruses” of the mind.

It is the social nature of thought viruses that confirms that, for example, publicly admitting our mistakes and wrong steps is often especially difficult for us. We feel internal resistance, we make great efforts to resist seemingly our own thoughts, which find a huge number of excuses for us not to do this. Although it seems like what’s so difficult about getting up in the morning and calling someone you recently rejected or banned? In fact, our whole life consists of a constant choice between what we want and what we don’t want, good and evil. This is the every-minute work that happens in the minds of people who, fortunately, are not influenced by social attitudes. And by analyzing the choices we make, everyone can see the effects of these “viruses” every day.

This is the nature of intrusive thoughts. And the mechanisms for overcoming these thoughts for those who understand what is happening to them work flawlessly.

How to overcome obsessive thoughts?

The first steps are:

1. Recognize the presence of obsessive thoughts and the need to get rid of them.

Understand that not all thoughts that come to us are ours. That often the result of depression is information from the outside. As long as you consider obsessive thoughts to be your own, you will not be able to oppose them with anything and take measures to neutralize them. It is impossible to neutralize yourself!

Make a firm decision to get rid of this condition in order to continue building your life without these viruses.

2. Take responsibility.

If we accept these obsessive thoughts from the outside and perform certain actions under their influence, then it is we who are responsible for these actions and the consequences of these actions. It is impossible to shift responsibility to obsessive thoughts, because we accepted them and acted in accordance with them. It was not thoughts that acted, but ourselves.

3. By repeating negative thoughts to ourselves, we allow them to program us.

Everyone is well aware of the power of self-hypnosis. Self-hypnosis can sometimes help in very severe cases. Self-hypnosis can relieve pain, treat psychosomatic disorders, and significantly improve psychological state. Due to its ease of use and pronounced effectiveness, it has been used in psychotherapy for a long time.

Self-hypnosis of negative statements is often observed. A person who finds himself in a crisis situation constantly unconsciously utters statements to himself and out loud that not only do not help to get out of the crisis, but also worsen the condition. For example, a person constantly complains to friends or makes a statement to himself:

- Nobody loves me; – I can’t do anything; – My situation is hopeless. (read above for a more complete list) Thus, the self-programming mechanism is activated, which really leads a person to certain feelings of helplessness, melancholy, despair, illnesses, and mental disorders.

It turns out that the more often a person repeats these negative attitudes, the more negatively they affect the thoughts, feelings, sensations, emotions, and ideas of this person. There is no need to endlessly repeat and scroll through your mind thoughts such as “if only I hadn’t done this”, “it would have been better if I had...”, etc. By doing this, you not only do not help yourself, but also drive yourself deeper into the crisis bottom. What to do?

If you find yourself repeating these spells often, then do the following:

Change the setting to the exact opposite and repeat it many times more often.

It is better to do such training suggestions several times a day. And you will really feel the effect very quickly. When writing positive statements, avoid the prefix “not.” Example: not “I won’t be lonely in the future,” but “I will still meet my person.” This is a very important rule for writing statements. Pay attention to this. It is important. Don't make statements about things that are not achievable. You also shouldn’t give yourself instructions to raise your self-esteem by comparing yourself with someone else. Attitudes should strengthen confidence and self-belief. You only need to compare yourself to the person you were before.

4. Try to find hidden benefits from the state you are in. Skip these benefits!

Paradoxical as it may seem, a person who is constantly attacked by heavy, exhausting obsessive thoughts very often finds imaginary benefits for himself in their presence. Most often, a person cannot and does not want to admit these benefits even to himself, because the very idea that he has a benefit from the source of suffering seems blasphemous to him. In psychology, this concept is called “secondary benefit.” In this case, the secondary “benefit” is a side “gain” in a given situation from the existing torment and suffering, exceeding the gain from solving the problem and further success in the ongoing recovery. It is impossible to list all the possible benefits that a person receives from his own suffering. Here are some of the most common ones.

1. “There will be no joy in the future. Real life is over, and now there will only be survival."

Benefit: you don’t have to think about how to get out of the situation (life is over), you don’t have to think too much, you don’t have to work. Self-pity appears, the severity of the situation (imagined) justifies all mistakes and wrong actions. Pleasant sympathy from others and attention to yourself from friends and relatives appears

2. “It’s better not to live at all than to live like this. I don't see the point in such a life. I don’t see any meaning or hope.”

If there is hope, then it seems like we need to take steps. But I don’t want to do this. Therefore, the easiest way is to come to terms with this thought, but not try anything. Sit and feel sorry for yourself, accepting the role of the victim.

3. “Nobody loves me” or “I only bother others”

Benefit: This is a great reason to feel sorry for yourself and not seek help from people. And again passively go with the flow, without remaking yourself

When looking for “benefits”, everything that is “exposed” looks very unattractive, and a person ceases to be the way he WANTS to see himself. This process is very painful, however, if the secondary “benefit” is found and realized, you will be able to find both other ways to implement it and eradicate this “benefit”, as well as find a successful solution from your own difficult situation.

Here you should pay attention to the fact that all secondary “benefits” are hidden from consciousness. You can't see them now. You can understand and reveal them only by impartial analysis of your actions, thoughts and desires. And this is painful and unpleasant. But this is a necessary stage.

5 . The most powerful weapon against obsessive thoughts is knowledge.

World-famous physician, Nobel Prize winner in physiology or medicine for his work on vascular suture and transplantation of blood vessels and organs, Dr. Alexis Carrel said: “Thinking is the most powerful form of energy emitted by a person. It is as real a force as gravity. As a physician, I have seen patients who did not respond to any therapeutic treatment. They were able to recover from illness and melancholy only through the power of reason and self-confidence... When we strive for knowledge, we connect ourselves with the inexhaustible vital force that sets the entire Universe in motion.”

The explanation for the power of cognition and critical thinking in this problem is very simple. Knowledge is power; if a person is informed, he is armed. If we know and understand the processes occurring within us, overcoming our inner ignorance, then managing our own thoughts becomes a matter of technology. Everyone can verify this, and very quickly. You don't need to be a scientist to do this.

In a difficult moment of life, Is there sadness in my heart: I repeat one wonderful prayer by heart. There is a grace-filled power in the consonance of living words, and an incomprehensible holy charm breathes in them. From the soul, as if a burden has rolled away, Doubt is far away, And one believes and cries, And so easily, easily... (Mikhail Lermontov).

Like any activity, thinking must be done with awareness and effort.

“You shouldn’t try to argue with obsessive thoughts. “A crowd of tempting thoughts becomes more persistent if you allow them to linger in the soul for a while, and even more so if you also enter into negotiations with them. But if you push them away the first time with a confident effort of will, rejection and appeal to reason, then they will immediately withdraw and leave the atmosphere of thoughts pure. Make it a law for yourself, every time trouble happens, and dark thoughts begin to knock in the form of a bad thought or feeling, not to be content with just reflection and disagreement, but to add to this faith in yourself until opposing feelings and thoughts form in the soul” (Theophan the Recluse).

Naturally, we can be overwhelmed by different thoughts at the same time (there is nothing faster than thought), so you should have knowledge in all directions of your thinking.

6. Talk about your experiences to the person you trust most. Call the helpline.

Another way to get rid of negative thoughts is a frank heart-to-heart conversation. First of all, this is, of course, a friend or family member. It is in a frank conversation that we get rid of negative energy, including obsessive thoughts. Observations say clearly: if we feel bad, it means we blame ourselves for something. Because the only torment is loss of self-confidence, despondency, resentment towards a person...

It would seem, what’s wrong with that?

The fact is that even one person at the end of the line is part of society. And social attitudes are effective until we define them and, having voiced them, return them back through another person.

In the so-called heart-to-heart conversation, we do two things that are very useful for our thinking. Firstly, we take responsibility for our condition and tell ourselves and others about our intentions, this already indicates that we are trying to change ourselves. Secondly, we call things by their proper names and thereby reduce the hidden influence of negative thoughts and social attitudes.

Another powerful tool is action.

Dozens of people I know, including my patients, got rid of obsessive thoughts as a result of active movements. It doesn’t matter what you do: clean, run, go for a walk with your beloved dog, do pull-ups on the horizontal bar, or go plant a tree. It is important to bring the entire body, muscles, joints, and blood vessels into an active state.

This is written well and in more detail in this article.

“Exercise has multiple health benefits, including preventing stress-related depression.

Skeletal muscles exhibit a cleansing, detoxifying effect, which by its action can protect the brain from damage and associated mental disorders,” says George Ruas.

Depression is a common mental disorder worldwide, affecting more than 350 million people, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The beneficial effects and power of physical activity have been felt by hundreds of millions of people. It is their experience that tells us that we should not ignore such accessible techniques. It should be noted that after physical exercise, many people got rid of obsessive thoughts, although not forever, but for a very long time. This is natural, since this process does not take place in one day.

7. Take care of yourself!

Idleness, self-pity, apathy, despair, depression are the most nutritious substrates for the cultivation and multiplication of obsessive thoughts. That is why try to constantly stay busy, be physically active, communicate, monitor your physical condition, get enough sleep, don’t focus on the negative, don’t maintain these states in yourself, don’t look for benefits in them.

Obsession: characteristics of the concept

Every individual has obsessive thoughts or actions to one degree or another.

You can constantly scroll through your head about an important upcoming event (an exam or an interview), you can worry about whether the iron is turned off or not, you can travel along the same route every morning. All this serves to reduce anxiety and relieve nervous tension.

Moreover, about 40% of people experience nervous irritation, bad and uncomfortable feelings when changing the usual order of things.

Obsession (compulsive neurosis) is a mental disorder in which obsessive states of various types occur. These states appear from time to time and represent involuntary ideas and thoughts, actions that entail the formation of a system of rituals.

Such conditions cause nervous tension and stress in the individual. Fixation on bad, painful thoughts or ideas in the head causes negative emotions, and thus can cause depression or can provoke neurosis (neurotic disorder). At the same time, patients do not suffer from impaired logical thinking.

Obsession is not just repeated uncontrollable movements (compulsions) and not just scrolling through bad thoughts in the head or fixating on them. The peculiarity of the syndrome lies in the awareness of these obsessions in the individual. A person perceives obsessions and compulsions as something foreign, alien to his consciousness. Obsessions are perceived as intruding, senseless, and sometimes contrary to one’s own nature, but the individual cannot fight or cope with them. The return of obsessions and similar states each time brings nervous tension to a person, increases anxiety, and can cause attacks of depression and neurosis.

Types of obsessive states (depending on the scope of manifestations):

• motor (compulsions);
• emotional (phobias);
• intellectual (obsessive thoughts).

Obsession can also manifest itself at the level of collecting (excessive accumulation), desires, images, doubts, ideas.

In general, obsessive-compulsive disorder has a thematic, repetitive quality. The most common themes are dirt, contamination, violence, order, symmetry, sexuality, aggression. What’s especially important is that obsessions of a similar nature also occur in healthy people.

A separate group can be divided into a state of obsession - “not good enough”, which gives a person a feeling of incompleteness of the process. To cope, to overcome this condition, to eliminate tension, he has to repeat the same action over and over again, for example, turning on and off the light.

To relieve nervous tension, distract from bad ideas, or reduce anxiety, a person has to create rituals for himself. This could be counting, double-checking, washing, and other constantly repeating actions. The patient realizes their meaninglessness, but still resorts to them, since they help, at least temporarily, to overcome fear or obsessive thoughts in the head.

Danger

The main danger of obsessive-compulsive disorder is its negative impact on the nervous system. Each time the disease begins to worsen, the central nervous system suffers more and more. The result is a general deterioration in the patient's health. It can decrease significantly in just a few months while OCD manifests itself.

Possible consequences:

• exacerbation of existing chronic diseases;
• decreased performance of the cardiovascular system;
• development of disturbances in the gastrointestinal tract;
• memory impairment;
• gradual development of diabetes mellitus;
• decline in physical strength and performance;
• sleep problems.

The consequences also include a deterioration in relationships with loved ones or colleagues. Despite the root cause of the behavior, the patient often begins to be perceived differently and from a negative side.

The most serious danger in OCD is the risk that the patient will harm himself or others.

Turned off or not turned off

If the situation has not gone too far yet, you can help yourself with control

It is important to transfer actions from automatic to consciously controlled mode

How to cope with obsessive thoughts in this case? Psychologists advise paying attention to your actions. For example, turned off the water and

He stroked it, turned off the iron, held his attention on this action for a split second, and recorded it with a phrase.

You can make a checklist before decisively closing the door to check that important actions have been completed. And say out loud that the gas is turned off, the water is closed, the electricity is turned off.

But what are obsessive thoughts? So, they call thoughts that appear without good reason. Even if everything has already been checked and recorded more than once, this does not mean that they will not begin to torment you a few minutes after leaving the house. You can reduce the anxious state with a clear picture from your memory that there is no danger, and the action that is being questioned has been completed.

It is doubts that are very often inspired by obsessive thoughts and deplete the mental energy of the individual.

Water therapy

The simplest and most common way for a modern person is to take a shower. The body will cleanse itself and become calmer and lighter. Here you are allowed to experiment with water temperature; you can choose either a cool, warm or ice-cold shower. It is recommended to take water procedures in the morning, preferably before nine o'clock. Otherwise, the toxins released from the body at night will be absorbed back into the body, which, of course, does not contribute to peace and tranquility. It is also recommended to take a shower after you have attended a gathering or public place, experienced an emotional event, or even gone to the toilet. In the evening, it is better to give preference to a warm shower.

The author of health and spiritual systems, Porfiry Ivanov, created a teaching on dousing with cold water, which recommends carrying out this procedure every morning and evening. While warm water cleanses only the surface of the skin, cold water penetrates into every cell, cleansing the finer structures of the body. The problem is that for some, such dousing will not only not be the answer to the question “how to escape from obsessive thoughts,” but, most likely, will even aggravate them due to its extreme nature. In the traditional Indian medicine system of Ayurveda, people are divided into several types. The so-called air type, being forcibly doused with ice water every day, will fall into a state close to hysteria at the thought of such an event. If people of this category force themselves in this way, it will not bring tangible benefits. However, slightly cool water will have a positive effect on the body and consciousness, and such a procedure will not be so painful.

Natural bodies of water, rivers and seas, or rather contact with them, are very calming. To do this, you just need to dive into the water and swim a little. With daily exercise, mental balance is gradually restored.

Who is susceptible to OCD?

Most often, OCD affects sensitive people who are not inclined to show aggression, who have an internal conflict between “what I want and what I don’t want.” It is the basis for the emergence of neurosis. The disorder appears between the ages of 10 and 30.

Healthy people can perform rituals, but if they do them for more than one hour a day, and non-compliance with them causes great discomfort, we may be talking about making a diagnosis.

A large number of popular movie stars suffer from one form or another of OCD, spending part of their lives in anxiety due to unfulfilled rules and rituals. The famous Leonardo DiCaprio played the main character with OCD disorder in the film “The Aviator,” and the actor himself used to walk through doorways a certain number of times and avoid stepping on cracks in the asphalt.

Footballer David Beckham suffers from OCD, he likes everything to be symmetrical and systematized.

Actress Charlize Theron cannot sleep if her closet is not in perfect order, and if everything is in place, then she is disturbed by thoughts of the disorder of her friends.

As a result of treatment, many manage to reduce their anxiety levels and get rid of rituals. You shouldn’t be ashamed of your condition and isolate yourself within walls, trying to hide it from everyone.

Ways to deal with fear

Breathe. If you are faced with a sudden surge of fear, follow the advice of psychologists. They recommend literally breathing out fear. Take a deep, even breath, then release the air just as slowly. Repeat the steps until you completely calm down. Try to focus on your breathing, step back from everything that is happening. This way you will stabilize your psycho-emotional background and be able to make decisions. Constant practice will eradicate sudden attacks of fear.

Think positively. Every person at least once in their life has encountered a situation where just the thought of an upcoming event fills them with horror. Most likely, you think that nothing will work out, that the event will fail. Learn to think positively, believe in your own strength. Look fear in the eye and understand what exactly is bothering you. Then analyze the situation

It is important to come to the conclusion that there are no insurmountable obstacles. When you have confidence in yourself, fear will disappear.

Knock out the wedge with the wedge

Experienced psychologists around the world claim that fear can be overcome by responding to anxiety. If you are afraid of swimming, you should jump off the pier and swim to shore. Those who have a fear of public speaking are advised to spend more time as a speaker. Due to the adrenaline received, you will knock out the wedge with a wedge.

Become a confident person. For some patients, specialists help cope with a sudden attack of fear through role-playing games. To do this, you need to put on the appearance of a confident person and perform all those tasks inherent in a businessman or speaker. At a certain point, a replacement of personality occurs, fear recedes and returns extremely rarely. Theatrical performances are performed until a new image takes root in the brain.

Relax physically. Along with the psychological techniques described above, it is necessary to put your physical condition in order. It is known that fear appears for various reasons, including fatigue. Aromatherapy, taking a bath, a quality massage, and reading your favorite book will help restore your psycho-emotional background and relieve tension. It is important to completely eliminate obsessive fear and think only about good things.

Talk to people. People who constantly withdraw into themselves and find it difficult to make contact are less confident than those who are among people. And it doesn’t matter at all whether these people are familiar or not. The main thing is social communication, without it you can’t go anywhere. Uncertainty breeds fear, which is difficult to explain. To eradicate the problem, try to spend more time in public places. Accept friends' invitations to go to the movies or go for a walk.

Live in the moment. Most often, any fears appear due to a comparison of one’s own “I” in the past and present. If a person has previously failed in public speaking or love relationships, he carries this uncertainty into his present life. The result is constant comparison; fear prevents you from focusing on today. Focusing on what you have now will help you get rid of these kinds of emotions. Don’t judge yourself harshly, don’t be afraid to make mistakes, live for your own pleasure.

Get a pet. Animals are wonderful companions that can lift a person out of even the most prolonged depression. If you often experience sudden attacks of fear, just switch to a four-legged friend. Go to the nearest park for a run and meet other dog owners. Give your pet all your love, you will stop feeling fear and loneliness.

How to get rid of fears

Medicines are used as therapy to get rid of neuroses. Most often, tranquilizers are prescribed to help relieve attacks.

Self-treatment of mental illness is not allowed

The disadvantage of this category of therapeutic agents is drug addiction. This side effect is absent from antidepressants, which are successfully used to get rid of phobias.

It is important to consider that drug treatment can only temporarily relieve the symptoms of a pathological disorder. For successful therapy, you need to find out the source of anxiety, worry, fears, and support the emotional background.

SUI and panic attacks are pathologies of the functioning of the human mental sphere. A psychotherapist will help alleviate the condition.

However, there are effective psychological treatments that are self-administered, such as meditation. The main goal of such practices is to be able to cope even during a panic attack.

Exercise "Meditation"

Exercise “Meditation”
To perform the exercise you need to get rid of all sources of extraneous noise (TV, mobile phone, radio)

It is important to lie down comfortably, close your eyes, and monitor your breathing.

A person should not think about anything specific. Thoughts will begin to appear on their own. You should not cling to one of them, but discard every thought that appears and again concentrate on even, calm breathing.

The duration of the exercise is about 20 minutes.

Exercise “5+”

It is necessary to write down on paper 5 unpleasant situations that happened to a person, or fears that interfere with life.

Opposite each point, write down 5 positive points that can be learned from these negative situations.

Such training trains a person’s positive thinking, gives self-confidence, helps relieve tension, and reduces anxiety.

Causes of phobias, PA, OCD

There are many theories about the development of anxiety disorders. Depending on the psychological school, the biological, psychological or social factor comes to the fore. However, the root cause of obsessive fears and PA is severe one-time or chronically experienced stress.

If a person, having discovered the symptoms of a panic attack, seeks help from a neurologist, he, as a rule, makes a diagnosis of vegetative-vascular dystonia. VSD is an autonomic dysfunction of the cardiovascular system.

The causes of VSD can be:

• individual personality traits and human constitution;
• diseases of the endocrine, cardiovascular and central nervous systems;
• head and back injuries;
• osteochondrosis;
• hormonal changes in the body (adolescence, pregnancy);
• poor nutrition;
• alcohol abuse;
• taking certain medications;
• infections;
• allergies.

More details about the development of phobias and panic attacks in the video:

The manifestations of a panic attack and VSD are easy to confuse. To make a correct diagnosis, a physiological factor must be excluded. The occurrence of panic attacks and phobias is primarily associated with the patient’s personality traits, namely, the traits of an anxious and suspicious character and a negative way of thinking.

The person himself suffering from panic attacks regards vegetative manifestations as a cause of anxiety. Although in fact, they are a component of anxiety itself. A panic attack develops according to the following scenario: adrenaline is released in response to stress, the heartbeat accelerates, breathing quickens, and a feeling of lack of air occurs.

The person feels like he is suffocating. What actually occurs is hyperventilation of the lungs caused by a lack of carbon dioxide. The body turns on defense mechanisms. There is a narrowing and spasm of blood vessels and smooth muscles in the organs. Even a short-term spasm provokes symptoms that frighten a person: tinnitus, nausea, dizziness. By focusing on these unpleasant physiological sensations, a person causes himself additional fear, which only worsens his situation.

How to fight

Obsessive fears can be so strong that they completely subjugate a person’s life. A phobia forces a person to avoid unfavorable situations; in severe cases of agoraphobia, this may involve complete confinement in an apartment, while clinical social phobia involves a complete refusal to communicate with strangers. In cases where your fear is so strong, it is natural to contact a psychotherapist, clinical psychologist or psychiatrist. A specialist will be able to correctly diagnose your problem and prescribe appropriate treatment. Pharmacotherapy may include antipsychotics, tranquilizers and antidepressants. But the main emphasis for obsessive fears, of course, is on psychotherapy.

Method No. 1

Professionals work in completely different modalities with the problem of fear. In each individual case, one or another form of psychotherapy may be more effective. The most common method of working with phobias is systematic desensitization. This is a behavioral method, which is based on the task of gradually bringing the patient closer to the object that causes obsessive fear. The word “desensitization” itself is borrowed from photographers’ terminology, meaning a decrease in the light sensitivity of the film.

Method No. 2

Behavioral psychology considers the occurrence of phobias as a developed conditioned reflex (fear reaction) to a certain stimulus. Accordingly, using this logic, a “counter-reflex” can be developed. So in simple words you can explain the essence of the method. In order to “cancel” an unwanted fear reaction, it is necessary to present a positive one along with a “threatening” stimulus. This stimulus is muscle relaxation. All this is done in stages, so the often mentioned “wedge by wedge” is not entirely appropriate here. But the method of implosion therapy fits this description quite well.

Method No. 3

Implosion therapy is a type of behavioral psychotherapy. The patient is placed in the most alarming situation: they are asked to immerse themselves in the most terrible thoughts, memories, or in reality they are presented with a frightening object. The goal here is for the person not to resort to his usual avoidance behavior, but, on the contrary, to face his fear, stay in it, allow it to be and... see that nothing happened. The fear will subside at some point. This is natural, because our psyche is designed in such a way that addiction is developed to anything, one way or another. It can’t be very scary and very long, and it’s the same with pain.

Method No. 4

Another behavioral method often used to get rid of obsessive fears is stopping thoughts. The essence of the method is to gradually learn to control unwanted thoughts. The patient develops the skill of interrupting them on command, and then replacing the disturbing thought with an affirmation (a positive, calming image).

Method No. 5

Cognitive therapy is often used in combination when working with phobias. Pathological fears can arise due to thinking errors. Often a person is absolutely unaware that his attitudes, thoughts, concepts drive him into a framework in which he is very anxious. The cognitive approach helps to identify illogical distortions that prevent a person from living.

Cognitive behavioral psychotherapy in working with obsessive fears is very popular because of its rapid effect. Sometimes one session is enough to get rid of fear.

Hypnotherapy is also often used. Her performance is also high. However, there is also criticism of such methods. Since they are aimed at working “here and now,” unlike analytical therapy or psychoanalysis, which involve deep work, the immediate problem is solved, however, the cause may remain and later manifest itself in a different form. Therefore, in certain cases, psychoanalytic therapy will help to cope with obsessive fears.

Art therapy has an effect in the initial stages of the development of phobias.

Neurotic fears

Only a knowledgeable person can tell you how to get rid of fears and obsessive thoughts about the disease. In fact, neurotic fears are not caused by any real threats, or the threats are far-fetched and doubtful. Orthodox doctor V.K. Nevyarovich testifies: “Intrusive ideas often arise from the question: “What if?” Then they take root in the mind, become automated and, constantly repeated, create significant difficulties in life. The more a person fights, trying to drive them away, the more they subjugate him to themselves.

Among other things, in such states psychic defense (censorship) is characterized by impressive weakness, which appears due to the sinful destruction of people’s souls and their natural qualities. Everyone knows that alcoholics have increased suggestibility. Fornication sins significantly deplete spiritual strength. It also reflects a lack of internal work on spiritual sobriety, self-control and conscious guidance of one’s thoughts.

Causes of OCD

Since the impetus for the development of the disease is often a situation in the past that caused deep experiences, as well as psychosomatic disorders that arose as a result of it, it is important to identify, remember the reason that led to changes in behavior and work through it. It often goes back to childhood

Mental overload can occur at a time when the body is weakened by illness or hormonal changes during adolescence.

A person’s life begins to depend on the disease, because obsession, obsessive thoughts, are followed by compulsion, obsessive actions, causing the need to perform endless rituals. This requires a lot of effort, energy expenditure, a lot of time, and most importantly, it deprives the individual of freedom of choice and action and continues to destroy the nervous system.

Obsessive thoughts and phobias caused by them lead to unpleasant physical sensations. The pulse quickens, tachycardia begins, panic, nausea, even vomiting, suffocation, fear of death. A person does not do many things that are interesting to him and could change his life and destiny for the better. Rituals are performed to prevent troubles, for fear of bringing unpleasant events into life, for fear that bad thoughts that suddenly come to mind may materialize.

Causes

According to statistics, men encounter obsessive neurosis most often in adolescence, while women - after 25 years. A high level of intelligence is considered one of the risk factors. Therefore, very often workers from the educational sector, IT technologies, etc. suffer from OCD.

The main reasons include:

• genetic predisposition;
• changes in the chemical composition of brain cells;
• organic brain transformations;
• lack of serotonin;
• chronic diseases;
• disability of any category;
• psychological trauma;
• regular stress;
• sensitive nature;
• low self-esteem;
• pregnancy and postpartum period.

Most often, it is psychological trauma and stress due to a sensitive nature and low self-esteem that lead to the development of OCD. But in some cases the real reason cannot be established.

Types of fears

What is fear? This is a painful state of a person or fear of any real or fictitious situations. It can be large-scale, denying future consequences, or it can be justified.

Psychologists believe that fear is a negative process, but, by and large, it is rational, that is, it is based on the self-preservation instinct inherent in almost every person. Here, protective mechanisms in the body are often triggered, which mobilize a person when a dangerous situation arises.

As we have already understood, there is justified fear, and there is self-inflicted fear, not based on anything, but only on one’s own annoying ideas. This is an irrational fear. It is impossible to control, it causes a constant feeling of panic and anxiety. This condition is often accompanied by palpitations, trembling, nervousness, and anxiety. Coping with such fear is difficult. It can develop into real neurasthenia, as a result, a person develops a neurosis of obsessive thoughts.

How to control such a process and is it possible to cope with an irrational type of fear? We'll talk about this further.

Situational fear

Psychologists know how to get rid of fears and obsessive thoughts. They distinguish between situational fear, which arises at the moment of danger or threat, and individual fear, the appearance of which is associated with the characteristics of fear. For example, those who have developed mysophobia (fear of infection, pollution) characterize it as a very severe suffering. These people say that they have developed such a strong mania for cleanliness that it is beyond any control.

They claim that on the streets they avoid any contact with people, unclean areas. They think that everywhere is dirty and that they can get dirty everywhere. They claim that when they come home after a walk, they begin to wash all their clothes and wash in the shower for 3-4 hours. They say that they have developed an internal rude hysteria, that their entire environment consists of a computer and an almost sterile bed.