How do I dispose of awful unwanted thoughts?

hello Natasha

I too suffer with what you do and I also have intrusive thoughts. They are extremely scary upsetting and unpredictable. Mine started after having my daughter over 6 years ago. I wont go into too much detail but they were v much based on harm coming to her and my fear that I wold be the one to cause that harm. Those particular ones thankfully have gone but im still left with ones based mainly on the death of those I love in car accidents being run over etc. I know exactly how you feel one thing I do and it prob sounds weird but if one pops in my head I literally shake my head to shake it out of me. I have been taking sertraline 150mg for over 2 years which is quite specific to anxiety and ocd I had to go up to 150mg before I felt any relief and am now waiting for my appt for CBT. I want you to know these things your thinking( I can imagine what they might be as you describe them as disgusting) are actually v common. Everybody gets a thought in there head and it then goes. People like ourselves then become obsessed with those thoughts and that causes anxiety which makes us think more intrusive thoughts more anxiety and so the vicious circle continues. Just know that whatever is in your head isn't going to happen you are not mad or some sort of disturbed person. You have a horrible form of ocd which with the right meds and the right therapy will get better I cant say it will ever go cause mine hasn't fully but it will get better. Sertraline is the best for this I would say but give your meds time to work. My last batch unfortunately was dodgy so I withdrew badly but new batch and feeling better. I really hope your feeling better soon. If you ever wanted to private msg me maybe even just to tell me some of these thoughts your are more than welcome to I can honestly say Ive had the weirdest freakiest ones and still been told im not mad by a psychiatrist. I find being able to tell someone who understands or had had them themselves is helpful in making you feel better and taking some of those fears away.

Take care

Natalie

Hi Natalie, tht message has seemed to lighten the load a little! Thankyou. I have looked into a lot about it online and it seems to be more common than I initially thought. I have been put on beta blocas and anti depressants for now, I'd like to think it's me doing the hard work though. I had anxiety n OCD when I was just 16 and managed without meds. I got through! I'm now 25 n had a hard few years with different things but I am now very happy and settled with my life. So I'm guessing that why it's all comin bk to haunt me. I'm glad u are feelin a little better, and I too have a child so I must think of her! I'm powering through till I get my cbt appointment and we shall see what is said to help. In the meantime the meds n strength should get me through

Hi Natasha - I'm so sorry you are going through this. I haven't come across many people with obsessive thoughts OCD but I too am one of them. I can spend a good 5 hours a day lying on the bed thinking and worrying and writing notes down - all to do with health. I seem to spend all my time analysing what cud be wrong and not worrying about the actual illness (cancer!). I have been on sertraline and beta blockers and had cbt but nothing has worked because it's so severe. I know it has to come from me and the only way to get better is to push the thoughts away which helps strengthen the positive thinking. I broke down yesterday - I was so hysterical it scared me. I am trying to start today pushing them away - it's made me realise how easy giving up smoking was now ( which was sooo hard) lol. Giving up obsessive thinking is like losing a friend (I know, a bad one) and I feel lost without the thoughts because they have become a huge part of my life). I'm thinking of trying hypnotherapy and my cousin has contacted someone in London who deals with this and is emailing me with suggestions and where to go from here. I'll pass on any information that could help. In the meantime good luck with cbt and try to keep pushing the thoughts away as soon as they come into your head and I will too. WE CAN DO THIS!!!

I meant to say the bloke in London is sending suggestions other than hypnotherapy.