Pure OCD: Let your thoughts perpetuate but not dominate
Whatever is the worst possible thing to be in society, pure OCD will target as a theme. Pure OCD centres around violent and sexual intrusive thoughts and plays on the sufferer’s fear of possibly becoming that thing. The more socially and morally reprehensible something is, the more likely that subject will become an obsession for the Pure O sufferer. Back in the old ages the worst thing someone could be was blasphemous. Nowadays with pedophilia mass hysteria (the news, media, pedo bear jokes) a pedophile has become the worst possible thing one can be in society, along with zoophiles, rapists, and serial killers (see Ted Bundy documentaries), so it’s extremely common for Pure O sufferers to obsess over these things.
Everyone has intrusive thoughts of this sexual, violent nature. They’re universal- 9 in 10 people have them! The only difference is how different people process these thoughts. People who don’t have Pure O immediately recognize how absurd their intrusive thoughts are and even though they may have them, they don’t dwell on them because of how nonsensical and stupid they are! People who have OCD lack this inbuilt junk mail filter which causes a great deal of fear and anxiety.
Intrusive thoughts are a part of human nature. The brain is like a long winding corridor with infinite doors on either side. Every day the average person walks down the corridor and opens 40,000 of these doors (thoughts); most are not intrusive and disturbing but some are.
Having Pure OCD about a certain theme in NO way makes the sufferer more likely to be those intrusive thoughts than someone who doesn’t have Pure O. Someone who has pedophilia OCD is not any more or less likely to be a pedophile than someone who doesn’t have POCD.
What’s really important when dealing with Pure OCD is not to suppress your thoughts or pretend that they aren’t there. Suppression makes Pure O worse. Instead acknowledge that what you are experiencing is an intrusive thought, the thought is undesirable and morally reprehensible and you don’t have control over it, but it is there. This can be pretty tricky, you have to try not to push away your intrusive thoughts while simultaneously not letting them affect you. The key is to simply accept and acknowledge the thoughts but don’t give any importance to them.
Finally- groinal response checking! Groinal response checking is a common compulsion that Pure OCD sufferers engage in. They will deliberate upon their intrusive thoughts and check down there to see if they are aroused. If you focus too long on any one area and wonder if you are experiencing a weird sensation, you will induce a reaction simply by concentrating too long on that area. For example if you think about your elbow for too long and deliberate on whether you feel anything, you will notice a feeling in your elbow brought on simply by thinking about it for too long. The penis and vagina are especially sensitive areas with tons of nerve endings- if you focus and deliberate endlessly on whether you feel anything down there when holding a certain thought, you will notice things that aren’t there and induce a feeling just by your compulsive checking. This is known as arousal non-accordance, and thinking that it’s proof of your intrusive thoughts couldn’t be further from the truth.
TLDR; here’s my personal mantra, one I really like to use when I have especially bad days:
Allow your thoughts to perpetuate but not dominate. Breathe.
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jacobvanloon
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