How do you accept terrible thoughts? 

That's great you've been welcoming the thoughts to sit on the train with you. I found it useful to approach the thoughts like people riding with me. So the next step was to learn how to welcome them along for the ride without any words, just like on a real train--it's totally fine if the train is full of people or not. I don't have to check how many thoughts are on the train or welcome each of them. Whatever and however is welcome along for the trip because of course that's totally ok.

Mark Freeman I remember watching your earlier videos and thinking "can it really be that simple?" But it really is. If I have a bad relapse into old ocd habits I don't panic and just accept there will be good and bad days, all part of the recovery journey. Thanks Mark xx

@@everybodyhasabrain Wow this resonated with me on a whole new level. Just a while ago I decided to write a letter to my "bad thoughts" and now discovered your video and this comment. In my letter I literally used the exact same terms of welcoming them to sit on the train with me and all my other thoughts, although I'm the one who has to drive the train. I also like to address intrusive thoughts as people that you welcome into your thoughts and say "thank you for your opinion, you're welcome to voice them but I need to l this right here now". Very validating to see that other people have these same feelings and struggles. Thank you!

That's great! for anybody here: Some support: The crisis lines are on google. Maybe search up the instructions to. The instructions for Canada: just text the word text or Text or TEXT I'm not sure which one. They are also on Quora (the phone numbers) if you search up something bad mental health related. They show up at the top if you click on the page from the website. Numbers that you can call are on google. Make sure it's the right one for your country.

Same it works 👍👍

You've got this!

Wow 2 years ago, how’s ur OCD now? Have the intrusive thoughts gotten less?

@@Rawan-og9ij I have HOCD and it sucks

@@whambam849 ik bud, it’s gonna take a little time if ur not going to therapy, u will learn how to deal with it just trust there’ll be better days and never lose patience with urself. the thoughts are just thoughts and the anxiety is just a response, promise it gets better, good luck on ur journey!

"Brain messages you don't need, they don't help" Is that the same as suppressing them?

BubbleTeaFob I don't necessarily think so.. there is a difference between dismissing a thought and suppressing one

@BubbleTeaFob Dismissing a thought is just kind of letting it "sit there" in your head and accepting it's presence without actively trying to forget about it (Labeling it a brain message you don't need helps you do this, without "pushing" the thought away. It allows you to calm down and accept that the thought is there in your head. Its basically letting yourself understand that this thought is OCD, and coming to understand how your brain ticks) where as "suppressing" a thought would mean going through measures to NEVER EVER think of the thought again, trying to trample the thought out or over write it. The difference is with dismissal, you let the thought stay until it fades naturally and no longer has meaning. Where as suppression gives no quarter or acceptance to the presence of the thought, and the thought isn't allowed to fade off- it actually stays because you are so actively trying to make sure you don't think about it by doing mental compulsions such as memory digging, or remembering your exact thought, analyzing your feelings, ext. You don't do these compulsions with dismissal- with dismissal you have a thought and say "yeah okay brain" then continue going through your life without stopping to think about why you had the thought. It's sort of a convoluted concept to wrap your head around at times, because OCD is like a maze, but the difference in how you treat the thoughts really does help.

This is so useful to learn!

Enjoy the redecorating!

Has your situation improved? If so can you do you have any advice?

@@cerealis_5432 Distractions help. I haven't been able to get access to therapy yet, but I've just been focusing on other things to improve my life to distract me in the meantime. Hope this helps!

@@PotatoChicken-gg1ju Thanks, I really appreciate it! Even though I have the tools it’s still difficult to implement them. The more I try to be mindful/not engage the more bothersome the thoughts become and the more powerless/unmotivated I feel. Do you experience this too?

your unwanted feelings and thoughts are not you, remember that you are an observer. don't judge it, let it pass by

@@cerealis_5432 ​ Read Overcoming Unwanted Intrusive Thoughts by Sally Winston & Martin Seif... It can help you a lot to understand how we get stuck with these thoughts and how we can come out of them

Thank you! I'm glad you've found it useful on the journey!

Sarqe

Thank you for the kind words!

Magnifying bad thoughts? Could you elaborate on that and give some examples?

So how are you now

Yeah, that’s my problem at times... :/

You can bully it back!

@@everybodyhasabrain yes I've been winning lately:)

@@tanvipatade7918 😁🙌

I'm glad you found them, too!

Thanks!

I don't know exactly what you mean by "self soothing" but to me it does sound like a compulsion, particularly with the reference to the numbing of depression. That's a very normal experience to accept with ACT tools. I was at a meditation retreat recently where we did a lot of work on physical pain and discomfort and after a few days at the retreat, one of the monks stood in front of the hall and asked people why their pain hadn't gone away when they'd probably been so certain each time they tried to cope with it that they had solved it, that they had found a position without pain, that they had figured out how to fix it and control it? He was sort of making a joke but it was to wake people up to the fact that they could spend the rest of the meditation retreat trying to fix their pain and then the meditation retreat would be over. He asked people if they were ready to start meditating. We have similar choices. If we notice some feeling is there, we can choose to spend time on it if we want. But what do we want to spend our time and energy on in life? Soon the retreat will be over.

@@everybodyhasabrain self soothing can be many things, such as: CBT based, such as challenging thoughts and beliefs (like the roots of OCD video of yours), progressive muscle relaxation, deep breathing, self hugs, exercising, journaling, cuddling with your dog, reading something inspiring, doing a yoga poses, stretching, calling a friend, and so on... The goal is to self soothe to feel less anxious or depressed and to practice healthy behaviors rather than negative ones you might find in addiction. Maybe those are the actions themselves? The values? I get stuck with CBT, it can help and I might feel good for a while but then get stuck in old thought patterns and beliefs again. Then I feel I have to get it "right"and challenge thoughts and feelings, which becomes its own compulsion. But it does feel important to challenge thoughts and beliefs, like you discuss in your OCD roots video. It is hard for me to find that balance and not turn self help into its own compulsion :-) to "solve it"

@@ko2744 The roots video is about understanding those underlying beliefs so you can cut out compulsions. Engaging in activities to escape feelings is what I consider a compulsion. I'd expect that this focus on "self-soothing" would just fuel and prolong the challenges it's meant to reduce.

@@everybodyhasabrain I would like to develop equinamity and not be so affected by the highs and lows of life. I think there might be a place for self soothing skills/self regulation (based on trauma and addiction recovery and research) to pursue healthier ways to cope with difficult emotions might be its own value. I'm kind of thinking out loud. ACT has helped me a lot but I'm also interested in self reg models as well.

And thanks, this has given me something to think about!

Thank you!

Thank you!

Rayn Thanks!

You're welcome!

Indeed it is!

:) Enjoy putting these skills into practice!

Thanks for reading! I'm glad you've found these tools useful on the journey :)

You're welcome!

You're welcome!

There's nothing wrong with having an anxiety attack!

Enjoy the doing!

Thank you!

Only God is Ours, Only God Loves Us, This is the Unchangeable Truth. Keep following the path of The God Bhagwan, Follow The Path Of Sanatan Dharm, Divine Righteous Way Of Living, Finding God is the Only Goal of life. Come on the path of God, Chant The Name Of God~ Naam Jap Of Isht Bhagwan, Meditate, Recite Hanuman Chalisa, Follow Brahmacharya, Eat Satvik food (do not eat non-veg at all), Do Pranayama. Jai ShreeRam Jai ShreeKalki Jai PanchSakha❤️🙏

What if?! I would take back my power and agency in this moment. In this moment, I get to choose how I act and what I give. That's all I'm in charge of

Mark Freeman thank you....I usually fear accidentally doing something bad, or unintentionally hurting someone...and it makes it hard sometimes for me to communicate with people because of the fear

I wouldn't find it useful to try to accept it "as OCD". That quickly turns into a reassurance compulsion and then your brain will just come up with reasons why it might not be OCD...

Thanks for your reply Mark, kind of perplexed here, lol... But what if the thought stems from OCD, wouldn't it be classified as an OCD thought????

Nathan Knipp But there are just thoughts. And taking that approach of judging thoughts and trying to fit them into those narrow boxes just leads to you not knowing for certain if a thought is "an OCD thought" or an "alpaca thought"

you may find it useful to watch his video on ocd themes and his video(s) on mental compulsions. also, you don't have to willpower yourself to get to point B. point B is just where you are going in relation to your values. the essence of this is that regardless of whatever thoughts you're having, whether they're questioning everything you experience or are focused on a particular subject, you can experience them while choosing to put energy into something you care about instead. as you take attention and energy away from those private experiences your brain will pick up on that and stop bringing it up in tandem with you focusing on your purposes and values. your thoughts, feelings, sensations, memories, etc. are just there for the ride as you channel energy into the things you care about. this works well as a link from exposure and response prevention as it gives you the tools you need to fully disengage from OCD (or any mental health issue) for good after reducing the symptomology from clinical levels of anxiety, anger, depression, etc.

Thank you for the reply. I have seen his other videos, and they have helped me tremendously. It is why I can disengage quite quickly now. However, the problem is that I now have OCD on 2/3 thoughts. Another issue is that when I tell myself "a thought is a thought", "just because I think it, does not make it true", "I don't have to act on this thought/mental compulsion/overt compulsion", etc, my brain then tries to convince me that I am running away from the thought. For example, when I have come to terms about something, and I accept the thought, and try to move on by thinking about something else, my brain says "you're running away". Even when I realize this thought of "you're running away" is a compulsion, it does not really help let the thoughts go.

you don't have to tell yourself anything. how do you accept the other aspects of your experience? do you constantly put energy into accepting the clouds in the sky, the noise of a train passing by, or the feeling of pleasure in your legs as you stretch in your bed in the morning? do you tell yourself "i don't have to react to this cloud" and then think "you're running away from the experience of the cloud" ? acceptance isn't something that's accomplished by active effort, it's something that naturally unfolds by not doing the things that bar it from happening. your concern over whether you think x or y is based on a judgment that you should / shouldn't have certain thoughts. allow whatever that pops into your head to just be there. you don't have to reassure yourself that it may / may not be true. you don't have to think any particular thing towards those thoughts. reacting to them is exactly what the basis of OCD (and mental illness in general) is. if you have the thought "i don't have to act on this thought" and then the thought "you're running away from the thought" that's okay. you can have those thoughts. replace your attention on what you care about and build a life around your own personal meaning instead of one focused on trying to control or influence what you experience or don't experience.

Perhaps I don't understand how to "accept" thoughts ("acceptance isn't something that's accomplished by active effort, it's something that naturally unfolds by not doing the things that bar it from happening." By not doing what your thoughts want, you are consciously and actively not engaging. You are consciously and actively accepting them as thoughts, and trying to shift your attention onto something else, no? I agree - by telling myself that "thoughts are thoughts", "I don't have to act on this thought", etc, is a compulsion in and of itself, and is probably why my brain still throws these questions or thoughts my way so I can complete this ritual of reassurance or repetitive behaviour.

the reason i point out the other phenomena you experience: seeing clouds, hearing trains, feeling sensations is because we are naturally in a state of acceptance when we experience those things. only when we get caught up in judgments and compulsions surrounding them do we experience the tension of mental illness. acceptance is a passive state, and one that you are likely experiencing for the majority of the things you experience in a day. whether it's a thought, feeling, or something you experience with your senses they are all phenomena which you have the potential to judge and create compulsions around. that isn't to say that there aren't things that are fundamentally unpleasant. we experience physical pain, see things that hurt our eyes, smell things and hear things that offend our senses, have unpleasant thoughts. these things we experience are the ones we tend to develop judgments and compulsions around because they're unpleasant and it's easy to develop an aversion to feeling displeasure and pain. however, they aren't any different from experiencing clouds or trains or the stretching of your legs. the very basics are: you experience phenomena, you react or don't react to it, and that creates consequences. to understand how to accept your thoughts, look at the areas of your life in which you're already accepting things. they aren't any different than thoughts or feelings; they share the same fundamental qualities. if you do have thoughts come up, that's okay. if thoughts don't come up, that's okay. you can then switch to your values and the things you care about, only because you want to for its own sake. this can easily turn into more compulsions surrounding whether you are or aren't following your values, whether you are or aren't doing compulsions, and generally trying to ascertain certainty over what you're doing as well as pushing away thoughts you don't like. in this case you do more of the same: allow those thoughts to be there while you put your energy on the things you care about.

It can be really helpful to see that "Pure O" is no different than any other theme. Compulsions inside the head are no different than compulsions outside of it

It can be helpful to look beyond the "pure O" label. Checking for reassurance in this message about whether you can develop schizophrenia from OCD is actually a common checking compulsion. And it's a physical, visible compulsion. So cutting out compulsions inside and outside of our heads is useful. With this particular fear, I always ask people if they have other compulsions around illnesses OR identity (which might come in the form of anxieties about losing control as well). It's useful to look past the superficial topic at what your brain is afraid that fear will cause. It's those consequences that I found most useful to work on and cut out compulsions around. If you can access a therapist or a book on skills like Acceptance & Commitment Therapy, that can be a great way to get started on learning how to cut out compulsions.

Mark Freeman, Yes I do have alternative identity OCD, with HOCD. but I’m not quiet sure what you mean “look past the superficial topic”?. I have recently smoked marijuana and that started derealization, (I have been a heavy user for quiet some time). And shortly after, I had a another anxiety attack while I was on the influence of marijuana, that I was hallucinating, which I wasn’t. now I have a thought that comes and questions whether I’m hallucinating again or not, although I don’t engage with the thought or any mental compulsions or any noticeable physical compulsions, can this go hand on hand with derealization? And if so, cutting out compulsions and living life, would be the best route right? I would also like to mention marijuana induced anxiety attacks are what started the majority of these symptoms im explaining. Im sorry if I overwhelmed with questions, but I’m just trying to figure this out in the most healthy way possible, thank you mark if you have any remaining tips you could recommend me! I greatly appreciate it.

Yeah, so it can help to see that we don't have "identity OCD" AND "HOCD" AND whatever else. Compulsions around identity and compulsions around sexuality are the SAME thing. It's just an anxiety about losing control of your identity, so then your brain goes searching for different ways you could be unsure about your identity. That's what I mean by looking past the superficial topic. Look at patterns of behavior instead of seeing these things as distinctly separate problems. Derealization is exactly the same. So I'd watch out for thinking that derealization "started" with drugs. Here's a video on cutting out the checking compulsions that fuel derealization: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-kHkC58l193s.html It's all the same bucket of compulsions focused on trying to be certain and "right" about who you are and how things feel. Chasing those certainties just creates more obsessions. It helped me to recognize that by trying to chase these feelings that I'm real, I'm me, I'm certain about all of this other stuff, was only teaching my brain to worry about the opposite. The more we chase that right feeling, the more we're choosing to not feel right. So it can really help to embrace uncertainty instead.

@@Ace-ps8mw how is it going now?

Putting our time and energy into the things we care about is awesome! If I notice some wallpaper and choose to give my attention to what I care about, I'm not engaging in wallpaper suppression. Giving the attention to the things we care about is the goal here. But you probably see lots of wallpaper everyday and don't spend time saying to yourself: that's just wallpaper. So that's the next step I'd look at here: how can you give your attention to the things you care about, noticing whatever you notice in the environment on the way, whether that's thoughts or wallpaper.

Like with anything, it's useful to target the actions involved and push into living your life more. For example, taking on more responsibility at work or school could bring up uncertainties like those--what if you forget how to do math when you've got an important project that depends on your skills?! So that'll give you the opportunity to show your brain that you trust yourself. You're going to trust in your skills and do even more that requires those skills. Along with that, it's important not to get caught up in compulsions. So if you feel anxious and confused, you don't need to go back and reread something. You might also find it useful to look at why this troubles you. For instance, are you afraid of messing up in front of other people? Understanding that can expose other compulsions to work on that might be feeding into this because, if it were about other people, then it's just another way the brain is playing on social anxiety. And then I'd look at compulsions related to that, like checking clothes for stains or teeth for spinach--those would be the same compulsions because they're worrying about a mistake and being judged by others and trying to control that. There could be other reasons, as well, maybe related to identity or goals in life. That'll be something for you to explore.

This is all really great and helpful. Thanks Mark!

Something to consider: checking on this is a very common compulsion. If you think you're only dealing with intrusive thoughts, it can help to expand the scope. It's also useful to look at why you think that intrusive thoughts as commands would be different than anything else. Intrusive thoughts can be anything, a command, an image, a voice, a dream, etc. It's brain stuff. But when we're caught up in compulsions, we often put things into these very rigid, tiny boxes, and judge them as different and meaning something. So it helped me to just approach ALL of the stuff in my head as the same.

Did you have a question about this? If you want to work on getting over this, it could really help to see that it's the checking and controlling compulsions that fuel this, and those other anxieties you mentioned. Trying to chase certainty naturally creates more uncertainties. Although it might not initially seem related, when it came to getting over stuff like this, it helped me to see that it was compulsions like posting the same message on multiple videos that actually fuels these challenges. It says to the brain: "Ahhhh, I need to get an answer!" So then the brain comes up with more uncertainties for you to chase answers about, like existence, sexuality, harm, etc. So we can help the brain but cutting out the compulsions we're engaging in that teach it to do this.

Mark Freeman Thanks man! It means a lot to me! Maybe in the future can you make a video about “existencial ocd”? I see that many people suffer this kind of ocd.

All of these videos are about "existential ocd". It is no different than any other set of compulsions. Judging it as different IS part of the problem.

Im going through a hard time too but for different reasons. I feel like it all builds up for a while but i understand where your coming from and i wish you all the best

The only way to know if your parents will help you get help is to tell them!

All of these videos would apply to handling an uncertainty like that. It can really help not to get caught up in the superficial topic of an uncertainty. Are there particular challenges you're running into with cutting out compulsions?

Mark Freeman thanks for replying! Yes my challenge I'm facing is the the 'need to know ' and 'reassurance seeking' like gooogling people's beliefs asking my family/friend! ' I'm having these thoughts do you have them' my main problem is being hyperaware of my body, like over aware aware we have a brain,blink,see anything to do with my body I obess about (I also have derealsation,panic, GAD )

It's great you recognize that the checking compulsions are the issue you here. Like I explain in this video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-kHkC58l193s.html it's those checking compulsions that just very naturally lead to things like derealization, existential uncertainties, etc. It can really help shift the focus to the compulsions. When we engage in checking compulsions, we're training our brains to come up with more severe and complex uncertainties, which means it will always work its way up to things we can't solve, like existence, reality, etc. So it could really help not to see this as a whole bunch of different issues (derealisation, panic, GAD, etc). I find it very helpful to see that those are all part of the same issue. Panic attacks are fuelled by checking what's happening in our body, just like checking what's happening and what we're feeling fuels derealisation.

Asdf1213 Thoughts are things we experience so I don't see how we could be responsible for them. It would be like being responsible for clouds in the sky.

Mark Freeman I mean that we as humans create thoughts... They might be like clouds in the sky but they are not created in the sky, (consciously or not) we create them.

Asdf1213 The brain creates thoughts but I don't see myself as creating them. I can create things like books or pizza or RU-vid videos. Those are things I'm responsible for. But thoughts are like farts or sweat--stuff coming out of my body.

Mark Freeman: but in this way one might never do something to change the situation because he doesn't see himself as the creator of the thoughts, so he is trapped... Isn't this a way to avoid the problem?

Asdf1213 But the thoughts aren't the problem. They're not the thing that needs changing. Trying to control thoughts is likely a big contributor to any mental health challenges with which they're struggling. So that's just one of the compulsions they can change

Anxieties can't get put into heads. Those are compulsions we can practice tho

I have a video on that here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-kHkC58l193s.html and there's another related video that will probably pop up on the side when you view that video. The thing I'd emphasize the most is the importance of seeing depersonalization as a result of compulsions. It's like pain from hitting myself with a hammer--so I don't need to remove the pain, I need to stop hitting myself with the hammer. As long as we engage in compulsions, then it's very natural to experience the effects of that. Trying to remove anxiety is likely fuelled the compulsions that led to experiencing depersonalization. So I wouldn't recommend pursuing that. It's much more useful to learn how to welcome anxiety and experience it.

Djm1224 1 I find it's useful to see that usually the things we do to "get over" problems actually just train our brains to keep doing more of the same. So this is a great opportunity how to change how you handle this

what can I do to not let it escalate into a massive problem in my life

It can be helpful to go after the compulsions, not the obsessions. It's very common to have anxieties/compulsions around food and breathing. It's likely that there are many other compulsions that don't bother you as much. So where you'd start with getting over something like this is likely with some of the other compulsions that involve physical sensations and learning how to sit with those experiences. If you can access a therapist that's experienced with recovery or get a workbook to learn about cutting out compulsions and changing your relationship with uncertainty, those could be great places to start.

Jaime Harwell What in particular about worry? How do you see worry as different from everything in this video?

Mark Freeman How to stop.

It could help to see that this type of question is what's known as "reassurance seeking". And it's the type of compulsion that just creates more anxiety, more uncertainty, and encourages the brain to come up with even more things to check. To get over issues with memories, it's useful to cut out checking compulsions.

Accepting a thought is there doesn't mean you have to agree with it. For example, let's say there's a person that's very mean. So you don't invite them to your birthday party. You invite many friends you like and you're having a great time with all of those friends. But then the very mean person shows up at the party. They're angry they weren't invited. You're afraid they'll be mean to your guests and ruin their party, so you take them mean person into a back room and you start to fight with them. You spend all night fighting with them. You miss out on the party because you spent all of your time fighting that person you were afraid would ruin the party. That sounds like the approach you're taking right now: giving all of your attention and energy to controlling the unwelcome thoughts. Acceptance is simply about making space for that guy to come to the party. You don't have to give him any time or energy. You don't have to miss the party because you're spending all of your time fighting him. Allowing him to be there doesn't mean you become him. It doesn't mean you agree with him. He is simply there. He is there like so many other things are there. And you can do the things you care about.

@@everybodyhasabrain wow !!!

Trying to avoid and control thoughts will naturally only create more of them. Thoughts are like clouds. So reacting to them and putting them in charge of our lives will create lots of issues for us. It is much more useful to just let the brain weather be there and welcome whatever comes up.

But reassuring yourself is a compulsion. It's only natural that would lead to more uncertainty and more anxiety. I found it very useful to learn that the compulsions create the unwanted feelings and uncertainty. If I don't like that uncertainty and anxiety, it doesn't make sense to choose to do the reassurance compulsions that create it.

How you will do that thing that you feel uncertain about. And doing that thing is important to live your life and your dreams

@@zahidsherani855 But there's nothing wrong with being uncertain. Attaching your actions to certainty/uncertainty only create these problems. It's useful to throw out the unhelpful belief that you need certainty to act.

Thank you so much @mark freeman

I found it really helpful to see that I basically have this younger version of myself following me around everywhere. I've got to babysit that toddler version of me and it gets upset a lot or demands to have ice cream and pizza and not do anything difficult and get all of the attention, etc. I can be kind to that kid--shouting and yelling at him is only going to make things worse--and I can teach him how to enjoy life and I can teach him that there are even better and more enjoyable things than the stuff he knows about and is constantly chasing after. But it's work and he's not very smart :D So it takes time and patience. Part of what this approach is about is a technique/skill called "cognitive defusion"--which is about recognizing that I am not the stuff in my head. Seeing it as a toddler is a way of putting some distance between myself and the stuff up there. By having that separation, I also don't need to feel guilty or judgmental about that stuff popping up. I know why that happens. It's an opportunity to show my brain new skills and take it in a more useful direction.

Wow, great idea! what I still don't get is: these thoghts and desires are mine, I really feel like I want those things, but at the same time I don't wan't to want these things. It's like a battle of values or something

@@VanNorden13 I want a lot of things that aren't going to make me happy and healthy over the long term. I can experience a desire for those things while not letting that desire pull me away from a more sustainable path. If you wanted blue curtains or red curtains, but knew that blue curtains were probably going to be best, you could just buy blue curtains. You don't have to go out and buy red curtains every time you wonder if that was the right choice after all :)

Mark Freeman

@@everybodyhasabrain I like Mark Freemans work. ;) Any chance you would do animations for someone else? Curious if that is something you even have time for?

@@TheFlowStation Thank you! It is tough these days to find time for doing these types of illustrations, so I wouldn't want to make somebody wait around on me to finish one. I appreciate you asking though!

Also I m in deep state of confusion I get confuse even doing small tasks how can I continue my studies ...with this deep confusion state

Hey how are you doing ?

Sorry to hear about the struggles, Kevin. It's entirely possible to get over OCD and cut out the compulsions so if you can access a therapist that's experienced with recovery or grab a good book to follow, those can be useful places to get started on tackling this

Mark Freeman thanks for replying I was doing quite well a few months ago & I had cut down compulsions a lot but the thoughts just got stronger & stronger & they overwhelm me I will check out your books & im currently waiting for s therapist thank you your videos really help

@@kevinjohnsloan1157 let me know if you have any questions as you're tackling the book or working with a therapist. Enjoy the adventure!

Mark Freeman thank you Mark been a big fan of yours on RU-vid which of your books would be best suited to my needs?

@@kevinjohnsloan1157 I only have one book. It just has different names depending on which country you're in. US= YOU ARE NOT A ROCK. UK= THE MIND WORKOUT

I didn't catch where it says that at 3:05. From 3:05 onwards it's talking about having any thought or feeling so you can show your brain that you can have them while you do things that matter to you. It's the opposite of reacting. There's a thought there. That's great. Thoughts are great! And we DO the actions that matter to us.

i mean, just dont give it emotion. one more thing please reply to this, this technique of yours can apply to thoughts of mine too? my thoughts that keeps popping in my brain is the bad thing i did in the past..please reply.

@@nicksenseitv4922 Thoughts are thoughts. There's no difference between your thoughts and anybody else's thoughts. A thought about the past is still a thought in the present. It doesn't matter if it's a thought about the past or the future or a different dimension or a unicorn. It is a thought.

What if you should be taking a submarine?!

By "the right train" I mean "the train going in the right direction". Should I go Nort or South? Or maybe I should stay and wait?

Kururugi Suzaku Yeah, and I mean: what if it's not even the right vehicle?! Maybe trains don't even go to where you need to go?! These are very common uncertainties

Vehicle problem is secondary for me. My meta-uncertainty is this: what if you are part of devil's conspiration and what we call 'OCD' is really our guiding compass that we should listen to?

That kind of stuff is very common. It could help not to see it as a "meta-uncertainty". Uncertainties about the devil, reality, intuition, illness, etc, are basic bread-and-butter OCD. Do you have experience with cutting out compulsions?

This is one of the reasons I encourage people not to get caught up in labels like "HOCD". OCD is just about that experience you described there of feeling something you don't like (it's so strong! what if it's true?!) and then trying to avoid and control that feeling. The topic is irrelevant. It just happens to be the topic that currently brings up those uncomfortable feelings that trick you into the compulsions. I found it helpful to see there were many other areas in life where I was trying to avoid and control feelings. I had to work on making changes around all of them. Starting in other areas first that didn't trouble me as much was also a way to build up the skills to handle these more intense experiences.

Struggling with mental illness is all about being rational. But I had to ask myself: do I want to keep reacting to these rational reasons my brain throws up and choose actions that make my mental health worse? I decided that I did not.

@@everybodyhasabrain What are we left with after casting aside rational reasons? Irrational reasons? Is there even objectively such a thing as a "mental health" or is it only some relative truth, part of some mental map?

@@everybodyhasabrain And why do you choose seeming mental health over rationality? I choose that too, but I do it because I'm a greedy, irrational hedonist, who just wants to feel good. What is your excuse? :D

It doesn't sound like we're making similar choices.

After struggling with relatively severe mental illness, I'd say it is possible to objectively describe mental health. Life now, inside and outside of my head, is completely different than it was before.

Yes