Hi J Maclaren,
When you have an intrusive thought instead of performing a compulsion put your attention on something in the present moment…….. like if you are washing the dishes how does the water feel? What can you smell? What can you hear………. Really put your attention on it………. It takes practice
When you have the thought just allow them to be there and allow the anxiety to be there and let it float away on its own……. I know this is hard but just practice……
meditation is really useful for this….. look for a meditation for learning to watch your thoughts……..
With the catastrophising ( I used to do this too)……. It’s part of the vicious OCD cycle…
When you realise you are doing this put your attention back on something in the present moment……
When you know that you are getting into your OCD cycle like you start to question your thoughts, analyse them and start asking what if questions you need to disengage and instead focus on something else in the present moment.
Your mind is stuck in an OCD cycle, once you realise that your not your thoughts but the watcher of your thoughts you will find it easier to disengage from the cycle…… meditation can teach you to be the watcher of your thoughts.
I always wanted certainty but I realised in my therapy that nothing is 100 percent certain and I’ve learned to be ok with that…
I highly recommend that you try to find a therapy that is for OCD….. you can then learn the skills you need to break free of its vicious cycle….. you need to be taught the skills.
Hang in there, I understand how hard it is but there is light at the end of the tunnel.
