Okay. OCD man. Why oh why does OCD feel so real? I mean, if we're saying your thoughts aren't real, why does it feel so real? As a therapist myself, I often have conversations with people about their OCD. They will tell me, "I know this is absolutely ridiculous. The chances of this happening is so incredibly slim yet I'm still scared and nervous that it's going to happen." And this is for any theme or fear of OCD. Examination, relationship, catastrophes happening, hit-and-run OCD, sexual orientation, the thing that most people say is I know, I know I know. But I keep feeling like I'm in danger.

This has got to be so frustrating, if you feel this way or know somebody who does go hit the like button so you can see the tally of all those who might relate to you. So as I get asked this question quite often, I've tried to think about why OCD feels so real despite all the evidence against the fear. Even when there is some real evidence towards the fear it feels as if it's happening right now.

IS OCD REAL?

This is what I've come up with, we know the majority of the world has intrusive thoughts. Our thoughts, doubts about the future, worries about perfectionism, whatever. The thing is those without OCD are not feeling anxious about his thoughts. It's a quick thought that comes in their brain and that leaves. The metal weird for a little bit, why did I had not thought? But is not important enough for it to stick around.

So to me this is one big indication why OCD feel so absolutely real. It is the anxiety that is connecting to the thoughts. Without this other component it is likely the thought would not feel so real and strong. She

We also know the brain works a little bit differently with OCD, parts of the brain that are designed to say what is important information and what is not is not functioning. The stop signals that are sent in the brain that say something is not important this faulty. Essentially it is bringing information in the normally would be filtered out.

As I know this anxiety is a big component into why somebody might feel so strongly that there OCD is real. It could be other feelings or emotions as well. Instead of anxiety it might be discussed, it could be guilt, it could be shame, it could just be plain old distress. Either way when the thought is mingled with the emotion the brain has to make sense of it and often errors on the side of there being something wrong.

LOGIC DOESN'T WORK WITH OCD

So then why doesn't the logic work? Well because when there's anxiety, the body is designed to remove it, problem solve it, and be absolutely sure that you are safe. If you are not absolutely sure, your brain is essentially hijacked until you do it.

That is where the compulsions come in. This is another factor in why OCD feels so real. People feel the need to make sure that their fear is not true. Doing these compulsions just solidifies that what you are thinking or feeling has validity, because if it did not you would not keep doing the compulsions. It also gives you a false sense that the compulsions worked because anxiety possibly went down, this is not good enough for the brain. It still hijacked until you can be 100% sure. The problem is this is often impossible.

Take for instance my buddy Sara.
Sara is a devout Christian. She is plagued by intrusive thoughts that she has committed a sin that will make God angry with her. To alleviate her anxiety, Sara performs a series of compulsions, such as repeating certain prayers or Bible verses, checking and rechecking that she has properly confessed her sins, and avoiding certain actions or behaviors that she believes could be sinful.

For example, every time Sara has a negative or critical thought about someone else, she feels an overwhelming urge to say a prayer asking for forgiveness. If she accidentally skips a line in her prayer book or loses her place, she has to start over from the beginning to ensure that she has properly appeased God.

So taking this as an example, Sara will never be hundred percent certain that she was right with God. She's doing these behaviors just in case. To feel better. By her continuing to do these she is almost ensuring that her OCD is going to feel more real and more real and more real. Because she's telling it, that it's real.

See might be thinking, and I get these comments quite often. So Nate, what we do about it? Well we do exposure and response prevention. We have to retrain the brain to see a false signal and not react to it. This means somebody's feeling anxiety and all of the emotions and choosing to not do the compulsions. To not get stuck in rumination and instead live in uncertainty.

I'll tell you about a skill that I teach in my online self-directed OCD course. Go check that out right now if you haven't, it seriously jampacked with treatment skills and worksheets.

HOW TO TREAT OCD

This is what I have people do. Spend time writing down all of the fears and obsessions as well as all the compulsions. People figure out which ones they are willing to keep uncertain and not given to anymore. I do have that worksheet in my online course.

You slowly start whittling away and it feels like a big risk. But it is worth the risk so that you can live life. OCD is a beast. One of the biggest compulsions is rumination, got really sweet video helps you know how to respond to these unwanted thoughts here. Go check that out right now. I also want to know, does your OCD feel real? Talk about it down the comments.