Hello Brave one!
The crew at OCDMN wanted to drop a few lines about the lies OCD, Anxiety and Mental Illness spread. These lies can be so tricky, they are hard to identify as lies! Usually these are unhelpful thinking patterns or thought distortions. Sometimes they can be safety behaviors or mental rituals. Did you know avoidance can also happen in your brain? That’s right! Avoidance is more than a physical behavior, it is an active thinking process. Here are a few examples of self-assurance, mental avoidance, and thought distortions:
My family/friends/partner will be there too and that makes it ok.
I will trust my partner’s judgment.
I cannot make that decision for myself.
If this was contaminated, my loved ones would have been ill/dead.
Stop thinking that! STOP THINKING THAT!
My worrying prevents bad things from happening.
If I say my fears out loud, they are more likely to come true.
Remember, thoughts are just thoughts! You choose how to respond to them and you are in control of your choices. Keep a journal of your thoughts and identify your own patterns. It will help expose those lies mental illness might be telling you.
Stay Brave!
The OCD MN Team