Pure O Treatment

If you've ever watched my videos and thought, this is such great information for other people with OCD, but for me, mine is different. Nate is talking about all these people who do all these compulsions and here I am, I don't think I even have any.

Some may refer to this as pure OCD. Don't be fooled and think that because you don't do any outward compulsions, That treatment doesn't work for you.

In this video, we will explore how to do treatment for these internal compulsions. And to give you some hope About your diagnosis to show you how we can kick this OCD to the curb.

Let's break it down. On one side, we have the typical compulsions you might see – like washing hands repeatedly, checking locks, and reassurance asking. These are the ones that often get noticed because, well, they're visible!

But on the other side, we have mental compulsions. These are the ones that happen inside your head – like counting, repeating phrases, or mentally reviewing events over and over again.

Now, just because your compulsions are more mental doesn't mean they're any less valid or impactful. They can still take a toll on your daily life, your relationships, and your well-being.

Imagine constantly battling with intrusive thoughts or feeling compelled to perform mental rituals just to quiet your mind. It's exhausting, right? But here's the thing – you're not alone, and you're not stuck with this forever.

It's such a conundrum. The intrusive thoughts can come at such a rapid rate while the compulsion tends to follow. Those compulsions I tend to see the most are either avoidance strategies in their mind, something like, pushing the thought away. Or Rumination. It's replaying a situation over and over again, or trying to make sense of something until there is certainty.

Well, many, do you think they only have mental compulsions, I tend to find some that they didn't realize they even doing. This tends to be The TV show they turned off because it caused an intrusive thought. The text message that they read over and over again. Avoiding turning left while driving. The typically are the impulsions that can put a shield against you and the thought before it even happens.

Treatment for mental compulsions OCD

Treatment for mental compulsions is just as effective as it is for visible ones. We still use exposure and response prevention – gradually facing your fears and learning healthier ways to cope.

So here’s how we do it! Let's start with identifying a specific intrusive thought or obsession that triggers your mental compulsions. The person might say:

I often have this thought that I've forgotten to turn off the stove, even though I know I have. It keeps replaying in my mind.

Now, we're going to intentionally bring that thought to the forefront of your mind. I want you to really focus on it. Let it fully consume your thoughts.

Wait what?? Think about it on purpose? Yeppers!
Now, as you're experiencing this intrusive thought, I want you to resist the urge to mentally check or reassure yourself that the stove is off. Instead, I want you to sit with the discomfort it brings.

We are not trying to control the thoughts. You are not saying, don't think about this. Don't think about this. Don't think about this. This is going to be the difference. We are responding in a completely different way. A Way that says you were willing to risk whatever the intrusive thoughts are. Yeah man that stove is totally on right now. I love it. Maybe my house burn down maybe it won't. maybe it'll be all my fault. So awesome that you're telling me the stove is on. I love this a lot. Hey thoughts, keep coming my way.

What I'm not doing is saying, you know your brains lying to you. You've never left the stove on before. You would know if there's a problem. Everything's gonna be OK.
This tends to cause more doubt. So whether you're in interest or thought is about leaving the stove on. It's religious based or harm based it doesn't matter. Our job is to treat these thoughts as thoughts. The only person giving meaning to these thoughts are us. And just because we have it doesn't mean we have to do something about it.

Exposure and Response Prevention for Pure O

When using exposure and response prevention, I might have someone Specifically engage with the things that caused these thoughts that they don't want. Maybe it's watching a certain TV show, driving a car, or writing down specific words.

It seems like if we don't want thought our job is to push it. Instead, pulling it forward and closer to you.

What about those thoughts that aren't really threats, but they can be very intrusive, very very scary, gross, or disturbing. Yep. We do the same thing. I first try to identify what the actual threat is. Is it that these thoughts won't stop. Cool. Let's go with that, I'm gonna purposely allow these thoughts to come in while telling my brain how much I don't care that they're here. I love these thoughts are here. I'm also not putting judgment on if they are good or bad. It's almost a mindfulness approach.If I say something bad, my brain will put a little check next to the thought and say let's revisit this and let's bring it back to your mind.

Some people may choose to purposely the thought to their mind to say I'm willing to find you before you try to find me. Who's got the upper hand now?

Ultimately, what ends up happening is that the brain learns that you're only going to react to the threats that you can physically see and it doesn't need to keep bringing them your way. And if it does, you got this. Focus on your values and your goals in life. We don’t focus on the current thought being plagued in your mind.So quick and simple, some may write down all the intrusive thoughts that they're having, and keep writing them down over and over and over again, they have a big smile on their face. They're acting like they don't care, and they may do this multiple times a day.They love the anxiety that they're feeling, they're training their brain to say cool make me feel anxiety, but I don't care.

I go through this and more in my step-by-step Master your OCD course. The link is down below.
Also, to help you even further with your OCD journey, go watch this video here, where we go one step further into showing OCD where it belongs.