Magical Thinking OCD: Why Your Thoughts Don’t Control Reality

Magical Thinking OCD Magical Thinking OCD is an obscure and extremely debilitating type of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Individuals with such form of OCD usually consider that their thoughts, speech or deeds are correlated to outcomes in relation to which the connection is not logical. This could happen as in the case of a person believing that to think a bad thought would result in hurting someone or failure to touch a light switch the right number of times resulting in a disaster.

In this blog we are going to discuss the magical thinking OCD disorder, the symptoms which people can have, and the ways to find the right help on OCD.

What is Magical Thinking OCD?

Magical Thinking OCD is a kind of OCD in which an individual has a non-realistic link of his thoughts with the real-life phenomena. These are illogical thoughts, yet to the person that is thinking it they seem very real and threatening.

For example:

• One can think that he or she has to count to ten inside his or her head otherwise his or her loved one is going to have a car accident.
• One person can have a belief that when he or she wears a particular shirt, he or she can avoid sickness.
• Or they can be feeling responsible of the suffering of another being because they thought of it.

Even though there is nothing special behind these thoughts, they can cause very strong anxiety. The individual can perform rituals or thoughts of some kind to offset the thought and not feel afraid anymore.

How is Magical Thinking OCD Different from Superstition?

People are characterized by being somehow superstitious, i.e. to avoid the latter by taking no steps under ladders or tapping on wood. However, fear and anxiety in Magical Thinking OCD is much greater than superstition. Such thoughts and compulsions are very time consuming, hut distressful and are disruptive to everyday activities.

Individuals might realize how illogical their thoughts might come out to be, nevertheless, the fear of something unfortunate occurring is so much, to an extent, that one feels compelled to execute them in any way possible.

Common Symptoms of Magical Thinking OCD

Magical Thinking OCD may also present itself in various manners, although a few general symptoms are shared by most people.

Intrusive thoughts also occur as one of the main symptoms, e.g. dealing with the thought like, trap is set, I am thinking of the person getting hurt, therefore this is likely to happen or simply having the thinking that, unless one does this particular action, something bad will happen. These ideas are so real and frightening yet they are illogical.

In order to feel safe, individuals can repeat what is written or said, rehearse actions or numbers or words. They feel that these rituals will prevent something ugly on its part. Others will also perform mental rituals such as counting, silently praying, or attempting to substitute a bad thought by one that is good.

It is also common to avoid some people, places or objects. They also avoid anything that can create the frightening thoughts.

Even OCD germs, or bad energy may be something that a person with Magical Thinking OCD fears. In another instance, they are likely to think that touching something will bring bad luck or disease even when the item is clean and safe.

How to Get OCD Help

The best news is that the Magical Thinking OCD can be treated. It was necessary to notice the symptoms and realize that you are not the only one.

They have organized OCD help on ocd-anxiety.com with proven OCD Online Course. In this program, you will be provided with the step-by-step approach to overcoming the problem based on the evidence-based intervention strategies such as Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP). It is a practical way of assisting you to come out of the cycle of obsessions and compulsions.

No one has to endure in silence. Through the proper technique and assistance, individuals recover (and recover well) due to Magical Thinking OCD.