Are You Giving Power to The Right Thoughts?
As an individual with OCD I often have thoughts that feel uncontrollable, they can be dark, they can be upsetting and they can be physically disabling. I have been having them a lot recently and it has been quite hard to turn them off and shut them out.
I think the thing that frustrates me the most is that they are just thoughts. They can feel horrific but they are just thoughts, and I am giving them the power to stop me in my tracks.
Now before I go much further I must state that what I am about to share over the next few paragraphs is based on my lived experience, I am not a trained therapist but these strategies have been working for me so might be worth a share because maybe they could help you and that is what this blog is all about.
They are just thoughts but the amount of times they stop me in my tracks is ridiculous, which got me thinking. If my thoughts are so powerful they can stop me from moving forward, maybe I can spin the narrative. Why can’t I flip it and use my thoughts to drive me forward instead? At least once an hour for each hour I am awake every day I think about death, and in particular my own death, I can’t control that and sometimes the impact of that thought makes me feel like I am actually about to die. That’s a lot of power in a tiny thought that I have no control over so what could happen if I actively tried to control it instead?
Over the years I have listened to hundreds of podcasts and read numerous books that reference the power of affirmations, I will be honest and say that many of the examples I’ve heard have been too “fluffy” or “sweet” or “cheesy” for me to get on board with. I just didn’t get it. I thought affirmations needed to be all “you are strong and bold and beautiful” and that just didn’t seem productive to me. Until recently when I realised that the power the thoughts I have no control over have the strength to stop me in my tracks, so how much power could I elevate if I actually tried to use my thoughts to influence an outcome instead. Now I am not talking about turning into Matilda and using my thoughts to move cutlery and furniture around my house, but what if they could stop a panic attack? Having the ability to control and stop a panic attack in its tracks is way more powerful than being able to get ornaments flying around my living room. So that’s what I have been focusing on.
When those feelings of panic start creeping in there is a whole host of physical symptoms that come along, the two most difficult ones being an elevated heart rate and shallow breathing. The reason these symptoms in particular are the most difficult to deal with is because they feel like a horrific illness. An elevated heart rate out of nowhere can really make you feel like you are dying and if that is already something you think about regularly you don’t want the physical symptoms to go with it. Over the past 2 weeks I have been focusing on talking myself out of my feelings of panic, and it has been working.
Here are some of the things I have been saying to myself, and doing during my most recent moments of panic:
Say:
I am okay (say this out loud, repeatedly).
This is a physical reaction to an emotional situation.
What are the real external threats right now, vs what your mind is telling you? Count them or say them they often won’t match.
I am in control of this situation.
All feelings are temporary, it is time to move this one on.
What is the factual evidence I have right now to validate this feeling?
What can my feet feel?
What can my hands feel?
I have got this, these feelings and thoughts do not have control over me.
Do:
Slow yourself right down. Slow down your movements, slow down your speech, force yourself to be slow.
Remove yourself from the space you are in, even if its just changing rooms, change the location.
Make your body feel something different, I personally like to walk and focus on how it feels as my feet hit the pavement.
As I said these are just some things that have worked for me recently. Telling panic NO and that is not in control has allowed me to push those feelings away. I have felt panicked in the first instance, I haven’t been able to remove that part, but I have managed to slow those thoughts right down to a stop before they became a full attack.
Our thoughts are powerful so we have to be careful which ones we give power to.
