Why do you always like the feeling of being cornered?

If you have obsessive-compulsive disorder, you can learn the most advanced treatment mode now. In the past twenty years, behavioral therapy has been very effective for obsessive-compulsive disorder. In this manual, you are taught to be your own behavioral therapist. Learn some basic knowledge of obsessive-compulsive disorder and understand that obsessive-compulsive disorder is caused by physical factors and can be treated. You can resist the impulse of compulsive action and control the annoying compulsive thinking.

Studies have shown that "exposure without response" is an effective method to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder. In addition, under the professional guidance, patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder learn how to expose themselves under the stimulation of obsessive-compulsive thoughts. And learn how to resist compulsive thoughts and impulses. For example, instructing a patient who is too afraid of being dirty not to touch dirty things or wash his hands is called "exposure without response". You will learn to avoid habitual compulsive behavior and replace it with new healthy behavior.

This manual basically lets you know how compulsive thoughts and behaviors come from, and you can learn how to deal with anxiety and fear caused by obsessive-compulsive disorder. Dealing with your fears correctly can make behavioral therapy more effective. The four steps to be emphasized here are as follows:

Step one, reconfirm.

The first step is the most important, learn to "recognize" the thoughts and behaviors of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Maybe you don't want to do this at all, but you must work hard and be fully aware, so that you can understand that the troubles at the moment come from compulsive thoughts or behaviors.

Everyday consciousness is almost automatic and superficial. "Wholehearted awareness" is deeper and finer, which can only be achieved through dedicated efforts. Remember, it may take weeks or months to change the biochemical changes in the brain to reduce the impulse of obsessive-compulsive disorder. If you want to get rid of these obsessive-compulsive symptoms in a few minutes or seconds, you will be disappointed! In fact, it will make the symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder worse! In behavioral therapy, you should learn to control your reactions to obsessive thoughts, no matter how disturbing they are.

The goal is to control your response to obsessive-compulsive symptoms, not compulsive thinking or impulses.

The next two steps are to help you learn new ways to control your behavioral response to obsessive-compulsive symptoms.

Step 2: Re-attribution

I said to myself, "this is not me, this is obsessive-compulsive disorder!" " "Obsessive thinking is meaningless, it is the wrong message from the brain. You should deeply understand why rushing to check or "why my hands are dirty" is so powerful that people can't stand it. If you know these ideas are unreasonable, then why do you react to them? Understanding why compulsive thinking is so strong and why it is impossible to get rid of it is an important key to strengthen willpower and enhance resistance to compulsive behavior. The goal of this stage is to learn "re-attribution": the source of forced thoughts comes from the biochemical imbalance of the brain.

There is a place in my brain called the "lateral nucleus", which is where I get sick and obsessive-compulsive disorder. The head core is the place where information is filtered, just like the transmission of a car. It receives information from the forebrain, which is a place for planning, thinking and understanding. If there is disorder in the head nucleus, obsessive-compulsive symptoms will appear, so thinking and action will not be smooth. The forebrain becomes too active and consumes too much energy, just like a car stuck in the mud, spinning its tires, but getting deeper and deeper. That part of the forebrain, called the frontal cortex of the eye, got stuck in the mud because of the wrong detection of reflux. This may be the reason why obsessive-compulsive disorder makes people feel "a little strange and lingering". You must get this car out of the mud. Repair the faulty transmission with manual gear instead of automatic gear. We now know that we can change the biochemical balance of the brain, which takes weeks or even months. At this time, understanding the role of the brain in causing obsessive-compulsive disorder will help to avoid the most frustrating incorrect idea of "trying to get rid of the symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder completely". Although you can't make big changes right away, remember: "You don't have to respond to obsessive-compulsive disorder right away!" " The most effective way is to learn to put aside forced thoughts and feelings, and then do other things, so as to help yourself and change the biochemical reaction of the brain.

This is what we call "shifting gears": doing other behaviors! If you try to get rid of compulsive thinking, it will only increase your stress, and stress will aggravate obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Using "re-attribution" can help you avoid using ritual behavior to make yourself feel better, such as the feeling of completion. If you know that these compulsive thoughts come from the imbalance of brain biochemistry, you can learn to ignore these impulses and continue to do what you should do. Remember: "that's not me, that's obsessive-compulsive disorder!" " "If you resist following the impulse or resisting the reaction, you will change your brain and reduce the feeling of obsessive-compulsive disorder. If you react to the impulse, you may be relieved temporarily, but soon, the impulse is bound to get worse. This may be the lesson that OCD patients need to learn most! This will help you avoid becoming a nerd or being deceived by obsessive-compulsive disorder.

"Re-confirmation" and "re-attribution" are often done together, so patients will have a deeper understanding of the causes of obsessive-compulsive disorder. First of all, I fully realized that obsessive-compulsive disorder was forcing me, and then I realized that it was caused by brain lesions.

The third step is to divert attention.

Entering this step is really for work! The initial psychological construction is: no pains, no gains! What you have to do in this step is: you must shift gears yourself! You use your hard work and dedicated mind to do the natural and simple work of your brain. For example, it is natural for a surgeon to brush his hands from beginning to end before surgery, and naturally he feels that he has brushed enough. But obsessive-compulsive disorder patients brush again and again, endlessly! The automatic mechanism of his brain has been destroyed. Fortunately, these four steps can fix it.

Distraction is to divert attention from the symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder, even for a few minutes. First, choose certain behaviors instead of compulsory hand washing or inspection. Any interesting and constructive action will do. It is best to engage in your hobbies, such as walking, sports, listening to music, reading, playing computer and basketball.

When you have obsessive-compulsive thinking, you first "re-confirm" that it is obsessive-compulsive thinking or impulse, and "re-attribute" that it comes from your disease-obsessive-compulsive disorder, and then "divert your attention" to do other things. Remember not to fall into habitual thinking. You must tell yourself: "My obsessive-compulsive disorder has been committed again, and I must do something else." You can decide not to respond to compulsive thinking. You should be your own master, not a slave to obsessive-compulsive disorder!

Fifteen minutes rule:

It's not easy to divert attention. It takes a lot of effort and pain to break the compulsive thinking and then do what should be done. We use the fifteen-minute rule, that is, the time to delay the reaction is at least 15 minutes. It can be delayed for five minutes at first. The principle is consistent, that is, never react immediately without delay Note that this is not a passive wait of 15 minutes, but we do "reconfirmation", "attribution" and "distraction" during this time. Then you should do other interesting and constructive activities. After a period of time, reevaluate the impulse of obsessive-compulsive disorder to see if the intensity decreases and record it. Even if it drops a little, encourage and reward yourself. Obsessive-compulsive disorder patients often have the mentality of pursuing perfection and 100 points, so they are often not satisfied with a little achievement, and always think that they are not doing well enough, so that behavioral therapy cannot succeed. The goal is to delay more than 15 minutes. As long as you keep practicing, the intensity of obsessive-compulsive disorder will be greatly reduced. Generally speaking, the more you practice, the easier it will be. It will be delayed for more than 20 minutes soon.

(2) As long as you do it, you will get something.

It is important to divert your attention from other things. Don't expect these thoughts or feelings to disappear immediately. Don't do what OCD wants you to do. You should stick to the activities you choose, so that the compulsive impulse will weaken or even disappear because of your procrastination. Even if the impulse is hard to change, you will still find that you can control your reaction a little.

Using "whole-hearted awareness" and being a "bystander" will make you stronger. The long-term goal of this step is not to deal with obsessive-compulsive disorder. The immediate goal is to delay a little before reacting. Don't let forced thinking determine what you should do when you study.

Sometimes the impulse is so strong that you can't control it. But if you keep practicing these four steps, you can expect to change the biochemistry of your brain. Always remind yourself: "It's not that I feel dirty and need to wash my hands, but obsessive-compulsive disorder is affecting me." I won this obsessive-compulsive disorder, and I'll react when I stay for a long time next time! "This exercise, even if what you end up doing is compulsive behavior, also contains the elements of behavioral therapy. It is important to reconfirm that obsessive-compulsive behavior is an obsessive-compulsive disorder, which is a kind of behavioral therapy, better than just doing compulsive behavior without thinking.

Give a secret to friends who resist compulsory inspection: If your difficulty is to check the door lock, please try to lock the door wholeheartedly. Realize the inner impulse to lock the door, and then lock the door carefully and slowly, so that this action can be deeply remembered, such as "this door is locked now, I see the door is locked!" " "You get a deep impression that the door is locked, so when you are forced to check the door lock, you can immediately' reconfirm', that is: that is obsessive-compulsive thinking, that is obsessive-compulsive disorder! You can "re-attribute" that is: not me, just my brain! You can divert your attention from other things and make sure that you have locked the door carefully.

(3) Recording behavior therapy

It is also important to record successful distracting behaviors, because you can look back and see which behaviors are most helpful for your distraction. When the listed projects achieve the expected results, they can help you build confidence. Recording can help you "shift gears" when the symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder are serious and train yourself to remember what you have done in the past. The more successful you are, the more you will be encouraged.

Only record the successful experience, not the failed experience. You must learn to support yourself and give yourself some encouragement, which is of great help to enhance your self-confidence.

Step 4: Re-evaluate

The first three steps are to use the existing knowledge of obsessive-compulsive disorder to help you make it clear that obsessive-compulsive disorder is a physical disease, that is, brain biochemical imbalance, rather than accepting the compulsion of thinking, and at the same time turn your attention to constructive behavior. "Reconfirmation" and "re-attribution" are linked together, and the next step is "diverting attention". The overall strength of these three steps is greater than the sum of the strength of individual steps. The process of "reconfirmation" and "attribution" can strengthen "distraction". Before behavioral therapy, you begin to "reevaluate" those compulsive thoughts and impulses. After the first three steps are properly trained, the value of compulsive thoughts and impulses can be reduced in time.

We use the concept of partial observer put forward by Adam Smith, a philosopher in the18th century, to help you understand the realization of the four steps more clearly. Smith described that some observers are part of us, just like another observer in our hearts, who knows our feelings and state. When we want to strengthen this part of the observer, we can call him out at any time to observe his behavior. In other words, we can witness our actions and feelings as bystanders. As Smith described it, "We are observers of our own behavior."

Obsessive-compulsive disorder patients must try to cope with obsessive-compulsive symptoms. You must try to maintain the role of bystander, so that you can resist pathological impulses until they disappear. You must understand that the symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder are meaningless and come from the wrong information in your brain, so you must divert your attention and shift gears. You must concentrate all your efforts and always remember: "this is not me, this is my obsessive-compulsive disorder!" " "Although you can't change your feelings for a while, you can change your behavior. By changing your behavior, you will find that your feelings will also change.

The ultimate goal of revaluation is to devalue obsessive-compulsive symptoms and not dance with them.

There are two key points:

First, be psychologically prepared: that is, understand that the feeling of obsessive-compulsive disorder is coming, be prepared to bear it, and don't be scared.

Second, accept: when there are obsessive-compulsive symptoms, don't waste energy blaming yourself. You know where the symptoms come from and how to deal with them. No matter what the symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder are, whether it is violence or sex, you know that these symptoms will happen hundreds of times a day. You don't have to respond every time, as if it were an unpredictable new idea. Refuse to let it hit you, refuse to let it beat you. Through psychological preparation for compulsive thoughts, you can immediately identify them and do the attribution work. You can also do re-evaluation work. When obsessive-compulsive disorder appears, you are already mentally prepared.

You will know, "That's my ridiculous impulse. Meaningless. It's just an obstacle to my brain. Ignore it. " You can learn to jump to the next action instead of staying in this thinking. "The next step is to' accept' the results of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Don't blame yourself for weak willpower. In fact, this is all caused by brain imbalance, and it has nothing to do with you. Avoid all negative and critical thoughts, such as "How bad it is for people to have such compulsive thoughts, …"

Obsessive-compulsive disorder patients must exercise their minds and don't follow compulsive sensory thinking. You know, these feelings are misleading Change the reaction to the symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder in a gradual but gentle way, and try to fight it. We learn from it that even the persistent compulsion is only temporary, and it will eventually disappear as long as we don't dance with it. Of course, we also remember that when we surrender to obsessive-compulsive disorder, it will get stronger and stronger and drown us. We must learn to identify the sources of these compulsive impulses and strive to fight them. In the process of implementing these four steps, we have laid the foundation for self-control. By fighting obsessive-compulsive disorder, we have increased our confidence and experienced the feeling of freedom. We have enhanced our decision-making ability. It is also through affirmative persistence that the biochemistry of the brain is changed, and then real freedom is obtained!