In recent years several other shows have dipped their toes in the intrusive thought and compulsive response cycle without even realising it at all. All of Part 1 of his text, The Problem of Bad Thoughts – This is an excellent resource to initially introduce patients to OCD treatment. I would recommend all of Part 1. This is also a great supplemental resource. All those sentences are full of fear. You are scared. This is how anxiety screws up logic in the thought process. I t creates an internal dialogue that is full of contradictions, so it can end up with the perfect kind of fear.

The Imp of Perverse will try to torment you with thoughts of whatever it is you consider to be the most inappropriate or awful thing you could do.” Although I don't think he is mentioned in Imp of the Mind, the deeply religious John Bunyan of the 17th century, famed for his spirituality and the writing of thematically Christian books, undeniably suffered from OCD and blasphemous obsessions, in a time period where the threat of stake burnings if such thoughts were openly admitted was very likely. Lee Baer and other OCD writers almost invariably mention him. Baer comments in Imp of the Mind: At that point in my illness I was devouring every bit of vaguely “OCD” media I could find: documentaries, news reports, reality TV, celebrity interviews, standup comedy, even specials about psych wards in general – anything that gave me some insight into the humanity of a person with mental illness.

The Impact of Intrusive Thoughts OCD

Skim the surface of the OCD community and you’ll see this terrifying reality clearly: there are people with OCD all around us who don’t know they have OCD. They live in secret, terrified to tell anyone about the intrusive thoughts they hate. And this is due in large part to how media presents OCD: at best shallow and quirky and at worst downright incorrect. The first part of the book is devoted to The Problem of Bad Thoughts. Recognizing the subjective isolation that almost everyone with disturbing thoughts feels, the author makes liberal use of case examples to convey the essential message that the reader who may be having disturbing thoughts and impulses is not unique. He parallels this with the admonition that individuals should not fear to seek help or even to attempt self-help because a great deal is understood about their condition and it is eminently treatable. This simple exposition in itself should go a long way toward motivating the concerned reader to stop trying (futilely) to suppress such thoughts, thereby exacerbating his or her subjective distress.

urn:lcp:impofmind00leeb:epub:2976469a-5040-44a8-9bbf-989bf3668b47 Foldoutcount 0 Identifier impofmind00leeb Identifier-ark ark:/13960/t4dn58j4g Isbn 0525945628 The interesting thing about how the author (who, incidentally, is also a psychiatrist and researcher, making this so much better) looks at the problem is that he takes a look at a condition, obsessive thoughts, as the main problem of the individual themselves, and then helps them come to an understanding of why they are obsessing over those thoughts. When my daughter was 11, she suddenly started having bad thoughts. There was no warning, nothing. Overnight, she went from bubbly and full of life, to withdrawn and timid. After a little research, I realized that she was suffering from OCD intrusive thoughts. She didn't want to go to therapy of any sort. I didn't want her medicated. I bought this book to try and help me understand what she was going through. It did much more than that! Overall, the text does a very well job normalizing intrusive thoughts. I appreciated the historical references made of past historical notes made referencing OCD thoughts and stories of modern day cultural icons that may have also experienced difficulties with obsessive symptoms. Before reading this book I simply thought that the problem of obsessive thoughts was merely a symptom of anxiety issues (I've dealt with anxiety problems and didn't realize it could be the core of the problem) and not the issue itself. But now that this has been brought to light, it makes perfect sense. Thoughts can be scary.Of course, Lee also refers to the work of Elaine Aron, author of The Highly Sensitive Person. Lee argues that many people who struggle with intrusive thoughts may also be ‘highly sensitive.’ The argument is not supported empirically and could potentially further pathologize those that identify as highly sensitive.