Sometimes a therapist saying your intrusive thoughts are not related to who you are doesn’t quite cut it. For me, I like knowing the facts behind It. I am a psychology A-level student and want to study psychology in university after I complete my last year. But I have also been diagnosed with OCD. So, you can say the psychological side of OCD does spark an interest.

Intrusive thoughts, obsessions, or unwanted thoughts - whatever you want to call them, are very normal. But because you have OCD, your brain is raising false alarms to these thoughts. OCD is so distressing because it goes against your belief system. Did you know that people with OCD are least likely of people to act on their thoughts because they fear it so much? You are a pretty good person instead of a bad one you label yourself as. I hope you know that your intrusive thoughts aren’t in your control and have nothing to do with who you are as a person. OCD isn’t who you are. It is just your brain having a false alarm to a very normal thought, which causes you fear and distress making you feel compelled to do a compulsion.

Enough of the doom and gloom, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Accepting that these thoughts are not about who you are will aid you on the road to recovery. Also, there is a lot of help out there, and if CBT didn’t help the first time or you have relapsed do it again and again – try with a different therapist! This is my second time doing CBT and it doesn’t mean I am going backwards just tightening my bad ass skills in beating OCD. No one is a lost cause.