Dealing with Anxiety: Intrusive Thoughts and Shivers

Have you been diagnosed with OCD? I believe there is a specific type called harm ocd where you have anxiety about possibly harming someone you love or yourself. The treatment might be different than it would be for a generalized anxiety disorder!

Therapy! Therapy helps xx

Intrusive thoughts like that are scary, but just remember that it's not you. I try to notice when I'm having them, mentally tag it as "intrusive", "scary", and the like, and try to keep going. It's hard, but I've found practice helps ❤️

It sounds like you're in a very heightened state of anxiety. First of all, i'm so sorry that you're experiencing this pain and fear. I manage my anxiety symptoms with a few different techniques at once. If you are able to, find somewhere that you feel safe. It may be a warm wardrobe, under your bedcovers, or outside in nature, etc. Go to that place, and get out some of that pent-up energy. I usually do this by stimming with jumping, stomping on the spot, shaking out my whole body, and turning side to side quickly. Let your body do what it needs to do. When you have done that, cocoon yourself in your safe spot. wrap yourself up in a heavy blanket, and tuck your hands under your bottom to give yourself deep pressure. When you are cocooned, do some deep breathing. Try to inflate your stomach as low down as you can, rather than inflating your lungs. Slow down the breaths in incrementally, and push out your exhales in a comfortable way, like you are blowing out candles slowly. In through your nose, out through your mouth. The purpose of the breathing is so forcefully slow down your heart. You will feel it jumping around inside your chest. It may take about 3-4 minutes before the jumpy feeling goes away, and it starts to slow down. (if you need to, count to four elephants in your head for your inhales, and then blow the candles out with your exhale, so that your breaths are timed well.) Set a timer on your phone for 5 minutes if you need to because of time blindness. Some intrusive thoughts are normal. They are your moral compass testing your impulses, which play into your fight/flight/freeze/fawn response. We can bring you down from that heightened spot, and the thoughts will be easier to deal with. Whenever the thoughts come up, just say, "I don't want to do that, so i won't" in your head. Your subconscious will appreciate the reassurance that you are a good person. You might even say, "i could do that, but i won't, because i'm a good person, and i care about people."" Intrusive thoughts are not who you are. They are a survival mechanism to ensure you have all the escape routes planned out. They test out your moral compass and ensure you can be certain of your intent. You are not broken or unwell for having them, but if they are constant, they may be a trauma response that needs to be discussed via therapy. When your heart starts to slow down after a few minutes, do some self soothing, maybe wrap your arms around yourself and give yourself a tight hug for a few minutes, or maybe rub your arms and legs with your hands. Physically care for yourself like a friend or parent should. run your fingers through your hair, and speak softly to yourself, like you are speaking to your inner child. "We are safe now. I've got you. We don't have anywhere else to be, so we can stay here as long as we need.". Reassure your subconscious self through using your conscious mind. I find that in terms of preventing further anxiety, there are a few things you can do. Medicine and therapy from doctors go a long way, but they are expensive and not always accessible so i understand if it's not available to you. Self care routines and guided mindfulness meditations are very helpful, and they are part of (but not all of) a good routine to prevent anxiety. The mindfulness movement on spotify and youtube is wonderful, and my personal favourite. It sounds dumb but making sure that you have done your daily self care chores like eating, sleeping, bathing, using the toilet, etc. can make a big difference. I sometimes set alarms to make sure i have eaten and used the bathroom. If those things are too hard, use shortcuts. Face wipes help instead of washing your face in the sink, and keeping a toothbrush by your bed is helpful for your teeth if you can't get up. Paper plates and bowls are also a godsend if you can't do dishes. Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly. You can always help yourself in small ways. You deserve to feel clean and fed. Distract yourself often, with videos, games, movies, tv, music, arts and crafts, anything to help keep your mind off your fears. Move your body in ways that you enjoy, not to punish yourself. I like playing just dance alone, or swimming. The more you move, the more cortisol is flushed out of your body, which allows you to heal. One telltale sign that you are no longer in fight/flight mode, is yawning. If you are yawning, but you are not sleepy, it means you are now in rest & digest mode. that is where we want to be! I hope this helps, please msg me if you need any help at all. All the best!