This Question Can Reduce Obsessional Doubt (Inference Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / ICBT)

what's up guys this is Mike Parker at the center for OCD and anxiety in Pittsburgh PA and this is OCD space where we talk about all things OCD now I've got a very special video for you today we are going to talk about if a single question might actually have an impact on your treatment we will find out in a minute now guys if you like this video be sure to like And subscribe below I know there's a lot of you out there that have been watching these videos but haven't yet subscribed so please consider doing so that'll really help us get these videos out to more people and with that out of the way let's get started [Music] all right guys let's talk about this uh question that could be something that really does positively impact your understanding of your OCD and even the trajectory of your treatment now before I do talk about what this question is I actually want to provide some explanation of the concept of obsessional Doubt because I think obsessional doubt understanding what that is is critical to understanding why you would ask yourself this question um now I'm going to put a link to the description in um to my video on obsessional doubt because I go into more depth on that issue but a real quick um refresher right now obsessional doubt is something that comes with OCD it's it's a behavior and it's it's a thought process that you engage in and it involves questioning and doubting things doubting yourself doubting information you're receiving doubting your own senses even doubting your own common sense and your ability to think through things all these things are in doubt inside of you when you've got OCD and you're you're lacking that trust and what ends up happening is you start to think that you should question things you should constantly read into things you should constantly question yourself and it feels like from an OCD perspective when you're in this situation it really feels like this is what's going to bring me close closer to the truth I should doubt things and question things and OCD convinces you that this is the the way to find answers and the reality is that obsessional doubt takes you further and further and further away from The Real World of your senses takes you further away from knowledge understanding and truth because you can only explore things in your imagination and it just goes on and on and on and on and so um what we want to do is is recognize that obsessional doubt actually creates and fuels obsessions questioning information makes you think what ifs makes you think about possible things that could be going on and then you become very much fixated on particular what-ifs and possibilities that you really came up with all up here um and you know didn't actually get information in reality direct evidence that these things are happening we really want to interrupt obsessional doubt and so one of these uh you know one one way to start yourself on that process going down that road of trying to identify and eliminate obsessional doubt from your life is to ask yourself what do I know for sure what do I know for sure and that is a question that can be very hard to answer when you've got OCD because so many things get mixed up in your mind there's a mixture of things that actually happened and the stories I may have told about what was going on there um the the ways that I read into that situation um the the things I imagined happening really is what we're talking about so that stuff is all mixed up together and so it can make it really hard to answer a question like that but we really want to focus on what is the factual information that's indisputable it absolutely happened and it's indisputable without the added stuff without the other you know the stories getting added to what that might mean or you know how that might be significant and so what asking yourself what do I know for sure is a way to start to identify these are facts and these are you know the doubts and the stories and things that I'm coming up with and and starting to separate those things out can be really really helpful number one just in understanding your OCD but number two and possibly starting to turn things around and stop doing the obsessional doubt as much all right so um in order to answer this question I'm going to offer a couple suggestions a couple rules I guess you could say uh that might help you better answer this question number one um when you're figuring out what you know for sure um it's important to take things at face value and not read into them and so let's say you have relationship OCD and you are doing a lot of questioning and doubting you are asking yourself do I love my partner enough am I attracted enough to my partner um should I be in this relationship am I just being cruel by staying in this relationship you can completely start to doubt yourself and what your true desires are and you know you know what sort of person you are even for being in this relationship um and it's that's that an example of that doubt just never ends right there's always something new to doubt in a relationship um there's always a fight or a little argument or you know a feeling of annoyance you had and there's so many things and you can just doubt and doubt and doubt and doubt and so um you know you can doubt a lot of the situations you find yourself in so you know you and your partner might be at a coffee shop and your eyes glance at another person in the coffee shop that you noticed was attractive and now you're suddenly doubting yourself again why did I just do that am I not attracted enough to my partner and you kind of go down that rabbit hole again of obsessional doubt now if you take things at face value and answer the question what do I know for sure in that situation the only thing you know for sure is I noticed an attractive person in a coffee shop period and that period is critical that period is the part that you put on the end of the thing you know for sure and the period is the signal to not add anything to it I noticed an attractive person in a coffee shop period and some of you may in hearing that think wow that sounds relieving I'd love to do that so this might be something that could be really helpful for you to try out with your OCD when you're starting to just doubt everything and constantly go into your imagination what if you just took what you experienced in the real world as that's it and that's the only thing I know and I don't actually have to decide what that means and so um you know that would be an example in relationship OCD but you know we could look at other things scrupulosity um scrupulasi you might be constantly questioning whether you're good enough whether you're a nice enough person whether you're a moral enough person um and so situations can trigger that right I walked by a piece of litter and I didn't pick it up right that would be a perfect example for there's another opportunity for you to ask yourself what does that mean about me I you know what are my true intentions is this the real me I actually really don't care and I'm just trying to convince myself that I'm a good person look I don't even pick up a piece of litter when push comes to shove right so that's all the doubting going on but if we just stick with what you know for sure is I walked by a piece of litter and I didn't pick it up period that's it that's all you know for sure and that is not evidence of anything it's not anything that you have to read into so starting to just accept facts and just let them be um that's going to be critical and accepting things at face value and keep in mind doing this with some of your emotions right if you're sad or you're anxious I'm anxious today period I'm sad today period you don't have to go into oh my God why am I anxious what's the bad thing happening today that I'm not noticing there must be something out there or you know if if you're sad today oh my gosh am I gonna go further and further down into a dark tunnel of depression and eventually end things um you don't have to do all that doubting you're allowed to just be sad and that to just be what it is um when it's raining out it's raining right and you don't have to figure out why or you know your emotions can be the same way um physical Sensations as well keep in mind taking those at face value when you're having Health OCD and you know spending day after day checking your blood pressure checking your pulse um researching online different you know ailments making more doctor's appointments realizing that of course you know be under a doctor's care and follow all their advice and let them know if you're having concerns but also knowing that on a typical day if you have an acre of pain or a headache that can just be what it is right I have a headache today period noticing you don't have to go into your imagination to explore and ultimately almost experience everything that that could mean right what that's that's just a physical sensation it's not a symptom of something and so starting to recognize you know stopping and like I said that doesn't mean don't engage in health care do all that stuff but you don't have to obsessionally doubt on a typical morning every morning or afternoon or night or or all three um to to properly take care of your health so just noticing like when am I engaging in this obsessional doubt in a way that I just incapacitate myself um so uh you know physical uh Sensations emotions um you know events in your life just taking them at face value okay let me get on to rule number two for this exercise um asking yourself this question what do I know for sure number two this is really important guys and this is uh not really talked about enough in the in the OCD treatment world I think it's really important and that is no information is actually information when you're answering the question what do you what do you know for sure there's a lot of things that you're not doing right now that you know for sure so if you've got harm OCD and you know you're you're concerned that you might someday hurt somebody or you might have secret desires to harm children or you know harm other people in general and you're just constantly wondering like what it what who's the real me how am I a good person or a bad person am I evil am I violent all those sorts of things um notice that the the lack of information you've collected in this area is really important information right I am guessing that if you've got Harmony CD and you've got some kind of concern that you know am I a serial killer am I someone that wants to harm children that you're not watching this video from Home Depot on your shopping trip to buy rope and duct tape right you're not putting schemes into place right now there's literally nothing happening right now I'm sure as you watch this video and so answering what do I know for sure has to include that the one of the things I know for sure is I'm not doing these things right that that someone who was in that boat would do um starting to recognize that and accept that as real sensory information that's going to lead you to knowing the true you not this possible self you've been focused on um you know you're not shopping online looking for Vans with tinted windows right that's information um and so that that's my second uh tip for how to get back in touch with what you really know in life um it's also notice when nothing's happening and and being able to incorporate that information into your understanding okay guys so I hope this has been helpful this is uh we're talking about a question that you can use to kind of assess how much obsessional doubt you're engaging in how easy or hard is it to answer this question how confused do you feel about you know what's really happening and what it what is the stuff I'm kind of making up in my head uh starting to separate that stuff out how how am I doing with this now the one thing I'll say about this strategy I guess you could call it but you know I mean it's really just about you know it's not necessarily a strategy it's sort of like getting yourself in touch with reality reconnecting yourself with reality again which is just you know really you know what life is all about is living in reality um but the one thing I'll say about this is uh this is part of an icbt approach to OCD inference based cognitive behavioral therapy and so if this question is really interesting to you if this seems like a good road for you to travel down treatment wise you like what you're hearing that might be something to explore looking into inference based cognitive behavioral therapy and and I'll put a link in the description to some provide you know places where you can find providers that specialize in that approach now um You might also be saying yourself God no this isn't going to work for me I don't like this at all this is not you know the way I want to go about you know working on OCD and that's okay too there are other approaches to treatment that are evidence-based as well and that would be exposure and response prevention therapy or Erp and act which is acceptance and commitment therapy so uh you know though I'll put a link in the description to the International OCD Foundation website that also has providers that specialize in those highly researched approaches as well so anyway I hope this was helpful to you guys um get out there and you know ask start asking yourself what do I know for sure and and see if you can keep yourself out of your imagination right any any bit of time you can spend uh staying connected to reality and not going into your head uh is going to be a win it's going to be a success and no matter what uh treatment you're engaged in learning to not go into your head as much and learning to stay grounded in the reality of your senses is really going to be helpful so I wish you all the best with working on those things all right so until next time guys uh I will see you again and until then trust yourselves take care

Channel: OCD Space

Views: 5,825

Keywords: OCD, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Inference Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, ICBT, ERP, Exposure and Response Prevention, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, CBT

Id: E0Z7jULytfc

Length: 15min 37sec (937 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 13 2023