Ok, I know this is crazy, but I’ve had one phrase go round in my head for at least the last 15 years:
No thanks, I really would not like that please, thank you very much.
When I was a child, some intrusive thoughts would pop into my head that bad things would happen in random situations, unless I did certain things. E.g., if I didn’t breath in at least 15 times before the end of a song, or take an even number of steps before someone said something, then I would suddenly die.
My brain developed the lore that, when these thoughts popped into my head, they would be binding unless I repeated the above phrase in my mind over and over again. I think it started off as “no thanks”, and gradually got expanded to its current crazy form.
Although I don’t believe that anymore, the phrase is firmly implanted in my mind and pops up several times a day. It’s probably one of the few things I’ve remembered verbatim for so long, and it’s completely useless :D
Yes! I never really talked with anybody about that sort of stuff happening in my head when I was younger. I’d put my toothbrush back in the cup and suddenly my brain would be like “that didn’t land right, go back and fix it” and until I went back and fixed it, I’d believe something bad would happen.
I have ticks when I’m stressed, too! But it’s more about tensing certain muscles until it “feels right”…
Yes, I engaged in this a bit when I was pre-teen, but fortunately the thoughts disappeared once I started ignoring them. My brother has a really extreme, debillitating version of this where he gets stuck on almost anything and it ends up taking him 5x as long as a normal person.
Keeps tightening his seatbelt in the car
Closes the door several times
Tries to place food perfectly in his mouth to eat it
Placing pencils/cutlery down just right (the noise of this gets really annnoying)
Repeats sitting down to land just right
After brushing teeth, needs to drink from the tap in just the right way, tap ends up running for 5 minutes
Used to have auditory ticks that satisfy this sensation (I used to have these too so I know what it feels like)
Poor guy doesn’t have the mental strength or mindfulness to push back against it. My country is backwards on mental health and doctors haven’t been able to tell us what it is but we suspect it’s some form of OCD. I on the other hand seem(?) to be lightly AuDHD.
I need to play “shave and a haircut” with my toothbrush (“two bits” is the toothbrush landing in the container and bouncing once) or I don’t feel safe.
If I don’t sip from my water bottle - thirsty or not - before leaving my car and entering a store, something is bound to go wrong.
Ok, I know this is crazy, but I’ve had one phrase go round in my head for at least the last 15 years:
When I was a child, some intrusive thoughts would pop into my head that bad things would happen in random situations, unless I did certain things. E.g., if I didn’t breath in at least 15 times before the end of a song, or take an even number of steps before someone said something, then I would suddenly die.
My brain developed the lore that, when these thoughts popped into my head, they would be binding unless I repeated the above phrase in my mind over and over again. I think it started off as “no thanks”, and gradually got expanded to its current crazy form.
Although I don’t believe that anymore, the phrase is firmly implanted in my mind and pops up several times a day. It’s probably one of the few things I’ve remembered verbatim for so long, and it’s completely useless :D
Oh, my brain had things like this. I also had (have) minor ticks and I think this may go hand in hand woth that.
Yes! I never really talked with anybody about that sort of stuff happening in my head when I was younger. I’d put my toothbrush back in the cup and suddenly my brain would be like “that didn’t land right, go back and fix it” and until I went back and fixed it, I’d believe something bad would happen.
I have ticks when I’m stressed, too! But it’s more about tensing certain muscles until it “feels right”…
Yes, I engaged in this a bit when I was pre-teen, but fortunately the thoughts disappeared once I started ignoring them. My brother has a really extreme, debillitating version of this where he gets stuck on almost anything and it ends up taking him 5x as long as a normal person.
Poor guy doesn’t have the mental strength or mindfulness to push back against it. My country is backwards on mental health and doctors haven’t been able to tell us what it is but we suspect it’s some form of OCD. I on the other hand seem(?) to be lightly AuDHD.
I need to play “shave and a haircut” with my toothbrush (“two bits” is the toothbrush landing in the container and bouncing once) or I don’t feel safe.
If I don’t sip from my water bottle - thirsty or not - before leaving my car and entering a store, something is bound to go wrong.