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20 years of OCD cured in 2 days!
© mathowie
I often write about my friend who has “OCD” — Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Because the issues he faces are the same ones we all face. His are just more extreme, more obsessive but they’re the same.
Just 2 days after giving his full effort to just one simple technique in Habit Guide he called me…
“I’m cured,” he said.
This was after months of severe anxiety states. He was shaking a lot of the time, sweating heavily at night.
His thoughts were racing constantly and he couldn’t control them…
He had to stop work several times and his life was grinding to a halt as he avoided as much as he could and withdrew into his private world of pain.
The reason I’m telling you all this is to show you the amazing power of attention. The technique is simple — distraction — one of the powerful techniques used to stop bad habits in Habit Guide…
Attention is where your power is. Attention is the volume control for thoughts — as I’ve told him a thousand times.
The “cure” lasted 10 days. Ten days of almost complete normality with no sign of OCD. And it took only 2 days to go from gibbering wreck to happy and enthusiastic using only distraction. Amazing!
Old habits die hard
And his cure would have been permanent but for the fact that ten days later after burning the candle at both ends, he had some little twinges of anxiety that triggered the old way of thinking. Slowly for a further 4 days, he ramped the whole thing back up again.
Again, this has powerful lessons for all of us. “Old habits die hard” as the saying goes. After making changes, we need to be sure to bed them in well.
It’s like riding a bike
“This OCD” I tell him, “is just like riding a bike. You’ll always be able to do it. Just DON’T GET ON THE BIKE.” Unfortunately he did get back on that bike — despite the most severe warnings. I talk to him for hours and hours and hours. “I can’t do this without you” he says.
The truth is that all this talking is really unnecessary in the sense that it has only one purpose. To convince him that distraction IS the answer — to explain to him that his way can never work, and to get him to commit 100% to the simple method of distraction.
Once, he commits… 2 days. He is normal after 2 days. 20 years of OCD gone.
If you stick your hand in the fire… it ALWAYS burns
So… round and round we go. As I speak he’s fallen back into the old way. Now he needs me to talk him out because it’s VERY foggy in there. He can’t see his own way out. I hope and pray that THIS time he’s learned and he won’t need to stick his hand in the fire one more time to realize… IT ALWAYS BURNS!
Thoughts are…. just thoughts
The lesson for you and me is that thoughts aren’t us. They are for the most part conditioned reactions that we believe in and identify with. Once you can see thoughts as just thoughts, you have the power to remove your attention from unwanted ones.
Now you have a choice — to pay attention or not. Whether it’s because you want to stop a bad habit or stop a thought loop about a girlfriend that just dumped you, the process is the same. Distract from thoughts you don’t want and their power is gone.
The amazing power of attention
Once you know this simple process, you’ll find a thousand ways it can serve you. Someone says something hurtful? Distract. Worried about tomorrow? Distract. Craving unhealthy food? Distract.
This one simple technique ALONE can have a massive impact on your health and happiness because you always have choice. There is always a choice of where to put your attention. You can stop reacting to everything in the same old conditioned way — the way everyone else reacts — predictably.
Master the process
Now you make your decisions consciously. You are in charge — not old habits, old ways and the same old reactions. If distraction can end 20 years of misery in only 2 days, what can it do for you?
Learn and master the incredible power of attention and you’re going to get happier and happier.
All the best,
Mike Kinnaird
Habit Guide: How to be Happy & Healthy
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I suffer with severe anxiety and ocd (intrusive thoughts) and like you i feel distraction is the best way to deal with it, but for the life of me i can never distract myself enough and seem able to constantly think about it no matter what i do!
Hi Emma, are the intrusive thoughts important? Do you see them as important? That’s the first question.
You do need to see thoughts you want to let go of as unimportant and you can use reason, talk to friends etc to get to the place where you’re ready to let go. Then make a clear and unshakable decision — a pact with yourself not to pay attention any more. When the unwanted thoughts come, give them no importance, just have the attitude of indifference and then RIVET attention onto something else… like what you are doing, or some object… or you can intensely rivet attention onto the space in which thoughts happen… your mental “field.” This stops thoughts.
Your ABILITY to do all this can gradually be improved by regular meditation. And the functioning of your brain can be improved by lifestyle… there are many lifestyle factors that can severely affect your ability to control anxiety.
If you’re interested in exploring all this in more detail, I would recommend getting Habit Guide.
In my friends case, distraction alone was powerul enough WHEN he gave it 100% effort and a clear unshakable decision not to pay attention. The article shows the incredible power of attention alone but in other people there maybe other contributing factors as I mentioned. It was only after the “2 day” turnaround that we could be sure that other factors weren’t playing a big part in his case — in his case, thought habits alone were 99% of it.
All the best,
Mike
Great article. This is absolutely correct.
Focus attention always on that which is good for you. Worry, anger, jealousy, pain, fear, sadness, etc all come from a lack of control and focusing on them will lead you to feel helpless.
There are things we cannot change, so concern yourself with what you can, or with what you have a passion for and enjoy greatly.
You’ll get alot more done that way.
sir!please guide me too..as due to OCD, i couldn’t control my thoughts and talk about them to my family which are totally irrelevant saying unecessary things.they get irritated from me due to this..
Hi Atul,
There’s a huge amount already written on habitguide.com about OCD and unwanted thoughts. The best thing is to have a read of what’s already there… including the comments which have a lot of extra info and then get back to me if you’re confused about anything. Click below to see all articles about “OCD.”
http://www.habitguide.com/index.php?s=ocd
You can also use the search tool on the right hand side of every page to search habitguide.com for keywords like “OCD” or “unwanted thoughts.”
All the best,
Mike
I always find your articles very helpful. I have anxiety – the doctors have put me on medication but it doesnt work. Thanks very much
You’re very welcome Joan, I’m very happy the articles are helping you. God bless. ~ Mike