Why does OCD feel so real - a guide to how I deal with the trap of "thought-action/reality fusion"

(I did a shorter more summarized infographic thing on my instagram account if you like a more visual thingy! I'm @ ocdinwords on instagram. I do posts about my experience a lot, check it out :)

People with OCD will often wonder why their thoughts/irrational beliefs feel so real, much more real than other everyday thoughts. In the moment when we experience the thought/belief, we may realize that it is in fact irrational, but we can’t seem to bring ourselves to truly not buy into it because it literally feels like reality.

But **why does that happen?** Here's what I came to the conclusion with the help of books and my therapist about this thing called "fusion of thought-action/reality", which I think is why OCD keeps us stuck in a loop!

Intrusive thoughts often feel like *electric zaps*, because they pop into your mind inadvertedly and if they catch your attention, you will enter **a train of thought led by OCD**. The difference from this train of thought from others is that it is so much faster than any train of thought ride you’ve ever been in!

Now, try to remember a time where you baked/cooked something following a recipe. In order to do that, you must have had to focus on the steps and then take action to do them. Your train of thought regarding the recipe was nice and slow so you could do all the steps. If your train had gone at a 600 km/hour speed **you would’ve probably missed lots of steps**, right?

Now, try to compare it to the “OCD” train of thought. It goes at the speed of light, right? It is so fast you can’t even perceive it 100%, because it doesn’t run on electricity, it runs on ANXIETY! Which is the **best™ and fastest source of energy ever found on this planet.**

That makes me go to my point. When our train of thought is so fast, **we can’t process thoughts correctly!** And there it happens, the trap of the fusion thought and action.

We may think “oh no, I’ve left the stove on” but the train of thought is so fast that we automatically perceive it as reality!

“I think that X” becomes **“X is happening”** because the loudness and speed of our thoughts makes it impossible to focus slowly and make the difference. "I am scared that I did this" becomes " I did this", " I think I don't love my partner" becomes "I don't love my partner".

A train that goes slow can be perfectly seen by a human’s eye, you can see its shape and describe it perfectly. But a train that is extremely fast, **you barely recognize that that is a train**. To our eyes, it’s *just a blurred shuttle*.

That’s what happens. With speed of thought, the brain’s content and reality contents have blurred lines and **we can’t see where one ends and where the other starts**.

Okay dude, enough with the train extravaganza... how do we stop this fusion?

&amp;#x200B;

1. **We don’t buy the ticket**. We don’t jump on the train of thought. We know it goes at a dangerous speed and we can’t process reality correctly on that train. Easier said than done but, simply put, we do everything in our power to not jump on the train of rumination and obsessive thinking. We can’t slow that train down, so we don’t jump on it at all.
2. **Mindfulness**. Slowing your everyday thoughts makes you more prepared to confront yourself with an intrusive thought and you’ll be more able to say “I’m thinking X” than saying “this is happening”.
3. (The most helpful one, a little tricked I invented for myself but probably a lot of people use it) The moment you have an intrusive thought, **STOP FOR A SECOND! Write it down with air quotes**. Write down “this is a thought”. You get another intrusive thought that says “this is not a thought, it’s reality!”? Write that down too and write “this is a thought”. The more you do this little game the more you realize that these are, in fact, only thoughts taking place in your brain.