What Pure OCD Actually Is (And Why So Many People Miss It) | Ep. 506

One-Sentence Summary:
In this episode, I’m breaking down what Pure OCD really is, why mental compulsions are so often missed, and how you can begin changing your response to intrusive thoughts and rumination.

In this episode, I’ll share:

• Why “Pure O” is still OCD, even when the compulsions aren’t visible
• Some of the most common mental compulsions, including rumination, mental checking, reassurance, and neutralizing
• Why taboo or scary intrusive thoughts can make Pure OCD especially difficult to recognize and talk about
• How mental compulsions keep the OCD cycle going, even when no one else can see them
• Why Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) is the gold-standard treatment for Pure OCD
• How attention training and reducing rumination can help you spend less time solving intrusive thoughts and more time getting back to your life

Pure OCD: What It Really Is and Why So Many People Get It Wrong 

There is a little thing called Pure OCD (Pure O), and so many people do not understand it.

Maybe you’ve thought, “My OCD doesn’t look like the OCD I’ve seen other people talk about.”

Maybe you don’t wash your hands repeatedly. You don’t check the stove 20 times. You don’t have rituals that anyone around you would ever notice.

But inside your mind?

You’re checking. Reviewing. Analyzing. Replaying. Reassuring. Trying desperately to figure something out.

And it can feel exhausting.

Today, I want to help you understand what Pure OCD actually is, why it is so often misunderstood, and some of the skills we use to treat it.

First, Let’s Understand the OCD Cycle

To understand Pure OCD, we first need to understand OCD itself.

OCD often begins with an intrusive thought, feeling, sensation, urge, or image.

Something shows up in your mind that you didn’t ask for and don’t want.

And then comes the discomfort.

What if this thought means something?

Why did I think that?

What if I actually want this?

What if something terrible happens?

Suddenly, you’re experiencing anxiety, uncertainty, fear, or distress. Naturally, you want to make that discomfort go away.

So you engage in a compulsion.

The compulsion may give you some temporary relief, but that relief teaches your brain that the compulsion was necessary.

And around the cycle we go again.

Intrusive thought → distress and uncertainty → compulsion → temporary relief → stronger OCD cycle.

But What If Nobody Can See Your Compulsions?

This is where Pure OCD is so often misunderstood.

When most people hear the word OCD, they picture physical compulsions.

Hand washing.

Checking locks.

Checking the stove.

Opening and closing doors.

Repeating a physical action until it feels “right.”

Those compulsions absolutely can be part of OCD.

But physical compulsions are only one type of compulsion.

Compulsions can also include:

• Reassurance seeking
• Avoidance
• Mental compulsions
• Self-punishment

And these less visible compulsions matter just as much as the ones we can see.

In fact, in my experience as an OCD specialist, mental compulsions are incredibly common across many different presentations of OCD.

So, What Is Pure OCD?

Pure O is short for Pure OCD or what was originally thought of as “purely obsessional OCD.”

Historically, people believed those with Pure O experienced obsessions without compulsions.

But we now understand something very important:

Pure OCD is still OCD.

There are obsessions.

And there are compulsions.

The difference is that many of those compulsions happen inside the mind.

Someone may not be visibly checking a lock, but they may be mentally checking their feelings hundreds of times a day.

They may not repeatedly ask another person for reassurance, but they may repeatedly reassure themselves.

They may look like they’re sitting quietly at a party while internally reviewing a conversation from three hours ago.

That is why Pure OCD can be so difficult for others to recognize.

Pure OCD Can Center Around Taboo or Distressing Themes

Pure OCD can also involve intrusive thoughts about subjects that feel incredibly difficult to talk about.

Some people experience sexual-themed obsessions or fears about their sexual orientation.

Others experience harm OCD and become terrified that they might hurt someone they love.

There can be religious or moral obsessions, including fears about committing a sin, saying something blasphemous, doing something immoral, or being a “bad” person.

Some people experience intrusive thoughts involving incest, bestiality, necrophilia, or other highly taboo subjects.

These thoughts can feel especially frightening because they may go directly against the person’s values.

And because the content feels so upsetting, the person may become even more determined to figure out why they had the thought.

That can lead to more mental compulsions.

What Do Mental Compulsions Actually Look Like?

One of the most important parts of treating Pure OCD is learning to identify the compulsions you may not even realize you’re doing.

Here are some examples.

Mental Checking and Reassurance

You might repeatedly check your feelings or thoughts for evidence.

Did I enjoy that?

Was that feeling normal?

Would a bad person think this?

You might also internally reassure yourself over and over again that everything is okay.

Mental Comparing

You may compare yourself to other people to determine whether your thoughts, feelings, or reactions are “normal.”

For example:

Are other people having thoughts like this?

Would someone else react the way I did?

Why don’t they seem bothered by this?

Mental Rehearsal

You might mentally prepare for future situations over and over again.

You’re trying to make sure you know exactly what you’ll say, how you’ll behave, or what you’ll do if something uncomfortable happens.

Memory Hoarding

I describe this as trying to take a mental Polaroid picture.

You try to capture an event perfectly so that later, if OCD asks you what happened, you can remember every detail and hopefully avoid uncertainty.

Compulsive Prayer

Prayer itself is not the problem.

But when prayer becomes something you feel you must do to neutralize a thought, prevent something terrible, or obtain certainty, it may become compulsive.

Neutralizing

An unwanted thought appears, so you intentionally replace it with a “good” or positive thought.

You’re trying to cancel out, cleanse, or neutralize the uncomfortable thought.

Counting and Repeating

Mental compulsions can also involve silently counting, repeating words or phrases, or performing other rituals inside your mind.

Rumination and Mental Solving

This is a big one.

You may spend hours trying to solve your intrusive thought.

Why did I think that?

What does it mean?

What if it happens?

How can I know for sure?

You turn the question around and around, hoping you’ll eventually reach the answer that finally makes you feel safe.

But OCD tends to come back with another question.

Start Getting Curious About Your Mental Compulsions

A big part of this work is becoming more aware of what your mind is actually doing.

Instead of simply thinking, “I overthink everything,” get specific.

Ask yourself:

What mental compulsion am I doing?

When do I tend to do it?

Where am I when it happens?

What am I hoping this mental behavior will give me?

Maybe you’re looking for certainty.

Maybe you’re trying to reduce anxiety.

Maybe you’re trying to prove something about yourself.

Understanding your patterns can help you identify where response prevention needs to happen.

Why Pure OCD Is So Often Missed

One of the most frustrating parts of Pure OCD is how long people can struggle before realizing what is actually happening.

One reason is simply that our culture has developed a very narrow picture of OCD.

We have been taught to recognize hand washing, checking, cleaning, organizing, and other visible behaviors.

We haven’t been taught nearly enough about mental compulsions.

And when someone is mentally compulsing, nobody else may know.

You can be at dinner.

You can be at work.

You can be at a birthday party.

You can be sitting next to the person you love.

Physically, you’re there.

Mentally, you might be spending the entire time trying to solve an intrusive thought.

Mental Compulsions Can Take Up Hours of Your Day

Sometimes people minimize mental compulsions because they aren’t visible.

But I want you to think about this differently.

If someone spends three hours taking a shower because of contamination OCD, we can easily recognize how disruptive that compulsion is.

But what if someone spends most of their waking day ruminating?

That matters too.

I have had clients tell me:

“I was at the party, but mentally, I wasn’t really there.”

They were physically present while their attention was consumed by OCD.

Mental compulsions are real compulsions, and they deserve the same attention and appropriate treatment as physical compulsions.

Taboo Thoughts Can Make It Even Harder to Ask for Help

There is another reason Pure OCD can go unnoticed.

The person may be terrified to tell anyone what they are thinking.

Imagine having repetitive, unwanted thoughts about harming your child.

Or an intrusive sexual thought that deeply disturbs you.

Or a religious thought that feels completely incompatible with your beliefs.

Then imagine trying to say those thoughts out loud to another person when you don’t yet understand OCD.

You might fear being judged.

You might worry about what the thought says about you.

You might even fear there will be consequences for telling someone.

So instead, you keep it inside.

And because the compulsions are also happening internally, the people around you may have absolutely no idea how much you’re struggling.

Even Professionals Can Miss Pure OCD

Unfortunately, not every mental health professional or medical provider is trained to recognize OCD, particularly when compulsions are covert.

Someone may hear, “I’m not washing my hands or checking anything,” and incorrectly assume there are no compulsions.

Meanwhile, that person may be mentally compulsing for hours every day.

This is one reason education about Pure OCD and mental compulsions matters so much.

We need clinicians, doctors, teachers, nurses, pediatricians, families, and individuals themselves to understand that a compulsion does not have to be visible to be a compulsion.

How Do We Treat Pure OCD?

The good news is that Pure OCD does not require an entirely different treatment approach.

The gold-standard treatment for OCD is Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP).

ERP involves facing triggers and practicing not engaging in the compulsive behaviors that usually follow.

For someone whose compulsions are primarily mental, the response prevention component becomes incredibly important.

Instead of automatically jumping into:

Let me analyze this.

Let me check how I feel.

Let me replay what happened.

Let me reassure myself.

Let me figure this out.

…we practice reducing those compulsive responses.

That doesn’t necessarily mean forcing the intrusive thought away.

It means learning a different way to respond when it arrives.

Your Thoughts Are Not Facts

If you are experiencing scary, intrusive, unwanted thoughts, I really want you to remember this:

Your thoughts are not facts.

Human brains produce all kinds of thoughts.

Some are beautiful.

Some are boring.

Some are weird.

Some are scary.

Some make absolutely no sense.

An intrusive thought that doesn’t align with your values is not automatically a reflection of your character, worth, or intentions.

You don’t have to solve every thought your brain sends you.

Rumination Is an Attempt to Feel Safe

I also want you to have compassion for the part of you that keeps ruminating.

You aren’t sitting there thinking, “I’d really love to spend the next six hours mentally reviewing this.”

You’re trying to manage distress.

You’re trying to get certainty.

You’re trying to feel safe.

The goal is not to shame yourself for ruminating.

The goal is to recognize what you’re doing and begin building different skills for responding.

Practice Redirecting Your Attention

One skill that can be helpful when working with rumination is attention training.

Instead of continuing to give all of your attention to the question OCD wants you to solve, you can practice bringing your attention back to what you actually want to be doing.

Back to the conversation.

Back to your work.

Back to playing with your kids.

Back to the movie.

Back to your life.

This isn’t about proving the intrusive thought wrong.

It’s about learning that you don’t have to spend your day mentally engaging with every scary thought your brain produces.

Recovery From Pure OCD Is Possible

Pure OCD can feel incredibly isolating because so much of the struggle happens where nobody else can see it.

But hidden compulsions are still compulsions.

Mental rituals are still rituals.

And they can be treated.

Learning to recognize your mental compulsions, reducing rumination, practicing response prevention, strengthening your ability to redirect your attention, and approaching yourself with kindness can all be important parts of recovery.

You don’t have to win an argument with every intrusive thought.

You don’t have to finally find the perfect answer.

You can learn to change how you respond.

And little by little, you can spend less time inside the OCD cycle and more time doing the things that actually matter to you.

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Transcription: What Pure OCD Actually Is (And Why So Many People Miss It)

Speaker: There is a little thing called Pure OCD, and so many people do not understand it. So today in this video, we are going to talk about what Pure OCD is and why so many people get it completely wrong. And so let’s get into it today. If you have ever thought this idea of like, “My OCD looks different,” or maybe you’ve just recently realized, like, “Whoa, what I have is OCD and I had no idea,” this episode is exactly for you.

 

My goal is to help you understand this idea and this concept of Pure O or Pure OCD. So let’s first really understand OCD to make sense of this big, big topic. So we understand OCD as an OCD cycle. Now, we first start with intrusive thoughts, maybe intrusive feelings, sensations, urges, or images. They’re unwanted, and they’re very distressing.

 

And when we experience this, we n- then have an intense experience of uncertainty, anxiety, and distress. And in effort to reduce or remove that uncertainty or distress, what folks with OCD do is they engage in compulsive behaviors. We see this a lot in Hollywood of jumping over cracks, maybe you’re washing your hands, uh, you know, opening and closing doors, checking the stove.

 

This is what we would commonly understand and what our media has portrayed as OCD. And when people are engaging in these b- compulsions or these behaviors, they usually get temporary relief. But what happens is when you engage in that compulsion, it reinforces the obsession, and it makes the obsession stronger.

 

So now you’re stuck in this cycle. But what about those who don’t do physical compulsions? There are a large percentage, from my experience of being an OCD specialist and having treated this for 15 years, a lot of folks don’t do physical compulsions. So in this episode, what I hope is that you are going to learn, number one, what exactly Pure O OCD is, number two, why so many people and mental health professionals and doctors miss it, and what you can do to help you overcome Pure O OCD or Pure O in a short term.

 

Welcome. Just in a quick introduction, my name is Kimberley Quinlan. I am an OCD and anxiety specialist, and I am on a mission to equip over 10 million people. I know, it’s a huge number, but I really want to get there. It’s my big personal goal, and I want to give you tools so that you can actually get better.

 

Not a bunch of BS quick fixes that you’re seeing on the internet, actual science-based skills based in rational, you know, h- effective ways to respond to anxiety, and also do it kindly. So many people with OCD are beating themselves up for their thoughts, and I want to stop that. Okay, so before we start, let’s take a pause and remind ourselves that we’re going to do this gently and kindly together.

 

You’re definitely not alone. So many people have experienced this. I don’t want you to feel like you’re the only one, and I want you to be as gentle as you can as we work through this together.

 

Now, as we talked about at the beginning, the cycle of OCD involves intrusive thoughts with discomfort, then you engage in compulsive behaviors, then you get relief, and then the cycle goes round and around and around. But there are different compulsive behaviors for different types of OCD, and every single s- experience I’ve seen with OCD is it’s always different, right?

 

No- there’s no s- very specific exact way to have OCD. It’s different for everybody. But what we know is physical compulsions is only one type of compulsive behavior. There is also reassurance-seeking compulsions. There is also avoidance compulsions. There is also mental compulsions, and there is also self-punishment compulsions.

 

And it is crucial that you understand that these are as relevant, as worthy, they’re as important as any type of compulsion that you may know about. Just because we understand the physical compulsions more in the s- out in the streets, out in the day-to-day, it doesn’t mean that these other more covert compulsions don’t matter, ’cause they do.

 

In fact, I am willing to say mental compulsions is one of the most common compulsions done throughout every type of OCD, including Pure O OCD. So let’s actually then understand what is Pure O OCD? Well, Pure O is a short version of the term Pure OCD, and I’m going to be using them interchangeably during this episode.

 

But really, Pure OCD is still OCD. There are still obsessions, and there are still compulsions. Originally, it was called Pure O because people understood it as just obsessions. We understand now that folks with Pure O have obsessions, but their compulsions are hidden and mental. So let’s talk a little bit about that.

 

The real difference between Pure OCD and every other type of OCD that maybe you’re more aware of, like contamination, like I talked about, is that the compulsions are mostly mental, not physical, but they can be physical as well. There is often no visible rituals, like no hand washing, no checking locks, and so forth, but they’re doing those compulsions I shared before of mental quiet reassurance-seeking.

 

We’ve got a whole… I’m gonna explain to you a bunch of those mental compulsions here in a minute. Maybe they’re doing avoidance, so you can’t see that they’re avoiding, but they’ve avoided. They’ve found tricky ways to avoid the thing that’s going to trigger off their OCD and their obsessions. Now, there are very common types of Pure O or Pure OCD, and these can be very taboo themes, um, or themes that the person feels really embarrassed about or absolutely ashamed of, or maybe it’s just that they don’t align with their values.

 

It’s not that they are against that type of thinking, it’s that it goes against their values. So let me explain what that means. So there can be sexual-themed OCD. This is, again, a fear of engaging in a sexual action that they don’t want to. Maybe it’s sexual orientation OCD, or being attracted to someone that…

 

or a sexual orientation that you generally wouldn’t be attracted to. There’s also harm OCD, the fear that you might harm a loved one, harm your child, and so forth. There’s religious-themed OCD. Fear that you’re gonna say something blasphemous out loud in your place of worship, um, or maybe that you may pray to the wrong god or to the devil.

 

There’s also moral-themed OCD. Again, often the compulsions done by a lot of these subtypes of OCD aren’t physical, they’re mental. They’re doing mental praying. They’re doing mental rumination. Again, I’m gonna talk about the different types of mental compulsions here in a second. There’s also incest themes of OCD.

 

There’s bestiality themes of OCD. There’s necrophilia themes of OCD. These are all very, very common for folks with Pure O, and we understand that in these cases, their OCD is as valid as anybody else’s, it’s just that maybe no one even knew that they’re going through this such painful experience. So if we were now to look at that OCD cycle, we can see here the cycle is still going on for those folks with Pure OCD, but there are many different specific types of mental compulsions that they may engage in.

 

It’s not just that they’re thinking about it nonstop, it’s that there are different ways in which they’re engaging in mental acts to reduce or remove the uncertainty or the im- the distress or the fear that they’re experiencing. So let’s take a look at different types of mental compulsions done by folks with Pure OCD, or this is done by anyone with OCD.

 

In fact, this is also, these compulsions can be done for, by folks with health anxiety, um, phobias, generalized anxiety as well. So let’s go through some of them. There might be mental checking or mental reassurance going on. Maybe you’re doing mental comparing, like, are other people in my congregation having these thoughts?

 

Um, you know, comparing yourself to them. There might be mental rehearsal, going through things in your brain, trying to prepare yourself for something in fear that something bad might happen, or you might have an urge to do something you don’t want to do. Maybe you’re doing memory hoarding. Memory hoarding is where we try to, like, take a mental Polaroid picture of an event so we can remember it exactly the way that it was so that we don’t have to feel uncertain later.

 

Maybe you’re engaging in compulsive prayer. Maybe you’re engaging in neutralization. Neutralization is when we have a thought that’s uncomfortable that we don’t like, we might mentally replace that thought with a positive thought, trying to neutralize the negative thought, um, to try and make it better or go away, or so that you can feel cleansed or rid of that thought.

 

You might engage in mental counting or repeating. There might be a lot of mental solving or mental rumination. This is probably one of the most common mental compulsions that we see. And you may do a whole array of these, or there may be additional types of mental compulsions that you’re engaging in if you have Pure O OCD.

 

So one of the things we actually do in the Rumination Reset, which is an online course that we have for mental rumination, is we spend a lot of time getting to know specifically what types of mental compulsions we’re doing, when we’re doing it, where we’re doing it, why we’re doing it, and then really documenting what’s going on in that moment so that then you can use specific tools to help you reduce the amount of mental compulsions.

 

Again, for folks with Pure O OCD, the biggest compulsion they’re doing is mental rumination or mental compulsions, which means the majority of treatment is going to be focused on reducing those behaviors. That’s a big part of the work that we’re going to be doing. Now, the gold standard treatment for folks with Pure O isn’t different than folks with other types of OCD.

 

We’re still going to be engaging in exposure and response prevention, but the reduction of that mental compulsion is going to be majority of the response prevention work that we do. It’s a very, very crucial part of the treatment of Pure O OCD. So after all this, and you’re probably thinking and feeling quite frustrated, why has Pure O been missed for so long by so many people?

 

Now, as you know, I have a private practice. I have six amazing therapists in Calabasas, California. However, we do not take insurance. Now, if you are looking for insurance-covered OCD or BFRB treatment, I wanna let you know about NOCD. NOCD provides face-to-face live video sessions with specialized licensed OCD therapists.

 

Now, their therapists use exposure and response prevention. We know this is the gold standard for OCD, so you can be absolutely confirmed that you’re in the right place there, and they have a clinically proven app that helps you stay connected to your therapist and others who have OCD between sessions, so you’ll always feel supported.

 

Now, the cool thing is NOCD is available in all 50 US states and even internationally, and they accept most insurance plans, making it affordable and accessible. We love that. Now, if you think you might have OCD or you’re struggling to manage your symptoms, you can book a free call. Just click the link in the show notes at nocd.com.

 

I am honored to partner with NOCD. I want to remind you that recovery is possible. Please do not forget that. Now, big hugs, and let’s get back to the show The facts are research shows that folks with OCD, it takes them seven to 14 years to get the correct diagnosis and treatment. That is ridiculous. Like, at this point in our world, we shouldn’t have to wait seven to 14 years to get the correct diagnosis.

 

And the concept of Pure O really explains why it might be taking people so long, because we have misunderstood OCD. We’ve only gotten this small little snippet of what it looks like to have OCD in Hollywood, in the movie, what’s portrayed in the media. And so let’s talk about specifically what’s getting in the way here.

 

Well, number one is, as I said, people only think of OCD as hand-washing and lock ch- check- checking and maybe oven checking. They haven’t understood that there are many different subtypes of OCD. They haven’t been educated about the many ways in which OCD can show up, and the many different types of obsessions people with OCD can have.

 

And this is a huge part of my goal here, is to get the information out there to help people who suffer, and clinicians and medical doctors and teachers and nurses, so that they can be the ones to say, “Hey, I think you might be experiencing this.” Okay? That might be helping them to reduce that seven to 14 years.

 

Now, number two is people do not identify, often, mental compulsions with, quote, unquote, “real compulsions.” Again, people have misunderstood this idea that mental looping, mental rumination, going over and over something, is as much of a problem than the hand-washing and checking and, and cleaning and all of the compulsions that other people may do.

 

Often what I notice is a client will say to me, like, “Oh, Kimberly, I had a friend who had OCD. They would spend three hours having a shower. You know, oh my gosh, what a, a big take of their time.” And I always sit across and think, “Okay, that’s true. Three hours in the shower is a long time to have a shower,” but let’s think about how many hours are used up by the folks who are engaging in mental compulsions.

 

Just because they’re physically doing something doesn’t mean it’s more important than the fact that mentally, they’re, this compulsion is taking up so much of people’s life. When I ask my own clients, “How much time do you spend mentally compulsing?” They will often say most of the day. I was at the party, but I really wasn’t mentally there.

 

I was spending a large degree of time doing mental rumination. Now, that is a real compulsion, and it must be treated and looked at and have skills to manage as much as reducing that three-hour shower. The next one is that often, specifically for folks with Pure OCD, is their theme is scary to talk about.

 

So because the media has portrayed contamination OCD and jumping over cracks and moving objects, they may feel like that’s less taboo, less to be ashamed about. There haven’t been a lo- when I first started in this field, there was one book, one, that talked about Really taboo themed. It was called The Imp of the Mind.

 

It was, like, the most incredible book because it shone a light on these themes that nobody was talking about. And often people are afraid to bring it up in fear of the consequences of sharing, “I’m having really scary thoughts about hurting my child,” or, “hurting my grandma,” or, “I’m having incestuous thoughts.”

 

That’s really scary for them to raise their hand and say, “Hey, I’m struggling with these, these repetitive, unwanted, scary thoughts. I don’t want to do these things,” or, “I’m completely confused at why I’m having them.” It’s really hard for them to tell somebody and fear that there may be consequences associated.

 

Now, the next thing is often nobody notices that they’re compulsing. So as you could imagine, if you didn’t have Pure O and you had hand-washing, your friends and family are going to notice that, and therefore bring it up to you and offer maybe resources, or offer maybe some kind words and encouragement to seek help.

 

But if you’re doing mental compulsions, it may be that nobody has noticed, and therefore you’re in this world alone with these scary thoughts. No one’s tapping you on the shoulder to say, “Hey, I noticed you’re struggling. Can I support you?” And that’s gonna make it so much harder for them to reach out for help.

 

Now, the last one, which is the most frustrating for me as a clinician, is that many clinicians and doctors are not trained in identifying Pure O OCD or treating OCD. Often, and I am so sad to say this, I’ve even heard psychiatrists on the phone with me saying, “I really don’t think they meet criteria for OCD because they’re not doing any compulsions.”

 

And I’m over here saying, “Yes, they are. They’re doing compulsions all day. You just haven’t noticed them, or you’re not recognizing that a mental compulsion is as important, as valid as a physical compulsion.” And we have to get out there and teach clinicians this, and teach doctors and s- and teachers and nurses, pediatricians, so that these folks can get diagnosed sooner.

 

And they can get the appropriate treatment sooner as well. Okay, so before we finish up, I just want to sort of like riff off the main things I want you to remember, and hang around for this because it can be very powerful. If you’re struggling with Pure Obsessions, Pure OCD, and you’re having these really scary, intrusive, unwanted thoughts that you can’t make sense of, I want you to know that your thoughts are not facts.

 

They mean nothing about you, that you’re not a bad person for having them. In fact, if you’re on this podcast, please go and watch the other videos. They’re going to help you understand that thoughts are a normal part of being a human being. Some of us with a little bit of a glitchy mind, mine as well, will send off thoughts that we don’t really wanna have, that don’t line up with our values, but they’re not a reflection of who you are and of your value and of your worth.

 

You’re not a bad person for having these intrusive thoughts and for getting stuck in this rumination. The rumination is your absolute attempt to manage this with the very few skills that you’ve been taught as a child for these types of circumstances. The thing to remember is the gold standard treatment for Pure O is Exposure and Response Prevention, and that is a specific type of cognitive behavioral therapy that you should- that you can use to help manage those thoughts and manage the behaviors, both physical and mental.

 

Now, if for some reason you have been trained on how to manage the com- the physical compulsions, but your therapist isn’t super strong in helping you manage those mental compulsions, that is why we created the, that is why we created the Rumination Reset. It is a very small course. I made it at very reasonably priced, it’s only $47, and it’s there for you to give you that specific skill if you haven’t learnt them yet.

 

Now, uh, the last thing I want you to remember here is please be kind. This is so hard. You… It is not your fault, and I wanna inspire you and empower you that you can recover from these conditions. Just because they’re mental doesn’t mean you don’t have control. You can learn this skill called attention control training or attention training technique that will help you to manage this rumination, and help you to get back to doing the things you want, and help you navigate and manage those very, very scary thoughts.

 

Now, before you leave, I just wanna thank you so much for being here. I know how valuable your time is, and I cannot tell you how grateful I am that you chose to spend your time with me. If you found this helpful, we also have another episode of Your Anxiety Toolkit called Taboo Thoughts in OCD, and why they’re so scary, and what you can do about them.

 

So if that’s helpful, do move over, take a look at that, as we have videos on YouTube as well. We have the podcast on, um, any podcast that you’re listening to. This is there for you to help you get those skills and strategies if you don’t have access to actual therapy. All right, I will see you in the next one, and have the most beautiful day.

 

Please note that this podcast or any other resources from cbtschool.com should not replace professional mental health care. If you feel you would benefit, please reach out to a provider in your area. Have a wonderful day, and thank you for supporting cbtschool.com.