Obsessions

I used to think an obsession was a preoccupation with something you loved, that you couldn’t stop thinking about (‘Have you heard the latest KoL album? I’m obsessed!’) or on the darker side of my own (pre-diagnosis) definition, I thought it was a sadistic infatuation that a serial killer might have with their target. I pictured the horror movie scene of a psychopath, enjoying staring intently at developing photos of their obsession, hanging in the blood-red light.

No wonder I didn’t realise that the persistent doubt I was experiencing was a bunch of obsessions. My definition was My OCD obsessions weren’t about loving anything and while they might have been twisted/taboo in nature, I didn’t ask for them and I certainly didn’t like them (although OCD would make me doubt otherwise in time).

So what IS an OCD obsession? How can we recognise one and can we get rid of them?

In the context of OCD, an obsession is recurring internal information or an intrusive thought that might present as a graphic image/video, memory, idea, urge, command, impulse, sensation, song etc….