02/03/2025
Want to know the best thing about OCD?
It’s predictable. Once you know the tricks your OCD plays, you’ll be less likely to fall for them.
Have you ever seen the magician David Copperfield make the Statue of Liberty disappear?
When I first saw that trick, a part of me really thought maybe he had made it disappear.
I knew that made no sense but I had no other explanation. I didn’t understand what was going on. Once the trick was revealed, I got it.
I’ll never fall for that one again.
Your OCD is the same way. When you don’t know what’s going on and you can’t see where your worry is coming from, you’re going to fall for it.
One of the most common tricks I see with my clients is reverse reasoning. You start with a conclusion (something is dangerous, you made a mistake, etc.) and then work backward to find reasons to support the conclusion.
If you ONLY followed the facts, you wouldn’t come to that conclusion.
This is why others around you aren’t coming to that conclusion. They are following the facts.
For example, I read something on Reddit about how a fire started in the walls of someone’s house. I wonder if my house could catch on fire. I think work backward and think about how old my house is, that it hasn’t been inspected in a while, that once the lights flickered and that seems bad, and that my landlord might be trying to save money by not replacing bad wiring.
Reverse reasoning is very common in OCD. I hope this helps you recognize this trick in your thinking.
If this was helpful to you, save for future reference!
