You’re chilling, scrolling through TikTok, watching a cat bop a dog on the head, when suddenly—BAM!—a horrible thought flashes across your mind. It’s intrusive, disturbing, and feels so wrong.
Maybe it’s a thought about hurting someone, a sexual thought that makes your stomach turn, or an image that you’d rather never think about again. Your heart races and your brain screams, “What does this mean about me? Am I a terrible person?”
Welcome to the world of Pure-O Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, a subtype of OCD where the obsessions are purely mental—no observable compulsions, just a spiral of self-doubt and anxiety. I’m about to break this down in detail and talk about how you can kick Pure O in the ass.
First, Let’s Debunk the Biggest Lie Your Brain is Telling You
Pure O is a master manipulator. It whispers (more like screams), “If you had that thought, it must mean something.” But here’s the truth:
A thought is just a thought.
That’s right. Having a random, intrusive, scary, or gross thought doesn’t say anything about who you are as a person. Your brain generates thousands of thoughts a day—some cool, some weird, some downright WTF. The problem isn’t the thought itself, but the way OCD convinces you that you must analyze, dissect, and neutralize it.
Let’s get nerdy for a second: studies show that over 90% of people experience unwanted intrusive thoughts at some point. The difference? Non-OCD brains go, “Huh, weird,” and move on. Pure O brains go, “OMG, what if this means I’m dangerous, evil, or secretly a monster?” Cue the anxiety spiral.
P-OCD’s Favorite Tricks (And Why They Suck)
Pure O isn’t just about random intrusive thoughts. It’s about the unobservable mental compulsions that follow. Yep, even if you don’t have traditional OCD compulsions (like hand-washing or checking the stove 50 times), you’re likely engaging in mental compulsions, which keep the cycle alive.
Here are Some Classics Compulsions:
Thought Checking – “Did I like that thought? Did I feel anything? Why did it pop up?”
Reassurance Seeking – “Googling if I am a bad person.” (Spoiler: Google makes it worse.)
Avoidance – “I won’t watch that show, go to that place, or be around that person, just in case.”
Mental Review/Rumination – Replaying situations over and over, scanning for “evidence” that you’re a bad person.
These behaviors AKA compulsions feel like they are helping you, but OCD is a scam artist—it promises relief, then hits you with a new doubt five minutes later. It’s like trying to put out a fire with gasoline.
How Do You Fight Back?
Now that I’ve exposed Pure O’s dirty tricks, let’s talk about what actually works to take back your power. Reasoning with OCD won’t work. Yelling at it? Nope. Ignoring it completely? Nice try, but it’ll just yell louder.
The real MVPs of treatment are ERP (Exposure & Response Prevention), ACT (Acceptance & Commitment Therapy), IFS (Internal Family Systems), and Mindfulness practice.
1. ERP – Facing the Fear Head-On
ERP is the gold standard for OCD treatment. It’s all about exposing yourself to the scary thought without doing the compulsion. Think of it like going to the gym for your brain—except instead of lifting weights, you’re learning to sit with discomfort without engaging in compulsions or rituals.
Example: If your OCD says, “What if I lose control and do something terrible?” instead of trying to prove to yourself that you wouldn’t, you practice sitting with the uncertainty. ERP would encourage you to write down the scary thought or listen to a looped recording of it. Over time, your mind stops freaking out because it desensitizes the alarm system in your brain.
Basically, ERP teaches you- I can have scary thoughts and not react. I don’t need certainty to live my best life. Is ERP challenging? Yes. Worth it? 100%.
2. ACT – Making Room for the Weirdness
Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT) is all about accepting that intrusive thoughts exist without letting them run your life. Instead of arguing with your OCD thoughts, ACT says, “Cool, weird thought, but I’m gonna go live my life anyway.” You can notice the thought, label it as OCD, and then move the fuck on with your day.
One of ACT’s best tricks? Defusion. This means separating yourself from your thoughts. Instead of thinking, “I’m a bad person for having that thought,” you say, “I’m having the thought that I might be a bad person.” See the difference? That little bit of space stops OCD from feeling like the ultimate truth.
Another ACT classic: Values-Based Living. Instead of obsessing over “What if I’m bad?” you shift focus to “What kind of person do I want to be?” (Hint: OCD doesn’t get to decide that—you do.)
3. IFS – Befriending Your Brain’s Chaos Crew
Internal Family Systems (IFS) helps you understand that your mind is full of different “parts,” and Pure O is just one of them. Instead of hating that part, IFS encourages you to get curious:
“Hey, OCD Part, I see you. What are you trying to protect me from?”
Most of the time, OCD is trying to keep you safe although it doesn’t always do the best job. Instead of fighting it, you can acknowledge its presence and gently say, “Thanks, but I’ve got this.” This takes the power struggle out of the equation.
4. Mindfulness – Becoming an Observer, Not a Judger
Mindfulness isn’t about stopping negative thoughts, It’s about noticing thoughts or stories without getting entangled. Imagine your thoughts are leaves floating down a stream. Instead of grabbing every leaf and analyzing it, you just watch it drift by. The thought still exists, but you don’t have to do anything about it.
Mindfulness tricks for Pure O OCD:
🧘 Labeling – “That’s an intrusive thought.”
🌬️ Breathing – Anchor yourself in your breath instead of your brain’s chatter
🎭 Playfulness – Give your OCD a ridiculous name. (“Oh, look, Scaredy McDoubtface is back.”)
Final Thoughts: You Are Not Your OCD
If you take nothing else from this, remember the following mantra: having scary thoughts doesn’t mean you’re a bad person or that they will come true. It means you have OCD.
Your goal isn’t to stop intrusive thoughts (impossible), but to change your reaction to them. You can allow thoughts to exist without them controlling your life. It’s about being able to say, “Yeah, I have weird thoughts sometimes. So does literally everyone. But I get to decide how I live my life.” And that, my friend, is how you win!
If you need extra support, Courageous Paths Counseling is here to help! Reach out today for a free consultation.
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