![]() If I don’t text my parents before I take off from a flight, the plane might crash.I have to wait until the temperature is 69 degrees or below to share the news. If I tell my friend I’m in love when it’s 70 degrees out or above, she’s going to get a divorce.If I share the good news that happened to me with my friend, something bad will happen to her.If I check my bank account on a day or month that ends in an odd number, I will lose my job and won’t be able to support my family.or p.m., something tragic will happen, and it will be my fault. If I call my friend or answer the phone at 9:11 a.m.If I use a pen instead of a pencil to sign this document, something bad will happen.Otherwise, the negativity will be infused into the candle, and it will “curse” my home. I need to make sure I am only thinking good thoughts when I buy this candle.This will cause them to rely more heavily on their compulsions in an attempt to prevent more future negative events.Įxamples of magical thinking OCD obsessions A person may feel they are responsible for a tragic event because they did not perform a specific ritual years ago. Magical thinking OCD may also worsen after hearing about a tragedy. How else am I supposed to understand this?” I’ve done it every time and I’ve never failed a test. The person might think, “See, this is exactly why I do this ritual. This subtype of OCD is often exacerbated when the person experiencing it has a negative life event or something goes wrong in their life.įor example, a person’s magical thinking OCD can convince them the reason they failed their exam is because they didn’t sharpen 10 pencils before the test. These rituals can become incredibly time-consuming and lead a person to avoid situations, locations, or people as part of their compulsions. In more severe cases, magical thinking OCD can impede someone’s ability to function in their everyday life. Magical thinking OCD compulsions may start small, but they can snowball over time. Even if the person logically understands their fear and rituals are not connected or rational, the fear of causing oneself or another person harm is so great that they’ll engage in their compulsions just to be sure (e.g., I’ll turn my phone on and off three times just to be on the safe side. There is often no connection between what a person fears and the action they perform to prevent it. People with magical thinking OCD experience frequent intrusive thoughts that they will be responsible for something awful happening if they do not perform specific actions.Īn individual’s underlying anxiety could be specific (e.g., If I don’t make the bed, my spouse will get into an automobile accident) or it can be undefined (e.g., If I don’t turn my phone on and off three times every day, something bad will happen to my mother). If you’d like to read about my new insight on this topic of the effect of Magical Thinking on Outcome Resistance and Process Resistance for anxiety disorders, CLICK HERE.Magical thinking obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is an OCD subtype characterized by ongoing intrusive thoughts and compulsive behaviors around superstition or magical thinking to prevent negative experiences or harm to oneself or others. I call this “Reverse Hypnosis.” In other words, the patient has hypnotized the therapist into believing that Exposure is dangerous as well! ![]() If the therapist gives in, and agrees not to use Exposure, the likelihood of full recovery is poor.Īnd about 75% of mental health professional do give in to the patient’s resistance, because the therapist also fears Exposure therapy, thinking it is, indeed, dangerous for this or that (erroneous) reason. ![]() They simply do not want to have to face their fears. Nearly all anxious patients will fairly forcefully resist using Exposure because it is so frightening to them. For anxious patients, the focus of the Process Resistance almost always has to do with Exposure Techniques. Process Resistance means that the patient may (or may not) want a positive treatment outcome, but does not want to engage in the therapeutic process required to cause a successful outcome. ![]() In other words, the patient has the superstitious belief that the anxiety, although uncomfortable, protects him or her from some terrible catastrophe. In anxiety, the Outcome Resistance nearly always results from Magical Thinking. Outcome Resistance means that although the patient is suffering, he or she will resist effective treatment for a wide variety of reasons. ![]() You may need the definition of Outcome Resistance and Process Resistance to grasp the note. The following is a note about anxiety that I just sent to my Tuesday training group at Stanford this week, and it occurred to me that you might find it of interest. ![]()
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