what is wrong with me? im creeping myself out .. (obsessive thoughts)

Former Member

I go through these obsessive phases an then move on. These are like intense obsessions where i try to find out as much as i can and then i just drop it, but its not with things or books or films ect..... its people that i obsess over. its been happening from i was quite young maybe about 7 or 8 and it could be anyone from teachers, to friends, to celebrities, just anyone who i interact with or can find out about. its really creepy, like stalkerish and i hate myself for doing it but i literally cant stop. its not like a crush, I don,t even necessarily need to like the person. its really detracting, i can spend weeks just thinking about or internet searching or asking friends about this one person then i just stop and move one to someone else ... what is wrong with me?

Former Member

I can relate to a point

TheMix

Hey @swansong welcome to TheSite and well done for posting about this :yes:

It sounds like these obsessive thoughts are worrying you. You describe it as being like a crush in that you can't think about anything else, it sounds really overwhelming for you.

Obsessive thoughts are often linked to some sort of anxiety - can you tell us, when you're in these phases, how do you feel in yourself? What sort of emotions come up? Do you have a sense of what's behind these drives? What might happen for example if you didn't look up everything about the person?

The first step to managing obsessive thoughts can sometimes be simply accepting that they're there, rather than trying to push them away. You may also find that writing down your thoughts helps to curb their intensity. If you can take steps to work on your anxiety (if that's the cause) then the thoughts may well become less frequent.

@dory - would you like to say a bit more about your experience of this?

Jo

Former Member

I get this a lot and it's just so frustrating. I still haven't worked out how to deal with it yet. Had this with someone years ago and it lasted for a very long time. He did work it out eventually and I (despite it being blatantly obvious) denied it. I did eventually confess. We ended up having a huge argument over something to do with this (I think I just wanted attention all the time) and he used it against me. He decided that he couldn't deal with my behaviour and refused to talk to me for about 3 months. That was hell; but it helped a lot.

I am in this situation again. I don't think he's worked out it, yet. It's nowhere near as bad, thankfully.