Obsessions or intrusive thoughts (they are the same thing) are unwanted and unacceptable to the person concerned and can’t be dismissed and are difficult to ignore. People try to avoid them but they just keep coming back. My clients tell me that the more they try to avoid them, the stronger they become. They can take the form of thoughts, images, feelings of doubt or urges that repeatedly enter a person's mind. These intrusions are distressing and cause anxiety. Common obsessions include concerns about cleanliness, fear of harm or danger, a need for symmetry or order, and intrusive thoughts of a a socially unacceptable nature that causes the person experiencing them extreme shame and embarrassment as they are in direct conflict with their own moral values. People with OCD usually fear that these thoughts represent some terrible hidden truth about them.
To get a sense of the kinds of intrusive thoughts people who DO NOT have OCD experience, please click here link to doc I sent you. This is the result of a research study that was done with some university student who had no diagnosis of OCD or any anxiety disorder. This shows how ‘normal’ intrusive thoughts are, surprising isn’t it? This supports the idea that intrusive thoughts are natural and that people with OCD just process them differently. Therapy can help you to process them more helpfully and claim your life back from OCD.