In this blog, we can look at thinking error 3. This thinking pattern involves giving too much importance to thoughts and believing that just by thinking, something will happen. For example, “I am having thoughts that my father will die. If I think he will die, he will, and I will be responsible for his death.”
This can take the form of Thought-action Fusion, where the OCD sufferer believes that just thinking a thought leads them to carry out a particular action or is the same as doing the action. Hence, the term “Thought-action” fusion. That is, “just thinking will make it happen.” If I think I will push a man in front of the train, it will cause the event to happen.
Thought-event fusion: As the previous thinking error mentioned, “If I think my dad will die, he will”. In this thinking error, the thought-event connotations are fused. Hence, the distress when the unhelpful thinking pattern of “I I think my dad will die, the event of my dad’s death will take place”. Thinking equals happening in this thinking error. This is why the intrusive thought of one’s loved one dying leads to continuous distress, ruminations and an urge to perform compulsions “to undo that thought”.
Thought-object fusion: In this thinking error, a belief that an object carries thoughts, feelings or personal characteristics. For example, in the Hoarding subtype of OCD, the person might collect all the belongings of the loved ones not willing to part with them. This is when the thought of the loved one is fused with the object the loved one possesses.
Challenging the error of Thought-event fusion
To challenge this thinking error, choose a person to conduct this experiment. Ensure that this person is far from you and only an acquaintance, so you are not emotionally invested in this experiment. Now, keep thinking for a full 10 minutes that something horrible, such as death or an accident, will happen to them. Keep doing this at regular intervals for a whole week. After a week, check if the person you experimented with is well.
Challenging the error of Thought- action fusion
To challenge this thinking error, choose a person to conduct this experiment. Ensure that this person is far from you and only an acquaintance, so you are not emotionally invested in this experiment. Think for a whole week at regular intervals about an action you might do that might hurt them. Think about, for example., pushing them off a cliff. Keep thinking about this for the whole week. At the end of the week, reflect on the thinking that caused the action.
Challenging the error of Thought- object fusion
Reflect and write about other ways in which a loved one can be remembered apart from the objects they possess. Do you feel guilty giving away their possessions? Can you delink the possessions from the thoughts of your loved ones?
We suggest that you maintain a log book for your self-help work. You can bring the log book to the psychiatrist when you visit them.
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