It’s all stuff in your head. Regardless of whether you label it as an urge, a feeling, an intrusive thought, or a penguin, that’s a label that you choose. It’s subjective. Somebody else might call that experience something totally different.

Personally, a big part of recovery was relearning everything I thought I knew about emotions and thoughts. OCD doesn’t fall from the sky. Everything in our lives is part of how our mental health deteriorates to the point of illness. So recovery involves making changes everywhere, and in how we do everything, and that’s likely going to involve relearning how you interpret your internal experiences.

No matter what’s happening in my head, it doesn’t change the healthy things I need to do everyday. It helps to shift the focus from the stuff in your head to your actions.