Journaling Prompts for Intrusive Thoughts and OCD
Intrusive thoughts are among the most misunderstood mental health experiences. The thoughts that arrive uninvited—disturbing, unwanted, sometimes deeply at odds with your values—are not signs of who you are or who you want to be. They are a brain misfiring on threat detection, producing noise that gets louder the more you try to suppress it. The shame that accompanies intrusive thoughts is often the hardest part. Writing isn't a treatment for OCD, and professional support matters enormously—but writing can help you put some distance between yourself and the thoughts, and hold the shame with slightly more compassion.
Journaling Prompts
Without describing the content in a way that distresses you further, write about what living with intrusive thoughts is actually like day to day. The interruptions, the rituals, the exhaustion—what does it cost you?
What do you tell yourself the thoughts mean about you? Now ask: is that interpretation accurate, or is it exactly the trick your brain is running?
What moments of genuine relief from the intrusions have you experienced—what helped, even briefly? Not to prescribe a fix, but to acknowledge what you already know about what gives you some peace.
What do you wish people around you understood about what this is like? Write it here—the full, honest account you rarely get to give.
What does your life look like when the intrusions are less loud? What does the quieter version of your day feel like, and what would it mean to have more access to that?