PART 2/11 In the relatively recent past, which roughly coincides with the exacerbation of neurosis, very tragic events occurred related to the content of the symptoms. The accident in which L.’s mother was involved, as well as the voluntary death of his uncle, determined the theme of the main fears. However, you should not assume that these events are the causes of OCD. Death, injuries, accidents are painful events in themselves, but the fact that they are painful does not always indicate the risk of developing neurosis. Each Achilles has his own heel, his own weak spot. They played a key role - they became a psychotrauma, a theme that touches on the need and impossibility of satisfying the painful, neurotic needs of L’s personality. In essence, an internal conflict is born. We managed to describe it later. At the first consultation, we identified some personality traits that in general indicate neuroticism and, in particular, that very conflict. We are talking about social anxiety and demands on oneself. The development of these traits resulted in the following automatic thoughts (not to be confused with obsessive ones) and the intermediate beliefs behind them: AM I look stupid, they won’t take me seriously AM I’m worse than them AM I must look good, otherwise everyone will reject me AM I must do my best efforts and self-realizationPU I shouldn’t rest, I should work harderPU I don’t deserve food and I have to punish myselfPUThere is a risk that I will be a nobody, an empty lost personThe last intermediate belief almost directly points to a distorted image of my own Self, in other words to a negative deep-seated belief about myself , which torments L.. Opening it sometimes requires a lot of effort. Here we were lucky, and all that remained was to ask a couple of questions: “Who do you consider yourself deep down? Who will you become if things don’t work out?” GU I’m not interesting In the future, this will help us and you, dear reader, understand how destructive these beliefs are on a person’s life as a whole, and how they became that very Achilles heel in this stories. In the next part (the second meeting) with L., we finished understanding the structure of neurosis, identified the rituals and beliefs associated with it, and also began work on changing the meaning described above (the prophecy of death) given to obsessive thoughts and the resulting from this defensive reaction (rituals) If you have any questions or need to better understand your neurosis, then you can always ask me a question on the website or in the VK group: Freedom from OCD