Module 10: Tricks & Cheats of OCD

Adapted by Brittany Goff from: O'Connor, K., & Aardema, F. (2012). Clinician's handbook for obsessive compulsive disorder: Inference-based therapy. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.

module 10

The cheats & tricks of Ocd

The Alternative Story

Reality Sensing

The Bubble

Neurodivergent Stories

OCD is Imaginary

The Feared Self

The Obsessional Story

Bridging

The Logic of OCD

Doubt Sequence

OCD isn't the only one that can tell stories. You can also tell stories based on your senses

You disconnect from your internal senses, becoming engrossed in this imaginative narrative.

Because of the monotropic processing style, you leave reality and become asorbed into an imaginary story

If you don't have any direct evidence coming from the senses, the thought is imaginary

All of those narratives are based around your Feared Self/Vulnerable Self Theme

Being autisitc or having ADHD has certian traits related that can create obsessional stories

OCD takes all of those reasonings to create a convincing story

Connects two irrelevant things and makes them relevant.

1. Trigger
2. Doubt
3. Consequence
4. Anxiety
5. Compulsion

OCD isn’t random; it stems from:

• Facts
• Rules
• Hearsay
• Personal Experiences
• Possibility

Open1

Welcome to the magic show!

You take your car to a mechanic for new brakes. You are driving home after the repairs, and your brakes give out. You crash into a ditch. You call the mechanic, and he insists that you bring it in again. You bring it in, and they repair the brakes for the second time. As you are on your way home, the brakes give out, and you crash into the car in front of you. When you call the mechanic, he insists that you bring it in a third time to repair the brakes.

Click each card to learn the different Cheats & Tricks of OCD

No, you wouldn't. It wouldn’t make sense, right? This is like listening to OCD. So far, OCD has been wrong and unreliable most of the time. So why do you keep going back? Let’s take a closer look at the rhetorical devices that may keep you returning to your OCD time and time again.

Reverse Reasoning

Testing It Out

Double Jeopardy

Living the Fear

Distrust of the Senses

Out of context facts

Mismatching

The Cheats & Tricks of ocd

Reverse Reasoning

Testing It Out

Double Jeopardy

Living the Fear

Distrust of the Senses

Out of context facts

Mismatching

Out of context facts

OCD can make you think about certain facts that are true, but these facts might not fit what's really happening around you right now. So, even though the facts themselves are correct, they aren't relevant to your current situation because they are being taken out of context.

Examples

Reverse Reasoning

Mismatching

Testing It Out

When OCD relies on hearsay-based reasoning, it can confuse you into believing that another person's experience is happening to you in the present moment. "It happened to somebody else, therefore it could happen to me!"

Double Jeopardy

Living the Fear

Distrust of the Senses

Mismatching

Out of context facts

Examples

Mismatching

Reverse Reasoning

Testing It Out

Double Jeopardy

Living the Fear

Distrust of the Senses

Mismatching

Out of context facts

It happened to somebody else, therefore it could happen to me!

Examples

Living the Fear

Reverse Reasoning

Testing It Out

Double Jeopardy

Living the Fear

Distrust of the Senses

Out of context facts

Mismatching

A trick that simulates reality as if there were actually sensory information in the here and now.This is because the story of OCD can be so convincing that you actually begin to experience the story “as if” it were real with all the physical feelings.

Examples

Living the Fear

• Being so afraid of getting nauseous to the point you make yourself nauseous.

• Fearing that you might have a groinal response, giving yourself a groinal response.

Living the fear

Living the Fear

A trick that simulates reality as if there were actually sensory information in the here and now.This is because the story of OCD can be so convincing that you actually begin to experience the story “as if” it were real with all the physical feelings.

Additional Explanations

Hyper empathy

Sensory differences

Synesthesia

other considerations

People cheat, so my partner could be cheating.

Russia has nuclear weapons, so Russia will start a nuclear war with us.

People lose their minds, so I can, too.

Out of context facts

Out of context facts

out of context fact

Germs do exist; therefore, I might have germs on my hands.

Mismatching

Mismatching

I heard about someone getting poisoned once, so I could get poisoned.

I saw a woman get a brain-eating tapeworm, so I could too.

Somebody I went to high school with got canceled, so I can get canceled too.

Mismatching

It happened to somebody else, therefore it could happen to me!

Reverse Reasoning

Testing It Out

Double Jeopardy

Living the Fear

Distrust of the Senses

Out of context facts

Mismatching

Reverse reasoning

Typical reasoning starts with an observation (in reality), then leads to a conclusion about that observation. Reverse reasoning begins with an idea or “fact” and then creates a conclusion.

Examples

Typical reasoning starts with an observation in reality (HAVING A COUGH), then leads to a conclusion about that observation. (I MIGHT BE SICK).

Reverse reasoning begins with an idea or “fact” (IT’S FLU SEASON) and then creates a conclusion (THEREFORE I’M GOING TO GET SICK).

Reverse Reasoning

reverse reasoning

Typical reasoning starts with an observation (in reality), then leads to a conclusion about that observation. Reverse reasoning begins with an idea or “fact” and then creates a conclusion.

Example

Vs.

I wonder if these spots could mean i'm sick

reverse reasoning example

I should check my body for signs of a disease to ensure I'm not sick.

Reverse Reasoning

Being so afraid of getting nauseous to the point you make yourself nauseous.

Fearing that you might have a groinal response, giving yourself a groinal response.

Somebody I went to high school with got canceled, so I can get canceled too.

LIVING THE FEAR

Living the Fear

Typical reasoning starts with an observation (in reality), then leads to a conclusion about that observation. Reverse reasoning begins with an idea or “fact” and then creates a conclusion.

Testing it out

Reverse Reasoning

Testing It Out

Double Jeopardy

Living the Fear

Distrust of the Senses

Out of context facts

Mismatching

OCD may convince you to test out the behavior and then try to use this as evidence for your doubt. Also known as a poorly done exposure.

Examples

Testing It Out

"I'm going to watch same sex pornographic to test for arousal"

TESTING IT OUT

Testing it out

OCD may convince you to test out the behavior and then try to use this as evidence for your doubt. Also known as a poorly done exposure

Double Jeopardy

Reverse Reasoning

Testing It Out

Double Jeopardy

Living the Fear

Distrust of the Senses

Out of context facts

Mismatching

OCD convinces you to obey it, which then creates new doubt because something bad might happen due to obeying it.

Examples

I gave in and checked my oven to verify it was off. But what if I accidentally hit the “on” button again while checking it?

Double Jeopardy

Fearing that you might have a groinal response, giving yourself a groinal response.

Somebody I went to high school with got canceled, so I can get canceled too.

Double Jeopardy

Double Jeopardy

OCD convinces you to obey it, which then creates new doubt because something bad might happen due to obeying it.

I gave in and checked my oven to verify it was off. But what if I accidentally hit the “on” button again while checking it?

Double Jeopardy

You wipe down your phone to remove germs. But what if, while cleaning, you actually spread germs from the rag onto the phone?

You wipe down your phone to remove germs. But what if, while cleaning, you actually spread germs from the rag onto the phone?

Double Jeopardy

Double Jeopardy

OCD convinces you to obey it, which then creates new doubt because something bad might happen due to obeying it.

Just as the name suggests, OCD can make individuals distrust or second-guess their own senses and themselves.Without this, inferential confusion wouldn’t be possible

Reverse Reasoning

Testing It Out

Double Jeopardy

Living the Fear

Distrust of the Senses

Mismatching

Out of context facts

distrust of the senses

Examples

Just as the name suggests, OCD can make individuals distrust or second-guess their own senses and themselves.Without this, inferential confusion wouldn’t be possible

Reverse Reasoning

Testing It Out

Double Jeopardy

Living the Fear

Distrust of the Senses

Mismatching

Out of context facts

distrust of the senses

Examples

distrust of the senses

Am I sure I turned the oven off?

What if my hands are still dirty even though I see they are clean?

Distrust of the Senses

DISTRUST OF THE SENSES

Just as the name suggests, OCD can make individuals distrust or second-guess their own senses and themselves.Without this, inferential confusion wouldn’t be possible

Additional Explanations

Another sense that gets disrupted for neurodivergent people, leading to phobias and Binocular Vision Dysfunction.

Research indicates that neurodivergent people have differences in proprioceptive needs.

Masking, trauma, and compliance based systems can weaken interoceptive awareness and the ability to understand the sensations your body sends you.

Neurodivergent people have different sensory experiences. They can actually feel things that neurotypical people can not. This isn't "imaginary" or "common sense".

How can we "trust our senses" when there is a cross wiring between 2 senses? Insight is enough to make a conscious shift.

Vestibular

Proprioceptive

Interoceptive

Sensory differences

Synesthesia

WHEN THE SENSES CAN'T BE TRUSTED..

50–80% of autistic individuals experience visual difficulties, including depth perception issues associated with Binocular Vision Dysfunction.

Symptoms of Binocular Vision Dysfunction (BVD)

Vestibular

did you know

• Increased anxiety in visually complex environments (supermarkets, driving, crowds)
• Panic attacks triggered by visual disorientation
• Social withdrawal due to discomfort with eye contact
• Avoidance of reading or screen use due to discomfort
• Feeling mentally exhausted after visually demanding tasks
• Heightened stress in fast-moving or flashing environments
• Fear of driving due to visual misjudgment

Anxiety & Emotional Symptoms

• Dizziness or vertigo – worsened by visual stimulation
• Motion sickness – feeling nauseous in cars, elevators, or escalators
• Feeling off-balance or unsteady while walking
• Poor depth perception – difficulty judging distances
• Bumping into objects or doorways frequently
• Clumsiness – dropping objects, tripping, or misjudging steps
• Difficulty walking down stairs – fear of falling or hesitating
• Feeling like the floor is tilting or moving
• Trouble riding a bike or driving – difficulty gauging speed or distance
• Poor hand-eye coordination – struggle with sports, video games, or tasks like pouring liquids

Balance & Coordination Symptoms

• Difficulty concentrating – often mistaken for ADHD symptoms
• Brain fog – feeling mentally sluggish or disoriented
• Easily distracted – especially in busy environments
• Reading difficulties – skipping lines, re-reading, or poor comprehension, darting eyes, mixing up words
• Headaches or migraines – especially after visual tasks
• Trouble processing fast-moving objects – difficulty watching and playing sports or fast-moving scenes

• Trouble with eye contact – can feel overwhelming or exhausting
• Increased stress or anxiety when visually overwhelmed
• Short attention span for visually demanding tasks

Cognitive Symptoms

symptoms

Repeats cycle

Avoidance Reinforces Fear & Worsens BVD

Avoidance Behavior Starts

Anxiety Increxases Symptoms

BVD Symptoms Appear

How BVD Creates Phobias

• Agoraphobia – Fear of crowded or open spaces (Busy visual environments can overwhelm someone with BVD)
• Claustrophobia – Fear of enclosed spaces (BVD can create spatial disorientation, making tight spaces feel more suffocating)
• Vehophobia – Fear of driving (BVD can make it hard to judge distances, lane positioning, or process fast-moving objects)
• Acrophobia – Fear of heights (Poor depth perception can make heights feel more unstable and disorienting)
• Bathmophobia – Fear of stairs or slopes (Difficulty perceiving steps or uneven surfaces can trigger fear of falling)
• Illyngophobia – Fear of dizziness or vertigo (People with BVD often fear situations that trigger their dizziness)

• Kenophobia – Fear of vast, empty spaces (Difficulty with depth perception can make large open areas feel unstable or unsettling)

Phobias

• Light sensitivity (photophobia) – discomfort with bright lights
• Difficulty focusing – struggle to keep objects clear

• Blurry vision – especially when switching focus between near and far
• Eye strain or fatigue – worsens after reading or screen use
• Frequent need to squint or close one eye – to reduce discomfort
• Words moving or jumping on the page – especially when reading
• Double vision (diplopia) – can be constant or intermittent

• Glare sensitivity – struggling with headlights or reflective surfaces

Vision-Related Symptoms

symptoms continued...

• Questioning reality because your vision is distorted.

• Questioning if your dizziness means you are losing grip on reality.

Existential

• Fearing you brushed up against something dirty, triggering washing.

• Misjudging how close you were to someone sick, and now worrying about catch their illness.

• Fearing you'll injury someone on accident because you often drop things, bump into things, and fall.

• Restriting kids play out of fear they will fall.

• Misjudging how close you are to someone and cause a fatal accident.

• Obsessive thoughts on wrecking your car (because you can't judge the distance correctly)

Checking & Negligence

Harm OCD

• Did you really see yourself turn off the stove?

• Re-reading documents because your eyes keep darting off the page.

Contamination

BVD and ocd

1. Hold your thumb at arm’s length in front of you.

1. Close one eye, then quickly switch to closing the other eye. Go back and forth between each eye. Cover one eye if necessary.
2. Observe whether your thumb appears to "jump" or shift position.

Thumb Shift Test

screening for Binocular Vision Dysfunction

This Thumb

This Thumb

1. Hold your thumb at arm’s length in front of you.

1. Close one eye, then quickly switch to closing the other eye.
2. Observe whether your thumb appears to "jump" or shift position.

Which of the two images were closest to your experiece doing the thumb shift test?

LET'S DISCUSS IT

MAYBE THIS TIME

MAYBE LATER

ADDITIONAL TRICKS

When OCD instills a vague but persistent fear that, although everything seems fine in the present, something bad might happen in the future due to a potential oversight, mistake, or unforeseen event.

LET'S DISCUSS IT

MAYBE THIS TIME

MAYBE LATER

MAYBE LATER

Examples

"These pesticides may not harm me now, but they may later in the future."

“I think I followed the rules, but maybe later I’ll realize I overlooked something and get sued.”

“I’ve had a clear health check, but maybe later I’ll discover a hidden condition that wasn’t caught."

MAYBE LATER

MAYBE LATER...

When OCD instills a vague but persistent fear that, although everything seems fine in the present, something bad might happen in the future due to a potential oversight, mistake, or unforeseen event. This trick leverages uncertainty about the future to keep doubt alive, convincing you that unless you take preventative actions or mentally review possible scenarios, you may face serious consequences later. This leads to compulsions like checking, seeking reassurance, or avoiding situations in an attempt to prevent a hypothetical future problem.

When OCD convinces you that, despite past reassurance or contrary evidence, this specific doubt or scenario might be valid "this time." Even though similar worries have been repeatedly proven false, OCD insists that "maybe this time" is different, urging you to engage in compulsions or mental checking “just in case."

LET'S DISCUSS IT

MAYBE THIS TIME

MAYBE LATER

Examples

MAYBE THIS TME

“I’ve eaten this food safely before, but maybe this time I’ll have an allergic reaction to it.”

MAYBE THIS TIME

“I always secure the pet gate, but maybe this time I didn’t latch it properly, and my pet could get hurt."

“This food smells fine, but maybe this time it’s spoiled in a way that I can’t detect.”

MAYBE THIS TIME

When OCD convinces you that, despite past reassurance or contrary evidence, this specific doubt or scenario might be valid "this time." Even though similar worries have been repeatedly proven false, OCD insists that "maybe this time" is different, urging you to engage in compulsions or mental checking “just in case.”This trick exploits the uncertainty by implying that the current situation has a unique quality or risk, making it feel too dangerous to ignore, even when there’s no real basis for concern in the present.

When OCD invites you into an endless internal debate over the doubt, under the guise of finding clarity or resolution.

LET'S DISCUSS IT

MAYBE THIS TIME

MAYBE LATER

LET'S DISCUSS IT

Examples

LET'S DISCUSS IT

“Was my comment offensive? Let’s go over every word I said to make sure I didn’t accidentally insult anyone.”

"What if my intrusive thought reflects my true self? I should figure this out"

LET'S DISCUSS IT

When OCD invites you into an endless internal debate over the doubt, under the guise of finding clarity or resolution. OCD presents the doubt as something that requires thorough consideration, analysis, or “discussion,” making it feel responsible or necessary to go over every detail repeatedly. This trick traps you in a cycle of rumination, where no amount of thinking or reviewing ever provides true resolution. Instead, the OCD simply keeps raising new "what ifs" or uncertainties, leading to more mental exhaustion without any satisfying answers.

let's test your skills

Correct!

"What if I’m the type of person who would cheat on my partner?"You decide to tempt yourself by purposely looking at or interacting with someone attractive to see if you feel tempted. If you notice any reaction—like a small feeling of attraction or nervousness—you panic, thinking, "That must mean I actually want to cheat!"

Reverse reasoning

Testing it Out

MAYBE LATER

try again

Try again

What if I touched the dirty faucet after washing?

Correct!

out of context facts

Double Jeopardy

Tesing it out

Try again

try again

What if the medicine label said “take one,” but I misread it and overdosed?

Correct!

mismatching

distrust of the senses

living the fear

Try again

try again

Food poisoning exists; therefore, I'm going to get sick.

Correct!

maybe later

out of context fact

distrust of the senses

try again

Try again

You suddenly feel a groinal response, which OCD convinces you is proof of attraction—even though it was triggered by fear.

Correct!

maybe later

living the fear

Let's discuss it

try again

Try again

Next, the Real Self

end of module 10

Try again

try again

If your thumb stayed perfectly still when you did the eye test, your results indicate that your eyes appear to be aligned based on this test. However, this is only a simple screening tool and does not rule out Binocular Vision Dysfunction (BVD) or other vision issues. If you experience symptoms such as dizziness, headaches, eye strain, difficulty focusing, motion sickness, or depth perception problems, it is recommended that you consult a neuro-ophthalmologist or a developmental optometrist for a comprehensive evaluation.

Your eyes appear to be aligned

Regular optometrists and ophthalmologists typically do NOT screen for BVD. Standard eye exams focus on visual acuity (clarity of vision) rather than binocular function. Even if you have 20/20 vision, you could still have BVD.

If you experience symptoms such as dizziness, headaches, double vision, trouble focusing, or balance issues, consider scheduling an evaluation with a neuro-optometrist or neuro-ophthalmologist for a comprehensive binocular vision assessment.

What Next?

Each of your eyes sees from a slightly different angle, and your brain fuses these two images into a single, three-dimensional view. If your eyes are not properly aligned, your brain has to work harder to merge the images, leading to:

• Depth perception difficulties (misjudging distances, difficulty catching objects, or navigating stairs)
• Eye strain and fatigue (especially when reading or using screens)
• Headaches or dizziness (due to constant effort to realign vision)
• Motion sickness or balance issues (caused by visual disorientation)

Why Does This Happen?

Your Thumb Test Results: Possible Eye Misalignment

Your results suggest that your eyes may not be perfectly aligned, as indicated by the shifting of your thumb when alternating between each eye. This could be a sign of Binocular Vision Dysfunction (BVD) or another issue with eye teaming and coordination. When one eye is slightly misaligned, closing one eye removes the conflicting image, causing your thumb to appear to shift position.