Wednesday 29 January 2020

I’m Afraid of Having Bad Luck

From a woman in Canada: I’m so scared I will get bad luck. Not bad luck from 2019 and not bad luck from 2020 so I’m guessing that I’m just afraid once again of not having my wishes granted and my dreams fulfilled. Today, my head is spinning again. It’s pounding and swirling.

It’s because I’m scared of buying the wrong thing. I bought a grey dustpan at the dollarama, thought it would give me bad luck and returned it and got a blue one instead. I envisioned all the bad luck from 2019 going away with the grey dustpan. I felt so much better after I purchased the other one. A weight lifted off of my head. Only now, I’m starting to have second thoughts. The blue dust pan doesn’t match with the red broom and I’m discomforted by that. I am thinking I should have stuck with the grey one and not given into my ocd.

I’ve been used to having a pessimistic side inside of me and now it’s gone and I actually don’t know what to do because I’m afraid of being completely happy. I’m afraid of it because in the last year I’ve lost it over and over again. Im just afraid that I was on the right track with sticking with the grey dustpan. The colour of the blue dust pan is a bright blue and it makes me feel all out of whack and out of order. I feel now that I should go back to the store and get the grey dustpan back. It’s all I can think about right now and it’s getting in the way of things I need to do.

To me, the grey dustpan was bought during 2019 and it represents the badluck that I’ve acquired throughout the year. Getting rid of it means a fresh start. But the colour of the blue also brought to mind some other bad thoughts inside my head as well. Although they are just dustpans. But the blue colour still bothers me and makes me uncomfortable. Please help! I want to throw out the blue dustpan now but that would be a waste of money, I miss the grey one. They are just dustpans but I’m thinking by making the choice to choose a blue or grey, the colour of the dustpan will have an impact on where my life will be headed and if I accomplish my dreams or not. I’m not even sure if I will believe someone if they say that they are just dustpans and don’t have an impact.

The choice of color of dustpan won’t impact your life. Your thoughts about it definitely will. I think you already know that. I think you also know that you probably do have obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). What you didn’t share with me is whether you have sought out some treatment for it.

My guess is that if you weren’t obsessing about dustpan decor, you’d be obsessing about something else. This is a very, very hard way to live. You deserve to be free of such disturbing thoughts.

OCD can be successfully treated. Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) has been shown to be very effective. CBT is a very practical approach to problems like yours. You will learn skills for stopping disturbing thoughts and for changing negative thinking (like believing that you’ll have bad luck).

Please consider working with a CBT therapist. You deserve to be free of these thoughts so that you can live life more happily.

I wish you well.

Dr. Marie



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