If in Doubt ... It's an Obsession

I think it was in mid-June that I first read the advice that if you are in doubt about whether or not something is an obsession, you're better off treating it as an obsession. This immediately struck me as sound advice. Of course, if someone is prone to obsessive doubt if they are doubting whether or not something is an obsession, it probably is.

On a practical level, though, I didn't find this advice terribly useful. Yes, I am prone to obsessing, I thought, but there are "real" problems and "fake" problems. Sure, chances are if I'm concerned something is an obsession or not, it probably is, but it doesn't mean that it definitely is.

Lately, though, I've started to understand this advice on a deeper level. First, you can obsess about a real problem, but it being a real problem doesn't make your obsessing any more useful. Obsessing is almost never productive, and almost always unpleasant.

Second, if you're prone to OCD, you're probably an obsessive person in general. So, assuming that something is an obsession means accepting this about yourself as a person. You probably have obsessive thoughts about little things all the time. You may not even find all of these obsessive thoughts unpleasant. Obsession is just part of how you think, but it often gets out of hand.