Hi there, Huddlers. Great week. This week, we’ll discuss Strategies Module 2: Inflated responsibility is excessive.
Inflated responsibility occurs when you take too much responsibility for an internal or external state due to the feeling of guilt. Your feeling of guilt is excessive. It is a feeling, not a fact, message, or threat.
The Huddle.care schedule this week is:
Community Time - Mondays at 8pm CT
Any and all content - Tuesdays at 4 pm CT
Any and all content - Tuesdays at 7pm CT
Any and all content - Tuesdays at 8 pm CT
Any and all content - Wednesdays at 8 pm CT
Any and all content - Thursdays at 7pm CT
Any and all content - Fridays at 2 pm CT
If you try to sign up for a group, but the sign-up is closed, email me so I know that there is extra interest in that time.
Clinicians, I’m hiring group leaders at a competitive hourly rate. Interviews begin in October. Email me at maggie@huddle.care for more information.
Content for review:
Donate to Get Peace, Give Peace
Listen to my interview on The OCD Stories Podcast
Review the Huddle.care Core Values
Review the Huddle.care Curriculum infographic
Review the Huddle.care Self-monitoring infographic
#MoreEffectiveMoments When you click on the button below, you'll be redirected to a secure form where you can share your moment. Follow the prompts when you submit your moment and explain how what you did was effective. I'll give you an animated character and post it to Instagram.
Edited Transcript:
Hi there, Huddlers. Thanks for your time. I appreciate the chance to spend time with you this week.
We're discussing inflated responsibility. There are two types of inflated responsibility.
The first is thought-action fusion.
The second is taking responsibility over something you can't control
Thought-action fusion occurs when having a thought feels like an action. Thoughts and actions feel fused together. This is common in Harm OCD. You might have the thought, “What if I hurt someone?” which gives you the feeling of guilt and makes it feel like you actually did it. Having the feeling of guilt doesn’t mean you’ve done something wrong.
Here are some examples of thoughts that could give you the feeling of guilt and make you feel like you've done something wrong.
“What if I hit someone with my car?”
“What if I left my stove on?”
“What if I said something inappropriate that offended someone?”
“What if I forgot to say something kind?”
“What if I wanted to harm that person?”
“What if I wanted to harm myself?”
“What if I wanted to do that sexually inappropriate act, like molesting a child, that I don't really want to do?”
“What if I could have helped and I didn't?”
“How do I know that my motives, intentions, and actions are good, kind, and pure?”
These are all thoughts that give people with inflated responsibility the feeling of guilt and make them feel like their thoughts are important.
The function of the feeling of guilt is to cue you to make amends. Real guilt tells you that you should apologize or do something to repair whatever mistake you made. If there's nothing to apologize for or nothing to fix — because it was just a thought — then you're experiencing excessive guilt as the consequence of inflated responsibility.
Label the guilt.
Accept it as a feeling.
Refrain from fueling the thought.
Rather, redirect your attention away from it.
You might feel guilty when you let go of the thought. Good! You're doing your exposure practice correctly.
You might also have inflated responsibility if you attempt to take responsibility over something you can't control.
You can't control what other people think, say, feel, and do.
You can't control outcomes within systems that are bigger than you.
You can't control the sensations, feelings, and thoughts that show up in your body and brain.
You can control your response to both your internal and external environment.
Figure out what you can control. Figure out what you value. Focus your energy on acting on your values.
Inflated responsibility is excessive