The focus of this blog is primarily on the obsessive concern with the awareness itself. Hyperawareness of sensations in the hands, as another example, can be triggers for obsessive fears of harming self or others. Hyperawareness of the position of or sensations in the groin, for example, are a common issue for those with obsessive fears related to sexual issues. Like any obsession, there is a fair amount of cross-over into other obsessions. The very presence of thinking taking place.where the arms are in relation to the rest of the body, where the tongue rests in the mouth) Here are some examples of common experiences people with hyperawareness obsessions struggle with: In other words, we do a lot without thinking about it, so thinking about it feels uncomfortable.
Hyperawareness or sensorimotor obsessions are characterized by an excessive concern that your attention to some otherwise forgettable or involuntary bodily process will become totally and permanently conscious. Once it gets you to sign the contract, that you will commit to being unhappy so long as you are this way now and not the other way as before, you remain its slave. This statement represents one of OCD’s cruelest, and frankly, laziest efforts to dominate your attention. Your whole life, you were one way and now you appear to be another. Once you understand Hyperawareness Obsessions and how the mind has gotten stuck, you can learn to stop doing what makes sense instinctively (the mental equivalent of flailing about in quicksand) and do the mindfulness and CBT work that can help you get grounded again.