Repeating Thoughts Over and Over

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For about the last ten years, I have always had certain thoughts I’ve repeated over and over. I used to picture these thoughts written on the ceiling, so I could read them. If I feel like I’ve made a mistake, I need to start again.

Some I have had:

“I will be back” whenever I go on a holiday or anywhere I like, especially when the plane is taking off.

“I will buy this on DVD when it’s out” whenever I go to the movies and like the movie.

“They said it is only a grade one or two heart murmur, and that he’s always had it. His tablets should help” when I found out my dog had a heart problem and I thought he was dying.

“Welcome to Victoria. I hope you are enjoying yourself. I will go back to your state/I will go to your state if I haven’t been” whenever I see a car from another state of Australia.

“Please be a good day and don’t let anything bad happen” whenever I notice it is midnight. I watch the clock just to make sure I can think this sometimes.

For the last three years, I have been repeating my wishes (in my mind) instead of only thoughts, and I’ll wish for the same things throughout the day. I won’t leave a room I’m in without wishing that I’ll be very happy the next time I’m in there, for example, if it’s a room I don’t go into all the time. I’ll watch the clock for a few minutes just to wish at 11:11, to make my wishes more likely to come true.

In the last few months, I’ve been reminding myself that I can’t control anything with my wishes because I’ve realised that I could be doing it because I feel like I can have some type of control by wishing. I know that if I wish for something and it doesn’t work, I would feel like I didn’t wish enough or that I did it wrong.

Does anyone else do this? Is it common?

I do have certain "stock phrases" that I think of, or use, in certain situations.

Whenever things seem calm to me, I might blurt out: "All Quiet on the Western Front."

This is really relatable. I often get stuck in a cycle of negative thinking. When I'm in it, I'll even start thinking about events from years ago that didn't resolve well, just to add to my bolus of worry. I've found that one way to escape this cycle is to talk about something going on in the present, whether it's reading a street sign aloud, calling a family member just to chat, or asking myself my go-to question intended to help me move on with the next task at present hand "What do I need?" Usually the answer is something like "I need eggs to finish making the pancakes" or "I need to get out of bed and put on my nice new pair of pants, so I can face the day in awesome pants." Focusing on tiny positive things in the present is helpful for me.

It sounds like your repetitive thoughts aren't too negative though, which seems like a good thing.

I have repeated thoughts over & over but they change after a while or just stop for periods of time. They're not as bad as they used to be cuz I started taking Neurontin/Gabapentin for OCD