OCD Recovery: How To React Passively To an OCD Thought

Host: Ali Greymond
Podcast: OCD Recovery
Date: November 15, 2025

Episode Overview

Ali Greymond, OCD recovery coach and author, dedicates this episode to a crucial skill in overcoming obsessive-compulsive disorder: reacting passively to intrusive OCD thoughts. Focusing especially on “Pure O” (primarily obsessive thoughts without visible compulsions), Ali explains why withholding emotional energy and not engaging in compulsive behaviors is central to the recovery process.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. What Does “Passive Reaction” Mean?

• OCD feeds off your reaction. When an obsessive thought arises, it seeks a strong emotional or behavioral response—whether that’s reassurance-seeking, researching, or obsessing over the thought’s meaning.
  • "[OCD] wants a reaction out of you... That’s what we say is the reaction" (00:31).
• Passive reaction is about refusing to supply OCD with any emotional energy—neither fighting, fearing, nor ruminating.

2. The Difference Between Passive and Emotional Reactions

• Don’t try to get rid of the thought. Efforts to “switch” bad thoughts for good ones or forcibly accept unlikely outcomes only entrench the OCD cycle.
  • "You don't want to get rid of the thought. You don't want to switch a bad thought... for a good thought. You don't want to manipulate the thought." (01:13)
• Reject “accepting the worst-case scenario” as a coping technique. Ali warns that this approach can backfire and escalate anxiety levels.
  • "If you accept worst case scenarios, all it’s going to do is it’s going to up the level of what you need to accept to the point where you just won’t be able to accept it anymore... It’s crazy to be honest with you to do that." (01:27)

3. How to Cultivate a Neutral Attitude

• Step into your future perspective: Reflect on past OCD thoughts that no longer bother you. Treat current thoughts with the same neutrality, as though they’re just mental “noise.”
  • "Try to treat whatever OCD gave you... as, yeah, OCD just gave me another thing. It’s neutral. It’s just like, yeah, this popped into my brain, okay?" (01:50)
• View each new intrusive thought as just “thought number 1 million,” without significance.
  • "The only thing you need to accept is that this is your thought number 1 million. That’s OCD." (01:41)

4. Don’t Feed the Disorder—With Any Kind of Energy

• Even reacting with anger, frustration, or despair still supplies the OCD with energy.
  • "Even an anger reaction to the thought... still feeds it a lot." (03:36)
• Whether the content is distressing or OCD attacks your sense of suffering (“this will never go away”), the same principle applies—deny it energy by staying neutral.

5. Practical Advice for Everyday Life

• Ignore mode: When a thought comes, continue your day as if nothing happened. Don’t argue, don’t reassure yourself, don’t research—just keep moving.
  • "Passive neutral. Continue on with the day as if you don’t hear about it. Continue. Turn on complete ignore mode." (04:32)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "Are you going to give it energy and make it grow? You want OCD to flourish or not? And that’s where your reaction is critical. So react passively." (03:21)
• "You almost kind of propel yourself into the future and see how you would be about this thought. You, future you, would be the same about this thought..." (02:14)
• "The more energy you give it, the more the disorder grows. Bam. End of story." (03:06)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:31 — What OCD Seeks: Types of Reactions
• 01:13 — What Not to Do: Manipulating or “Accepting” Thoughts
• 01:41 — Neutrality and “Thought Number 1 Million”
• 02:14 — The Future Perspective Technique
• 03:06 — The Cycle of Energy and OCD Growth
• 03:36 — Why Even Anger Feeds OCD
• 04:32 — How to Practice Complete Ignore Mode

Ali’s central message is simple but powerful: The less you react to OCD thoughts—emotionally or behaviorally—the weaker the disorder becomes over time. Passive, neutral, and “ignore mode” stances are your most effective tools for long-term recovery.