Help, I can't get it out of my head

[pompoochie]

This sounds just nuts, but it upsets me all day every day.

It's that horrible facebook viral image with a lotus seed head photoshopped onto a nipple.

I know it's fake and what it is. Rationally, it's just some stupid bad photoshop thing. But for the past week, since I saw it, I think about it all the time. Hourly at least. When I'm trying to sleep. In an interview yesterday. It constantly pops into my head and makes me feel nauseous and sick. I have some sort of weird compulsion to flip it inside out so the seeds come out.

This is messed up. How can I make it go away?????

This is so weird. I knew your thread was going to be about this just from the title. I've got the same problem. I literally can't stop thinking about it. Currently on medication, so I'm wondering if that's exacerbating things. But you have my sympathies so if anyone knows any techniques for getting rid of this sort of thing, please do share!

I've never seen this image although I've seen the lotus seed head on its own. I can see what you're describing in my mind's eye and it's even bothering ME slightly!

Powerful imagery.

I'm glad I'm not alone! I really need to stop obsessing over it, though.

I know the image you mean - gives me the heeebie jeebies. There was a similar one about 5 years ago, done with sunflower seeds, it was even animated, and the seeds wiggled - I thought about it non-stop for days!

Trypophobia!

you might get more ideas/techniques on the mental health boards, there are a wide variety of issues on there and lots of posts about mindfulness techniques etc
I think it's really common to get small obsessions/unwanted thoughts like this- it will pass but it feels like it won't at the time.
I would suggest either a calming mantra (distraction)
or maybe actually focussing on it even more strongly-like flooding with phobias the respponse has to fade eventually and you get through the other side and become calm in its presence which takes away its power??just off the top of mhead suggestions

It keeps flashing into my mind, too.

It's horrible :( even the non-photoshopped image of the lotus pod is creeping me out.

I also keep seeing things that look like it and I'm grossed out by them.

It's shit :( getting better as the week goes on though.

I knew this would be about that picture. I was the same when I first saw it. I still get a churning stomach whenever I think of it.

No advice but you certainly aren't alone op.

Thanks Maizie - I wondered if it would be a good idea to just let myself think about it properly rather than always trying to put it out of my mind, which probably makes it worse. I may try that.

It's like the image is burned on my brain.

I didn't know about all this until I joined MN. I have looked at every picture on threads about it. There have been a lot. At first I was just like you OP.
Now, I can look at the pictures and although I still don't like the look of them it doesn't make me feel sick like it used to, and it doesn't stay with me for hours.

Thankfully I haven't seen this picture but there was a thread with other types of pictures months ago. It took about 6 weeks to stop the pictures popping into my head.
I felt like throwing up everytime it did.