anyone else feel their ocd intrusive thoughts get worse at night during the night and then when they first wake up?

Mine definitely are at their peak when I first wake up. It used to be incredibly overwhelming and make me not want to get out of bed it was like someone opened the flood gates of intrusive thoughts. Since doing ERP and meds it has gotten much better though. They still flood in when I first wake up, but I am much more prepared to push aside the thoughts (okay, most of them anyway) and get up and start going about my day.

Mine wake me up each morning, it is a daunting way to start the day. I’ve found that it helps to just get up and start the day.

Me. Maybe because I experienced some bad things happening during the night.

Yes, and I’ve heard there’s a biological reason for this. When we first wake up, our chortisol levels are at their peak. Chortisol being a stress hormone, it kicks our OCD into gear.

Oh interesting, I hadn’t heard that before. But it makes a lot of sense.

It happens to a log of people with mental illnesses, and not, because nighttime = wind down for bed. That causes people to slow down and start thinking.

I’ve been experiencing a lot during the morning and waking up

Are there any ways to address the elevated cortisol level?