- Username
- klands3
- Date posted
- 3y ago
Thinking of my high levels of compassion and caring as a super power. It’s a good thing to care so much about the world and my impact on it. Not enough people care about how their actions affect others. I now lean in to the parts of caring so much that make me feel so much joy, like when I can be the adult in a kids life that I needed when I was a kid. Then it gets easier to understand the stressful parts of ocd
Joking about it
Giving myself grace. I used to get so upset with myself when I’d be feeling good for awhile then would hit rough spots. It always felt like I was going backwards instead of forward which wasn’t the truth. I’d be so hard on myself. Grace has been a big big deal. Also, self care. Even if it’s 15 minutes a day it is necessary. Learning to live in the present moment instead of constantly being worried about ALL the things ALL the time. Focusing on the good and just pushing through the hard. Realizing that just because I had a few hard moments in a day doesn’t really mean my whole day was bad. I also take medicine and have for 16 years. I try to move my body daily outdoors or in the gym. I’ve been not great at that one lately and I can tell 😖. I also will say recognizing OCD for what it is and learning to understand better how it effects us definitely is helping me realize that things really are okay even in the times they do not feel like it. Also becoming aware of triggers but not overwhelming myself with them or obsessing over them.
Accepting you’re a good person and that OCD is just a tiny fraction of the person you truely are. Each night, write down on a list one thing you you like about yourself (eg ‘I am brave because I went to work today’, ‘I have a caring family because I am loved’, ‘I am a kind person because I said hello to a stranger today’, etc). You will soon see a long list of why you are worthy and so much more than what your OCD makes you believe 😇
there have been so many different avenues that have helped me cope with my OCD. self acceptance being the biggest one. learning to love myself while having OCD has been the biggest impact on myself.
I see allot of people complaining about their OCD but not enough about what they are doing to recover. What exposures are you doing? Are there unique therapies that you are doing? Are you feeling any better on medications like prozac or zoloft? How hard have you been working on controlling your anxiety. Give me some hope!
I am probably a lot older than most members on here having had ocd for over 40 years and I have had every type of ocd but its always thoughts based and mental rituals around harming people I love. . I have been doing great using self help books, and thought I had everything under control at last. I had quit worrying about it and realised I was never going to do any of the things I feared and would never ever want to. However out of the blue a few weeks ago I had a weird but horrible thought pop up, which I tried to do exposure for, by telling myself we can say anything in our heads even if its not true, as the self help books taught me. . that then started a whole new ball game as I then started bringing the horrible thoughts up on purpose and made them the worst I could for exposure , thinking it was the right thing to do but now i am feeling even worse again as by doing that I actually said the things I feared coming into my head for example:..'I could say I want ******to happen to the people i love ( then I kept repeating in my head that I wouldnt say that) I would never want anything bad to happen to them ever , they are my world and I love them more than Ive ever loved anyone. has this exposure I tried to do become a compulsion? . I seem to be constantly repeating this and then praying to keep everyone safe,,, why am i being tortured like this its as though the ocd bully is now saying ah but what if you hurt people by saying horrible things. please, please someone help me as I am really anxious and upset over this.
OCD is a struggle, what has personally helped you to get past it? I am going to see a therapist soon once my insurance starts up, but in the meantime, what are small tactics that help you?
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