- Username
- Anonymous
- Date posted
- 2y ago
Hey! I would just like to throw some words of advice to you. I’m someone who struggled with OCD for years and I’m recovered. Try to remember the concept that our brains are very helpful and very nice to us. Your brain is just being very helpful in regards to “trying to make you feel good” if you’re constantly judging anxiety as a bad thing, then your brain is just trying to help, by constantly bringing up thoughts, sensations or feelings you don’t like, because your brain wants to “solve” those problems, so you feel better. That’s all that is happening in layman’s terms. Your brain isn’t evil, just consider it a watch dog that’s always looking out for you. You can tell the brain thank you for everything you do, but I’m not going to perform compulsions to feel better. I’m just going to sit with this anxiety and carry on with what I value and what matters to me. This teaches the brain, that there is no danger and that anxiety is ok to have. You can have panic attacks. You can have fear. Anxiety is a natural feeling, just like any other feelings we experience. If you’re number one goal in life is to have no anxiety, your brain picks up on that and will give you sooo many things to ruminate on, check on or try to control. Try letting those thoughts be with you, by not engaging with them or trying to control them. Follow your values and do things that matter in your life with thoughts and sensations you don’t like. Another tip: when you say “if my intrusive thoughts” I consider “intrusive thoughts” a compulsion. Because you’re judging those thoughts as something bad. Thoughts are bad, they aren’t good. They’re just thoughts. They have no meaning. They are like clouds passing in the sky, you don’t put meaning to the clouds in the sky, so don’t put meaning to your thoughts. They are just something your brain does. That watch dog keeps coming up with thoughts that it knows you’ll react to. That’s why you’re stuck in this cycle. 😊
Thank you so much for this! This is very helpful and I appreciate you commenting very much
@Anonymous No problem! If you have any questions, ask away! Otherwise, enjoy the journey 😊
I’ve experienced this as well, and I think it’s very common. OCD is such a horrible feeling, and so it makes sense that people would be scared of it coming back. I would suggest that you treat the thought of “what if my OCD comes back” or “what if my intrusive thoughts come back” the same as you would any other OCD thought. You should tell the OCD: “Ok, you’re trying to tell me the intrusive thoughts might come back. I don’t really care what you have to say. I’m going to live my life, and I’m not going to let you control me anymore.” If you do this, that fear of intrusive thoughts and anxiety coming back won’t be so bad anymore. Hope this helps!
Thank you so much! I am definitely going to try this!
@Anonymous You’re welcome!
i feel anxious and depressed for what’s coming next, one week im okay then for the following 2 weeks im drowned in all my thoughts😞
I had a lot of trouble last year with my relationship, no matter how much reassurance my Bf would give me I was always afraid he was going to leave me. Towards the end of our relationship I was anxious and crying a lot. He couldn’t take it anymore. He fell out of love with me. We broke up not just because of that but because we both weren’t on the same page as to what we wanted out of our relationship. Which is why I just thought that’s what caused my anxiety. We broke September and I thought I could finally relax a little because the anxiety had lifted. Come December though my mind had lost it. I’ve had extremely grueling intrusive thoughts/images pretty much every day since. Ones of harming people I love. I have no history of violence what so ever. I was the naive church girl growing up. I always wanted to help people as much as I could. I was never a vengeful person. In fact if i had a argument with someone I’d have to fix it right away. I couldn’t stand them being upset with me. This has been going on for 8 months now. I find it hard to think of anything else. I google a lot to see if my thoughts are normal or not. I have to constantly reassure myself things are going to be okay and that I won’t hurt anyone. Most days I don’t like to be touched or sometimes it’s hard for me to even talk. I feel scared all the time. I went to my doctor for depression and anxiety and they put me on lexapro which only seemed to make me more jittery and anxious. Then Zoloft which helped but then stopped working. I’m not on Paxil w/Xanax to help the panic attacks. But I can’t tell if it’s working. I almost feel like it’s not because everyday I break down and cry. I don’t know what to do anymore. I feel like I should be locked away. I have a therapy appointment in two weeks. I’m trying to hold on and not freak out for the time being.
i really don’t wanna go on medication but i’ve been in therapy for 2 months and i don’t seem to be getting better. i don’t know if it will get better with time or if i’m going to need to go on meds. i’m scared i’ll become suicidal, worse, or even become dependent on them. does anyone know if my intrusive thoughts can possibly go away with time if i really try or does that require meds? the thoughts are present all day long over basically everything i do. also for anyone who’s on meds how has it changed you with your ocd?
Hello, 3 weeks ago I experienced something that triggered horrible intrusive thoughts. I have been having 5-10 panic attacks every day. I can't leave the house and haven't been able to work. My relationship with my girlfriend is in distress as she has 2 young kids and doesn't understand what I am going through. I feel so alone. It wasn't until last Monday that my psychiatrist identified it as intrusive thoughts and now I am realizing how many other OCD symptoms I am having. I can't eat from my anxiety. I am so so sad. I just feel like this will never end and I am going to be in this black hole forever. All I do is worry about losing everything and everyone I love because of this.
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