- Date posted
- 3y
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 3y
I am sorry that you are having a hard time with compulsions right now. What works for me is t distract myself by going for a walk, or reading a book, or calling a friend. Because, as we know, compulsions will only make the ocd stronger. I remind myself when I catch myself compulsing, that I don’t want my ocd to set up shop and I need to do something to stop the loop. We cannot help the intrusive thoughts from coming, nor can we stop the anxious feeling, but we choose whether we do compulsions or not. I am sorry if that sounds harsh, but in therapy that is what I have learned. I cannot stop ocd from happening, but what I do when it happens is within my control, so I am constantly on guard about compulsing, and even so, I still do it. Be gentle with yourself. This is a process and you are facing your ocd and that is scary. Self compassion is the key. I hope this helps.
- Date posted
- 3y
Thanks a lot for your great explanation!💕
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 3y
Hello! I know how tough it is to break the cycle of compulsions! But just think the second you stop doing compulsions, is a second closer to being recovered! Sure it’s a small step towards progress but all the little steps add up. You gotta dig deep and fight with everything you have. Don’t let OCD control you and your life. Live your life like you don’t have OCD. No need to pay attention to it. When you stop paying attention it will eventually go away. You got this!
- Date posted
- 3y
Thank you !!!!!!! Appreciate the kind words ! Really does help
- Date posted
- 3y
Be strong, We all share the same experience! Yes, OCD is hard but we are harder than that! If OCD hit us x times...we will hit it back x+1 time!💪😙
- Date posted
- 3y
Thank you all for your words of encouragement. Definitely feels good knowing that I can come in here and know there are people going through the same thing.
- Date posted
- 3y
Right now I am just having like a dissassociation feeling. I know it’s my ocd. I get the scariest thought that what if the people around me aren’t real and I’m all alone. Usually this thought never bothered me that much but right now it’s giving me a depressed feeling and just feeling scared. I know it’s OCD. Sorry if that is a trigger for anyone and thanks for all the kind words!
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 3y
We are in this together and reach out anytime. OCD is a difficult and cruel disorder but it helps to have support.
- Date posted
- 3y
First of all, you’re here asking for encouragement instead of reassurance. HELL YEAH!! Look at you!! You are an OCD rockstar warrior babe! Seriously!! Next, you are not alone. We are all here because OCD has wreaked some havoc in our lives. Again, good job coming somewhere with people who get it! And I read that your OCD is causing you dissociation (fun! 🙄 not). It really does latch onto the things that freak us out the most and I’m sorry it’s causing you this specific pain. So remember that we don’t fight it by arguing with it, but by accepting the *possibility* of everything it brings up. When your brain says, “maybe this is all fake” instead of fighting with it and looking for evidence of why it’s wrong, say, “huh. Then I’m like really really smart to be able to imagine all of this!” Or simply, “maybe. And also this chocolate tastes amazing.” It’s uncomfortable and you don’t feel better right away of course, but it lets the OCD know that you’re not feeding it. And you are strong. You’ve lived with this for how long and you keep going. You are strong enough to tolerate the discomfort and embrace the uncertainty. ❤️ You’ve got this! OCD is tough, but you’re tougher!
- Date posted
- 3y
Wow thank you so much for those kind words. It’s hard to not ask for reassurance sometimes. Your words are really encouraging and I’m so thankful for this app to connect to people who understand what we’re going through. Ocd is scary, but this app is really helping me get through tough times and gives me courage to kick ocds butt
- Date posted
- 3y
@Calove Oh good! I’m so grateful! ❤️👏🏼
Related posts
- Date posted
- 17w
Hello everyone! Just wanted to see if I can get some encouragement, hope, and love from the community tonight. I have been having racing thoughts and for years I thought the loudest most repetitive one's were just GAD or denial. OCD is scary and I am trying to get back into my hobbies. I am just exhausted and sad.
- Date posted
- 15w
I had a really bad nightmare revolving around one of my big themes and I woke up with the panic still left over the dream as if it was real and I kept thinking about the situations. I tried to tell myself it was just a dream, but then it made me question real life. So then it was a cycle of ruminating about the events as though they were real and my reality which really messed me up bc my biggest theme right now is becoming schizophrenic/catatonic/"crazy." I feel stuck in a loop, I've tried saying the "maybes" and even talking to my partner about other things but it just keeps looping in my head "am I crazy?" "I can't differentiate between dreams" "I feel like I'm stuck in my head and I can't even talk". Any tips? I feel like I'm at the crescendo of my 20 years (lifelong) ocd due to stress from moving soon.
- Date posted
- 12w
I still do not have an OFFICIAL diagnosis (I dont have the means to do so) but given my symptoms, past and present in my life hugely suggest OCD is what I am dealing with. I cannot be 100 percent certain but after searching for answers and researching for a long time now, I am fairly certain and confident this is what I am struggling with. Given this step forward, I am making more effort into giving up compulsions. at the current moment I believe to be dealing with ROCD, as I have been having several intrusive thoughts that conflict with my relationship. For starters, recently over the past month or 2, I have been struggling with intrusive thoughts like not being over my ex, being attracted to someone else, losing feelings for my partner and not being in love, etc. I can consciously identify that I dont believe these thoughts to be true but it causes me so much distress and anxiety. It gets extremely unbearable some days, and I have leaned into 2 main compulsions. I have relied on thought checking and googling as my source of relief. At first the googling was genuinely to start finding answers; hence why I have made some of the discoveries I have about OCD including this site. But it developed into every time I was anxious, I would whip my phone out and start googling strictly to find an answer that would reassure me or calm me down. As for thought checking, it acted as a way to reaffirm my love for my girlfriend in my head when I have had the thoughts that collide with my relationship and how I feel about my girlfriend. It worked at first but developed into a compulsion where every time a bad thought got me worked up id either do my normal googling or Id think about that in my head to calm myself down. Over time these compulsions have gotten less and less affective and now when I do them it only gets me more anxious and desperate for reassurance (strengthening the cycle or whatever it is lol). I did some more research and finally have accepted the very real fact that I am going to have to sit in heavy anxiety and not give into compulsions for a while in order to treat this. I have to sit in the thoughts that make me feel all this hightened anxiety and distress without giving into compulsion. to be honest I am scared, the thoughts are more rampant than ever, but I am ready to commit to this. I dont think I am gonna be able to go cold turkey on my compulsions so I am ready for the reality I might relapse on the compulsions sometimes, But am gonna keep going until I can break these shackles OCD has on my life right now. I wanna ask, what is everyones methods they use to avoid giving into compulsion when the thoughts get loud? any advice is welcome :)
Be a part of the largest OCD Community
Share your thoughts so the Community can respond