- Date posted
- 3y ago
- Date posted
- 3y ago
Sounds like you’re suffering from rumination which is actually a compulsion. Here’s my favorite article on ruminating: https://drmichaeljgreenberg.com/rumination-is-a-compulsion-not-an-obsession-and-that-means-you-have-to-stop/ You could also write out a script of the worst version of whatever it is you’re ruminating about and use it for ERP. For example, if you’re worried everything was all your fault, write out a script where it was, 100% for sure your fault and all the disastrous things that means. Then re read it 10x a day without performing compulsions (including rumination) during or after. Just let the anxiety the script causes be there and leave on its own when you’re ready. Treating your ocd will probably help make this breakup a lot easier. But also don’t forget to give yourself some self compassion here. It’s okay to feel crappy after a breakup. It’s okay to feel crappy because of ocd. You don’t have to get “better” on any particular timeline. Be kind to yourself the way you would a close friend who had their heart broken. My guess is you wouldn’t be telling them they’re stupid for feeling sad.
- Date posted
- 3y ago
Hey, I've been through break ups that I'm sure ocd made harder. It's rough how hard it can be. What are the fears you have? Think the person above is spot on, breakups are gonna feel shit sometimes, and so is ocd. It's something I'm practicing too but the going over everything isn't getting you the answers you're hoping for. Maybe there's a way to practice sitting with uncertainty. Would depend on what the fears are, but could be like "maybe I could've done more, maybe I couldn't, I'm probably not going to find an answer". That'll feel terrible for a bit but it's the truth, sometimes relationships end and we won't always know why or if something would've helped
- Date posted
- 3y ago
thank you both so much for your input and help 💕 for both of y’all—it’s very much a couple things 1. an uncertainty about whether or not we should’ve broken up (it was mutual) 2. an anger and frustration towards how he is treating the situation now when he says he wanted to stay friends, but is putting in 0 effort in doing so 3. feeling like i’ll never find anyone again as wonderful as him it’s just all really overwhelming and a lot. and because of how much he hurt me and how he’s just sweeping it under the rug makes me even more mad at him and worried i won’t be able to stay friends with him which just complicates a whole lot of things in life and in my brain.
- Date posted
- 3y ago
Sounds like a lot of “what ifs” and a struggling with acceptance. - Maybe you made the right choice, maybe not. You actually don’t need to know with any more certainty than you already have. Stop trying to solve this. - Accept that the vision you had of your post-breakup friendship was wrong. It sucks and it hurts. You probably feel betrayed. But he’s made the decisions he has and you need to allow and respect the space he’s created. The only thing you CAN control here is how much effort you put into a friendship like this. - Again, maybe you will, maybe you won’t. You can’t and don’t need to know this with any more certainty than you already have. All three are also great opportunities for ERP scripts if you have experience doing them. - script about it being the wrong and worst decision. - script about him putting in no effort and losing him completely. - script about never finding anyone and dying alone. If you’ve heard of ACT, it could also be really helpful here in getting past your constant rumination and to a point of radical acceptance. I like this episode of The OCD Stories about ACT: https://theocdstories.com/episode/dr-patricia-zurita-ona-wise-moves-in-act-based-erp/
Related posts
- Date posted
- 21w ago
Having a really bad day with my ocd. Just had a massive meltdown. I’ve had 3 sessions with an ocd therapist and I feel worse. This is very confusing to me. I’ve read online that it’s normal to feel worse at the start of therapy, but i don’t know. I’m asking for a lot of reassurance from people, way more than I have ever done. My doubts and thoughts seem to be getting worse. My mum said if the relationship is making you so unhappy why are you doing it? This was sooo triggering for me but maybe she’s right? She said if I didn’t have the relationship in my life, I wouldn’t be having meltdowns or have an ocd spike, so she thinks I should consider whether to be in the relationship or not! Omg it’s so awful to hear those words. But maybe she is kind of right? If somethings making you anxious or unhappy, you stop don’t you? So why haven’t I broken up with him? That would be the logical step. Im so worried to make myself even more ill so im very scared to carry on with the relationship, because right now, my mind is telling me its the cause of my unhappiness and i would be better without it. But is that my ocd speaking? How do I know?! My life without him would be so bleak, or is it my life without the idea of someone in it? I have so many questions, it’s overwhelming. What if I’m not listening to my gut? Maybe I’m not. That makes me feel sick if I’m ignoring myself again. This is torture. What can I do to stop all these doubts and feel better about things!!! I would love some advice 🙏🏻🙏🏻 (this is my ocd talking, but comments that agree with my ocd are very triggering like ‘yes if you feel like that that is a major red flag’. Just comments that maybe give some hope, thank you 🙏🏻)
- Date posted
- 13w ago
hi. so one big factor of my OCD is rumination. i met a guy who i have a crush on the idea of (idea bc there are red flags). my biggest fear is not finding true love, my ex told me no one else would deal with what i have (my ocd, specifically reassurance seeking and getting overstimulated after intimacy). a few weeks ago, my friends and family all gathered and tried to give me advice that sounded like “you’re shy and you’ll never find someone.” after that, i’ve felt off. i’ve been using an unhealthy coping skill, daydreaming, and i’ve just felt unbalanced. my ocd makes everything feel different sometimes, i can’t explain it. life, myself, almost like being in a dissociated state. has anyone else experienced that? i don’t know how to remain balanced during my off times and i know pms exasperates it all. i take ashwaghanda and omega 3s in a multi vitamin daily. i take them all together in the evening but i’ve missed three days recently and also messed with my rocky sleep schedule because of fun times with friends. i hope these supplements work, because i don’t know if i’d be brave enough for medication. i had a bad reaction on prozac and often am forgetful. i just have been battling my OCD consciously for almost ten years now and unconsciously for longer. i am so tired, as my mental health extends beyond my OCD. i’m in talk therapy with some cbt aspects but i only see her twice a month. i’ve broken down so many times and promised myself id get on track or that certain things would work, but it’s like i am stuck in a circle that gets smaller when i’m able to help myself. i just want to be normal. i want to be able to mess up my sleep schedule to enjoy good times and not suffer horrible consequences or fear that i will be entirely thrown off balance. i don’t want to worry or doubt or feel so dissociative that i squint my eyes for a moment and wonder why i feel so unreal. i will never understand why god has allowed me to go through this. i cannot let it be for nothing but i don’t know how much more to bend and contort my body and brain to get somewhere stable but how lovely it would be if i could. i don’t have much of a schedule right now, i get apathetic and give in with things from time to time. one thing can trigger me and i am back to square one wether in a week or month. any advice, any and all is so helpful. your stories, your thoughts. maybe feeling less alone and knowing what has helped you is exactly what i need right now. thank you 💗
- Date posted
- 8w ago
My last and almost life long theme/sub-theme largely subsided recently and my ocd felt like it wasn’t even an issue. Then I went on winter break from uni and being alone made my mind come up with a whole new topic to obsess over. TLDR on my fears, my advisor wouldn’t email me back for a while about signing up for classes so my mind started to worry “what if he doesn’t in time and you can’t enroll this semester and you lose this whole life you just built and all these new friends” So when that issue was resolved my mind found other scarier ways I could be uprooted from my current life and friends that I’ve grown so attached to. Then my mind remembered back when I was struggling with false memories and scrupulosity and I essentially made a post on a forum 2 and a half years ago saying I did something or was convinced I did something that I never actually did. Now I’ve been spiraling about someone finding it reporting me and I either get seen as a horrible person or arrested or something over something I never actually did but “admitted” to out of fear of going to hell. My mind won’t let it go and keeps finding new reasons for it to be “valid” “logical” or even inevitable. I feel like it’s just hanging over my head and I can never rest easy. Especially when I try to focus on my daily tasks or plan for the future I get this horrible flair up of “why plan for the future when this could come back in that future and you get uprooted from all of it” my mind won’t rest without certainty being uprooted won’t happen but certainty doesn’t exist, at least not with ocd. This sucks and I miss being care free.
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