- Date posted
- 3y ago
- Date posted
- 3y ago
For me, my OCD is also worse at night making it difficult to fall asleep without doing the “ritual compulsion” to completion as well. I understand how you feel. Apparently, this is common for people with any and all types of OCD. Night time amplifies these thoughts and feelings for us.
- Date posted
- 3y ago
I have a compulsion of thinking I left the stove on so obsessively that I will literally have a nightmare about it and be tormented by the compulsion until I get up out of bed at 3am and go look at it
- Date posted
- 3y ago
I have excoriation disorder, and every night around the same time without fail I have an episode. It’s always worse than it is in the day and I don’t know why. My guess is that the quiet of night causes me more anxiety, because my thoughts just run rampant when I’m alone in silence. And like you said, I feel like if I don’t give in to the resulting compulsions than I can’t sleep, because things “just aren’t right” until I do.
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 3y ago
This can feel so hard! I often hear people say that mornings or night are particularly rough for OCD acting up. Remember that OCD lies- that's what it does best. It causes you to doubt things and think "well what if". That's why it can be so helpful to work with a ERP specialist to tailor a plan or exercises that best suit you and your OCD symptoms. A therapist can provide support and encouragement along the way. This is such a difficult illness. A ERP trained therapist can help you to sit with the anxiety and discomfort that not doing the compulsions would likely bring and teach you how doing this is important for your brain to recognize that there is no real danger and that what you are really experiencing is a false alarm. As far as the why, well unfortunately I don't have a solid answer as I think it depends on the person experiencing it- I think at night time it makes sense that as we try to unwind and relax from the day we can tend to be more thoughtful which leaves some space for OCD to creep in more heavily.
- Date posted
- 3y ago
Unfortunately I have had trouble finding a therapist that will take my insurance. And ERP is very expensive. I have done it before and had to stop because i couldn’t afford it. I will keep looking though. I just feel like I’m scared that I will convince myself that my thoughts are real and my brain won’t bounce back.. but it always does. I just am feeling extremely depressed and worn down from it.
Related posts
- Date posted
- 20w ago
At times, my intrusive thoughts get so intense that all I can do is lay frozen in my bed and hope I fall asleep, and usually I do even if I'm not tired. My brain just wears me out and I wanna escape through sleep. (Sadly it doesn't work all the time)
- Date posted
- 15w ago
Every time I go to bed late and I’m falling asleep, I suddenly get an intrusive thought of a child’s face and my groinal area always responds to it. It’s such an uncomfortable experience. I am way too tired to try and freak out so I end up falling asleep. The next morning I’m always trying to figure out whether I had the groinal response first or after the thought. I start giving OCD power but it feels like If I let it go, then I’m in denial or whatever. I don’t want to ever do anything sexual with a child. I don’t even feel comfortable talking platonically with people who are 17, much less a child. My therapist says that I have a deep rooted fear that I’m this horrible person and that OCD loves to feed off of it. When you get a groinal response, it makes the thought that much more real. I never want these things to happen. I want to only be into adults. It’s so discomforting and stressful. Especially since I’m hyper checking how anxious I am, and if I find I didn’t really have much anxiety, then I’m like “well if I didn’t have anxiety, what does this mean?” And more questions occur til I end up in a rabbit hole
- Date posted
- 12w ago
So maybe the title wasn't the best to to put it but when you guys start having obsessive thoughts how do you stop them before it turns into compulsions and anxiety?
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