Struggling with stress and feeling invalidated about OCD – seeking advice.

Please help

So I’ve been having a really rough time lately. I’ve been super stressed about school and everything in my life to the point where I don’t want to go anywhere and I’ve missed a ton of school this year. My whole family and my therapist are saying that it’s all OCD which just makes me feel invalidated like I’m making everything up and that they don’t understand. I’m positive in my mind that all these things aren’t even related to OCD and I’ve started convincing myself that it doesn’t even exist. My brain wont let anyone tell me otherwise ever. I had a bad day at school and wanted to go home but since I’ve missed so much and because everyone said it was just a compulsion to go home I had to stay and ended up crying in the counselors office for an hour. Right now is not a good time for like erp stuff in my mind because I won’t believe it’s ocd and I’ve been under way too much stress because of this lately. I don’t know what to do. If anyone has any advice or anything I’d really appreciate some.

Username: bluuberrybluuberry

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 2y ago

this could be depression or burnout coming from ocd or unrelated from ocd. i know that personally with my ocd i get depressive waves where it’s hard to get out of bed or get ready and go to school

Username: BipolarOCDsuffererBipolarOCDsu...

Date posted: 2y ago

When you’re stressed, OCD gets worse and when you’re really stressed, that’s when you start to believe that your thoughts are true. But because they conflict with who you are, you don’t just accept them. For example, your sexuality doesn’t change because you start to “believe” your thoughts; you just fight them and feel like shit constantly ruminating. So here’s the solution: do anything and everything to destress. My personal favorite is to do the following: go into a room by yourself (your bedroom probably makes the most sense) and turn out the lights/make it as dark as possible. Then sit in a chair or on the floor, whatever is comfortable for you. Focus on deeply breathing and I would say to do this for at least 20-30 minutes. Your mind will become extremely calm and you will still have the thoughts, but your mind will be so calm that you will ask yourself how the thoughts could ever bother you. When you get into this state, you are in the right state of mind to do ERP. When you start doing other normal tasks, your anxiety level will rise a bit, but because of the meditation, you will be in a state where you are capable of not engaging in compulsions. In this state of mind, it is critical that you force yourself to feel the anxiety that you get when your thoughts come along. Over time, you will become habituated to them and you will feel better.

Username: jdunn88jdunn88

Date posted: 2y ago

Ocd definitely makes coping with stress more difficult. Feeling depressed or overwhelmed is not only because of ocd but ocd can definitely make those feelings harder to cope with. Allow yourself to feel the feelings and slow down. Practice lots of self care! Maybe even take a full “me day” to totally unwind. Remember that even the smallest of steps forward are doing something!! Self love. Self care. You will get through this slump. Ocd just makes it a little more work!!!

Username: jdunn88jdunn88

Date posted: 2y ago

Oh and one more thing I’ve really been working on is having a “so what/oh well” attitude towards other’s ability to understand ocd. It really doesn’t matter what they think!!

Username: Bertnernie112Bertnernie112

Date posted: 2y ago

I don't want to go against ur drs diagnosis of ocd bc I'm not a Dr. But children and teens can be really hard to diagnose. Especially when you add hormones to the mix. It can get really confusing. The important thing is not to get caught up in ur diagnosis or whether it's right or not. THIS IS IMPORTANT...NO MATTER WHAT UR DIAGNOSIS IS OR EVEN IF U DONT HAVE A DIAGNOSIS NOTHING SHOULD MAKE YOU FEEL INVALIDATED!! Whether ur diagnosed with something or not, nothing should make u feel like ur making it up. You can't help how you feel. Even if it was just a bad case of pms, u should never feel ashamed for how u feel. Is there anything going on at school that would make u want to miss so many days? Are u feeling sad, anxious or how would u describe how u feel? Ur therapist may be right that it is ocd but there's a possibility it's a combination of more than 1 thing. (Hey, I have 5 mental health diagnosis lol) not to say u do! Don't get caught up in whether or not it's ocd...instead focus on the advice and exercises your therapist recommends for now. Try that for at least 1-2 months and if it doesn't help ask ur parents or therapist if u can see a primary care physician or psychiatrists. A therapist shouldn't be the only one diagnosing u if u still feel bad. Not to pit ideas in ur head but its possible u have depression bc ur crying so much (that's if nothing is causing it) ONCE AGAIN ITS IMPORTANT TO KNOW THAT HAVING OCD IN NO WAY INVALIDATES UR FEELINGS or means u made them up. (If that were the case, most my problems would be made up!) Good luck and let me know if u need someone to talk to

Username: Bertnernie112Bertnernie112

Date posted: 2y ago

I'm trying to put together a support group on what's app...find me by bertnernie112

Username: Taylen

Date posted: 2y ago

im so stressed, pls reply

my anxiety has been so bad the past couple of days, ive been disassociating several times a day. Its so hard to be alone because of the intrusive thoughts. I barely can even look at my family without vivid images coming in my head. Im so scared i keep asking myself “what if i wanna do it?” “what if i rlly am crazy” “maybe i am my thoughts” “would i ever do this” “what if i just lose control one day”. I dont know anymore im so lost and depressed i just wanna crawl out of my own skin. Someone please give advice because nothing is working. Keep in mind im undiagnosed and i feel so alone and i know i have harm ocd but the doctors and therapist in my state dont care to listen. They wont even give me anything for anxiety, my life is being ruined and im only 13. I just want it to go away, im trying to keep faith in god but i just wish he would help me faster.

Username: TofuIndulger

Date posted: 1y ago

Stuck

Hey everyone. This is my first post here and it’s probably going to be a long one because I guess I feel comfortable enough to be open here. I need help. When I first got diagnosed with OCD, I figured it only impacted a small part of my life. I thought I was only affected with compulsions and obsessions that dealt with contamination, tangible perfectionism and the obvious intrusive thoughts and that’s it. Well, I’ve come to realize that most of my thinking has been impacted by OCD. At this point the only way to describe how it feels to me is a forest of thorny vines growing in place of my mind or maybe through and around my brain constantly growing every-time I give into this type of thinking (which is basically all the time because I wasn’t aware this was OCD). I’ve definitely felt it more recently, but I know it’s always been there from what I recall from past memories. I got diagnosed not so long ago with OCD and I was happy to because it explained this thing I knew was wrong with me but I didn’t know how much it will and has impacted me in the past. So, I think I’ve created a matrix in my mind or strengthened the OCD thought patterns because now I feel like my OCD impacts everything I do. And I guess I’m saying I need help here because maybe you guys will be able to see it, maybe validate me and point me where I can get help. I’ve been telling the people around me, I think my thinking is disordered and I need help but I don’t think they really understand the amount it’s affecting me or grasp what I meant when I say “I Need Help”. I did have a therapist before but because of a insurance change, she can’t work with me anymore and I’m not sure when I’ll get another (just to clarify). Back to the matter, the past couple of months I’ve been in my head just thinking and thinking. About everything. To the point where my head starts to hurt or until I feel sick of thinking about it but I can’t. I find that’s my obsessions and compulsions (other than the need for order [which can also be mental]) are very mentally based and I find myself ashamed of them so I hide them so maybe that’s why the people around me don’t feel my need for getting help as much as I do. Anyways, examples of this have been, -constantly thinking about what’s the purpose of all of life and the hidden messages in life -feeling like if I don’t do everything perfectly then what the point or being very mad at myself -being obsessed with how I present to the rest of the world sometimes even in close relationships -having calculated movements and actions (having to move my body a certain way or it doesn’t feel right) -obsessing over an absolute truth -questioning friendships and other relationships - obsessing over achievements or failures -obsessing over people -obsessing over decisions and outcomes because I want to make the perfect decisions I could go on and on but basically it’s just a lot of thinking and ruminating and obsessing to the point where people tell me I look like I’m some where else all the time. And I’ve started to feel like I find comfort in it now. I’m also diagnosed with depression and anxiety and I feel like it’s all just OCD. And same goes for my dissociation. I feel like they all root from my OCD. I’m so tired of feeling like this all the time and without my therapist I feel like I’m stuck here. I can’t make decisions, I’m never present, I can’t make or keep friendships/ relationships, everything impacts me deeply because I create a emotional obsession to it, I can’t just be without questioning everything and I’m constantly in my head. I’ve also started getting high all the time because I feel like it’s the only way to escape my brain but I’ve felt like it’s getting out of hand. I’m starting to lose in any type of hope of getting better. Does anyone have an advice for working on OCD by yourself or identifying when it’s OCD (especially mental obsessions and compulsions) so I can start to chip at this boulder that’s weighing down my life and energy?

Username: anonymous314

Date posted: 1y ago

Vent

I’ve been feeling extremely depressed because of my existential OCD. Even when i think of recovery and therapy, i feel like “what point is there in going back to how it was, or finding joy in things” there are moments when I do get happy and in those moments a thought pops up like “what even is anything” “what is existence” or “is death even real” and i’m also getting intrusive thoughts regarding my own consciousness which also gets very weird. All of this is accompanied by dissociation and apocalyptic feelings. It’s been 2 months since my ocd relapse. I have gotten better but when i acknowledge my progress, once again i feel like there’s no point. these thoughts/ feelings don’t feel like OCD but as if i’ve discovered some truth of life and now nothing will be the same. I haven’t started ERP yet, my therapist and i are currently more focused on ACT, acceptance and commitment (which is often given along side ERP) I will start ERP soon but i think all i’ll be focusing on is how dumb it is, and i know it’s not but it feels like i’m convinced it isn’t gonna work. I know this is classic OCD but it feels like this. I also deal with hyperawareness ocd (thinking about thinking taking place) and it makes me feel like there’s somebody in my head when, it’s quite literally my own inner voice that i’m sort of producing (?) I feel like it wouldn’t let me focus during erp and it all just feels so hopeless. I’m a minor and my parents are against medication and they talk about it like it’s the worst thing in the world which has heightened my fear of meds. I’m so sad and done with all this

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Struggling with stress and feeling invalidated about OCD – seeking advice.

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