Overcome ocd

I’ve had every theme of OCD you can think of. Name it, I’ve had it. I’ve fully recovered from all of them. I really don’t like saying “theme” for OCD because it’s simply just thoughts. Same goes for “OCD thought” there’s really no such thing. ALL thoughts are just simply thoughts. YOU are the one who labels them “intrusive or OCD” What’s helped me tremendously in my journey of recovery is making goals close to me. What I mean by that is- Not making goals that are incredibly far fetched like climbing Mount Everest tomorrow. Keeping goals close to me, like making post it notes and placing them in strategic places to keep my focus on my values. Ex- when I wake up, I would have a post it note by my bed telling me to “go brush teeth” and another in the bathroom saying “go make bed” you can have post it notes spread out through out your home and even in your vehicle and at work. Why do this? You’re simply training your brain to do things you care about and value while having ANY thought, feeling or sensation. Your whole life you’ve probably been doing things that center around thoughts, feelings and sensations- because I know I did, and I didn’t even notice it, until my mental health started deteriorating. I would judge every thought and ruminate. I would label thoughts. I would talk to myself and ruminate. I would seek reassurance from someone. I would avoid certain places or things. I did all this because I thought what I felt inside my head was me. I always thought my thoughts defined me. But… like any great therapist will tell you- You are NOT your thoughts. You are defined by your actions. You have OCD because of things you do. You don’t have a chemical imbalance. God isn’t making you suffer. Someone didn’t put a curse on you. You have OCD because of the things you’re doing. The good news is, if it’s something you are doing, that means it’s something you can stop. And that’s cutting out compulsions. You don’t like anxiety. So your brain knows this, so it’s going to come up with thoughts, feelings (anxiety) and sensations, you don’t like. Your brain is just trying to protect you and make you feel better. Understand that your brain doesn’t even care about the thought that just came up, it only cares about the compulsion. It wants you to perform a compulsion to feel better. So when you’re driving down the road and you have a random thought about anything Somatic you’re dealing with- Breathing, blinking, swallowing, heartbeat etc. Notice that was a thought. You may get anxiety from that thought. That’s fine. Maybe you have a post it note in your car that says “drive to get groceries” So continue to drive and get groceries. That thought can sit there. The anxiety you can have. The sensation of shallow breathing or rapid blinking or lots of swallowing can be there- continue to drive. You’re not focusing on the sensations. You are aware they are there. They can be there! Continue to drive. Go to the grocery store. Pick out the items that you need. Maybe you run into a friend at the grocery store, go ahead and converse with them. You can do all of this while having anxiety! The key to great mental health is having any thought, feeling and sensation while continuing doing what you value. 😊

Please someone say something