- Date posted
- 3y
Help
It's attacking things that I enjoy doing, like my hobbies and passions, anybody got any tips on how to cope with it?
It's attacking things that I enjoy doing, like my hobbies and passions, anybody got any tips on how to cope with it?
Agreed with the above! My OCD made me feel a lack of interest in anything I did! For a while, even my favorite hobbies felt dull to me, but the thing you can do is remind yourself how much you used to love it, and although you don’t feel as deeply at the moment, slowly pick it up and do a bit of it every day! You will slowly regain that interest! I’m still working my way but have a tiny bit progress!
Yeah I do a lot of long distance running, and OCD latched to a fear of hurting my knee worrying I had bad form. My compulsions were trying to control and focus on my knee, which now a year later has got me to a point that makes running “normally” difficult, and actually makes my knees hurt. ERP for two months and I’m just starting to see some small progress. The biggest piece of advice is to not attempt to cope with it. Don’t ruminate about it. Don’t try to figure it out. Continue to do what you enjoy, regardless of what your OCD says the consequences are. Agree with your thoughts that you’re doing something wrong or something bad could happen. Basically just continue to live your life on your terms, regardless of ANYTHING!
It’s the worst. I haven’t been able to do many of my favorite hobbies because of this disease. But, the best thing we can do is 1) push through and try doing one thing that we love while embracing the uncertainty (SO HARD, but it’s the only way), 2) give ourselves grace. If we only manage to brush our teeth and put on deoderant, then hey, we DID those things! When we manage to take a shower or do five minutes of something fun, we DID those amazing things! Even if none of those things feel good right now, it is progress in the battle against our mind monster. Each step is a victory. Embrace the good days, allow yourself recuperation on the bad ones. We got this.
same here :(
This sucks so bad gosh I just wanna do things in peace is that too much to ask for ahahahaha *screams*
So I am a practicing Catholic, and I've gotten into reading the Bible this year, praying the Rosary, things like that, and while I love to do that, my OCD has been seeming to take over, in ways such as like I have to read the Bible for a certain amount of time before I'm satisfied with the time read, or something along those lines, and it's starting to make the thought of praying and reading the Bible unenjoyable, which is really hurting me inside, because I used to and want to enjoy it so bad, but now this is making it really hard to, because it feels like I don't have control over my own thoughts, and little things trigger the thoughts, it's just so annoying. If there's anything anyone thinks I can do to combat this please let me know.
my OCD is doing what it does best and it’s randomly selecting themes. Once I’m not scared or react to one it bounces to another. And then i temporarily forget all of my coping skills for that theme. Rn it’s fixating on the time I had a panic attack and it’s trying to make me have one again
This is gonna be a long one: So a little over a month and a half ago, my OCD started to spiral again. I’ve had ups and downs with it in the past, my main themes often changing. When I was younger it as afraid I’d run away, in middle school it was germs. But as I got older I started having intrusive thoughts of the meaning of life, suicide, and dying, with those fears being my common themes now I’ve gotten a lot better since it started back up, but lately have been panicking because I’ve had intrusive thoughts that my methods of trying to heal are wrong. I’m 21, and for the last 3 years have lacked ambition and haven’t pursued my dreams or things I want to do. I just sleep, work, eat junk food, and play games or watch YouTube on my time off. Things I still love, but after years of living this way, I’ve hit a breaking point and want to start doing more with my life and the people in it Yet, almost EVERY new thing I’ve been trying to do or start, I’ve been having thoughts that they’re wrong or won’t help. Here’s some examples: I’ve started trying to eat a bit healthier, and my brain is telling me it’s not gonna fix me and I’m just avoiding food I like (junk I know makes me tired and sad). Then the moment I indulge in even one unhealthy food item, it tells me I’m failing at taking better care of myself and that junk food just numbs the feelings Same with video games. I tell myself it’s okay to play them as long as it’s not to avoid anything or they don’t take up my life like they have been. The second I do I feel guilty, say it’s cheap dopamine and hindering me from being productive and that I’m numbing my feelings again Same story for everything. Trying to walk and go outside more. Head tells me I’m avoiding being home because it makes me anxious. Then when I stay home it tells me I’m wasting time I could be spending outside or with people I love I’ll wanna spend time with my family or friends because I’ve been a hermit for years and miss spending time with them. When I try to, head tells me I can’t because then I’m avoiding the issues I have and seeking reassurance, and that I need to learn to tolerate this alone. But then when I stay home too long, I get anxious and sad because it does make me happy being around them even if I’m not seeking reassurance, and they genuinely do help me feel better (for example I saw my grandparents last night and talked about my feelings and desire to actually go out and live life, and they helped me understand uncertainty is part of life and I should do things I want anyways and even helped come up with things I may like to try doing. Now my brain tells me it’s bad to get help or open up about my pain) I’ll have racing thoughts in my head and I’ll be arguing with myself over rather it’s better to face them head on, ignore them, or let them run their course. It feels like no matter what I do, I’m feeling guilty and shame for it. As if any attempt at feeling pleasure or doing something that makes me happy is “avoiding the problem”, like I HAVE to focus on my intrusive thoughts, anxiety, and sadness 24/7 otherwise I’m “avoiding/burying it again” I know not to avoid these things and it’s best to confront them (if they’re real problems I have like relationship issues and insecurities and loneliness) and learn to tolerate the anxiety and uncertainty of life and OCD, but my attempts at “helping myself” are quite literally what I feel is currently keeping me so miserable. They’re sucking whatever joy I have in life out, telling me it’s bad, and that I have to feel this way all the time so I can “learn to tolerate it” I’m just so scared of doing all of this wrong, and I think my OCD I knows that and is currently using that to toy with me. I want to be healthier and happier, but then I feel guilt and fear for not being healthy 24/7 and indulging in not healthy things like video games and the occasional junk food. Anybody else ever felt this way?
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