Did learning about your specific type of ocd make your ocd worse or increase your anxiety? I feel like it has for me. I have somatic ocd and before I looked up what it was it wasnāt that bad/I didnāt worry about it as much but now that I know what it is I feel like itās increased my awareness and has become my life now. Like I feel like I have to live up to the name in a way? Anyone relate?
Well that's the whole thing with exposures- now you're not fighting your thoughts. So it may feel worse in the beginning because you're no longer suppressing your fears, they're real and they're there and you're addressing them head on. But believe me, this has to be done in order to heal.
I really love this app not just for the therapy side of things but the fact that we can find hope and support in each other and I really am wishing everyone on here can one day be off of here but thankful for the experienceš everyone on here is so nice I know reassurance is technically a compulsion lol but I feel like non ocd people need reassurance too I feel like if itās a healthy amount itās ok
Hope that makes sense
@SophieSnow Yes it did thank you. Itās been a really hard time but starting erp with Nocd this week. Has erp helped you?
@Anonymous Yes it does but it's like muscle, It builds up over time. You might find erp helps with one thought but then your ocd jumps to another. Then you'll have to address that one and the cycle continues. BUT over time you'll more easily be able to recognize your intrusive thoughts and sort of nip them at the bud before they turn into full blown obsessions... and that's where the magic happens!
In my case it got worse or not i don't know but when i first came to know about my ocd i felt very low.... And didn't want to watch or read things related to that......
No, it made things better.
At first yes definitely made me more hyper aware of everything I was doing every thought that past how I acted looked at things and people but without learning about it I wouldnāt have found people like me other people who are going through the same thing and share there stories that help!
I relate so much before I found out that what I was experiencing was ocd I was stuck in compulsions and afraid of my mind but when I found out about ocd I was relieved because that explained everything that I was going through even since I was a kid but as time went on that relief went away because the thoughts got worse or made me think I donāt actually have ocd or that everything that I told my therapist was a lie even tho it wasnāt and it started to feel like everytime I had a intrusive thought and I did a compulsion I thought I was just acting so I can claim to have ocd when Iām reality I do have it and itās really hard to deal with it everyday
Wow thanks for your responses everyone! Iāve only been diagnosed with my somatic ocd a couple months ago and Iām 28 so itās been something Iāve never really had to deal with although I had some obsessive thoughts as a kid they would come and go in phases real quick but now itās just debilitating I even went on leave for work but Iām back and everyday is a battle
@Anonymous Don't fight the thoughts!!!! It's counter intuitive I know but just love them! Lol say thank you brain
@SophieSnow Haha I know itās just so hard. I feel like either way it stops me from living like how I was before :/
@Anonymous I'm 100% there with you. I know it may sound sort of sad but you'll get used to it. My ocd hit me like a train about 3 months ago- I've already improved a lot and I'm pretty used to it... try not to be frustrated too if u can ? Because that will also make the thoughts sticky!! Try to move slowly and just notice them... agree with them.. and do your erp :)
@SophieSnow Thank you for your kindness and encouragement. I guess your right I canāt just go back to normal now so I need to try and make peace with it and Iāve been trying to go back into my routine and do stuff I like and hangout with friends itās just not as enjoyable as it was before but I know itās even worse to avoid things in ur daily life
@SophieSnow You got better in 3 months!!? Thatās great!!! How can u ignore the urge
@Anonymous Dude exposures work!! it's crazy how quickly your brain learns something is non threatening. Don't get me wrong I'm still struggling for sure but I'm learning quickly. I'm sure you will too
@SophieSnow This gives me great hope Iām excited for my session on Wednesday
@SophieSnow It works for me for one day or two but then everything comes back
@Anonymous You gotta do Em every single day for 1-3 hours
@SophieSnow Itās just hard when those thoughts involves your family and I know that if I donāt do the compulsions Iāll get better but the urge and fear itās a lot š¢
@Anonymous Of course it is. But the fact that your experiencing anxiety is a GOOD sign. Exposures don't work if there isn't at least a little anxiety involved. Try to think long term not just about the immediate. I have thoughts that involve my family too. They're disgusting and disturbing but I know it's just my ocd attacking what I love the most. You can desensitize. I believe in you!!
@SophieSnow Mine are more religious thoughts. But you really give me hope!!! Thank u !!!š
It made things make more sense so it was good for me to know about my ocd
The day I get officially diagnosed, I almost canāt WAIT to let certain people know and post things about it and raise awareness for it etc. Iām excited to explore OCD. But I feel like Iām just doing this for attention / for pity and sympathy. Itās bad, and I know that, but Iāve always loved it. And this often makes me think that I donāt have OCD, Iām just telling myself I do so I can be unique and special. Personally, I found out about OCD through reading an article about a harm ocd sufferer and then telling myself that I too wanted to kill my family. It was distressing. However I can identify traces of OCD prior to that. I frantically worried that I had HIV (health) & I frantically worried that life was all just a simulation (existential). I also suffered with confessions and the need to tell people the bad things Iād done. But I still wonder if I really am just putting it on, because this excitement to tell people isnāt exactly conventional. Nobody WANTS OCD, so why do I?
I do really feel like personifying my OCD really helped relieve a lot of the anxiety. That and finding a community of people who are having similar thoughts! Being able to take a step back and name a thought as OCD helped me so much. The anxiety is there as MUCH as it was along with the thoughts but knowing that theyāre not MY thoughts helped me with direction on where to go from there. I can now get a thought and tell myself itās ocd because I know it is even when Iām doubting it. I can say to myself even when Iām doubting the ocd that itās called the doubting disorder for a reason and feel better. I grew up always feeling ~different~ because of my thoughts but never knew they were ocd related and knowing that felt like putting the last piece of a 600 piece puzzle in its place. It helped me put a name to my problems and be like āwow, that explains sooo muchā like honestly a weight has been lifted. For that reason,I know I can get through this gross and horrifying disorder.
reading your experiences gives me a hint of what ocd looks like. While it does help me understand my symptoms more, it also makes me feel weird. an odd feeling, i'd say it's fear. I am indeed ''obsessed'' by not having the same symptoms as people w diagnosed OCD, thus meaning i dont have it (i dont have a diagnosis yet). Could this be some kind of theme? A symptom of OCD?
Share your thoughts so the Community can respond
