Do coping cards work for OCD? My therapist told me I should try doing a coping card for my thoughts and I don’t know if it works for OCD. So if anyone knows of these or maybe does them too do they help you through your OCD???
My ocd is mostly made of mental compulsion. (A lot of rumination; overthing; intrusive thoughts; checking; etc.) In the previous years; i healed a lot and i understood thoose things: Healing from ocd is not linear nor fast Healing from ocd is not only healing from ocd. I'll explain myself better: to heal from ocd; you have to heal in a lot of others things too. 😅😂 Triggers are like pointers; they are alarms from your brain telling you where you need to heal. They are actually good; they show you where you need to put attentions. For example; i was always super triggered if i felt anxious. After some therapy; i understood that i couldn't manage negative emotions. I am still learning to manage them; but since i started; i am really really less triggered by that. Plus i live a lil better because i don't fear negative emotions anymore. Another example: i was triggered; questioning if my bf loved me enough; if he was bored/annoyed even for a second when i'm with him. This one took me a lot of time; but i understood it came from the belief of the "right one". You know... The "if he is the right one everything will be always perfect happy etc". Reality is not like that. But i deeply belived this thing; and it made me suffer a lot. I had to learn to deal with this wrong belief and get rid of it; to get rid of the trigger too. All of that to say that coping cards is absolutely a good way to reprogram your mind thinking in a "healtier" way. If you correct some unhealthy habit; you will "stop" some triggers too. But it will take time and efforts!
You unlocked a memory for me! I made coping cards years ago for my social anxiety and depression, (but not for OCD). I found it so helpful and I suggest you give it a shot! I’m going to find mine and see if it helps my OCD too 👌
@blazed What are coping cards, by the way?
@englerscott They’re basically like index cards where you write different coping strategies, positive affirmations, etc, so you can look at it when you’re struggling for encouragement and to remind yourself how to cope healthily!
@blazed Sounds pretty straightforward !
@blazed I need to do this lol I don’t know how I have never heard of or done coping cards before😣
@Jo ^^ Don’t worry it’s relatively simple! This should give you a better idea: https://m.choosehelp.com/topics/mental-health/rehab-for-patients-with-mental-health-challenges
I never heard this name before; so i made a lil research. I actually found out that it is what made me heal without even knowing it😂 In my experience; it helped. I know i am giving you reassurance; so probably not the best; but i hope this will help you follow this method. I'll do a second message with my experience :)
@Saraa Don’t worry, I wasn’t trying to get reassurance or anything so that won’t affect me!! ^^ But thank you for this I will definitely try the coping cards out then!
Try them and see if they work for you! Why not?? :)
I just did my second session with this therapist so I don’t know yet if they do treatment for OCD the correct way 😬
I’m a bit curious, I’ve come up with many ways to handle them, I don’t have therapy, but how do ya’ll deal with them? Is it normal to come up with other compulsions to kinda just tame them? Or to convince yourself they’re not real? I’ve had different ways of handling them, but most times I get obsessed with the way of handling it or the thought that helps me beat the bad/concerning/thoughts to the point it just stops working and I need to find a more effective thought, compulsion or thing.
Hello, I’m in undergrad and recently was diagnosed with OCD. Its a very new diagnosis and it’s both been stressful and relieving to receive it. Looking back at my past I’ve been able to explain a lot of behavioral issues that I thought were simply attributed to me being “crazy”. It’s comforting to know it’s something that others struggle with and that there are set coping mechanisms and treatments for it. There are a number of thing of which I obsessively think about, and it’s been getting really hard to deal with all of them. The most troubling are my thoughts toward suicide. I can’t stop thinking about it. There’s not really any intent, it’s just like my brain has tuned into a frequency that plays in the background at all times. Usually though this leads to more dangerous behaviors, and so I always try to do any preventative work to keep myself safe. As for the asking for advice portion of this post, what do you all do to combat unending loops of thought? Because I’m so new to my diagnosis, my therapist and I haven’t found good strategies for me yet, outside of just labeling those thoughts as OCD in an attempt to delegitimize them.
One acronym that really helped me when I was in ERP treatment for my own OCD treatment was CARDS. There are many versions of this but I wanted something more personal to my OCD symptoms - you can create one as well to help you identify compulsions! If I was experiencing intrusive thoughts, images, urges, sensations, I would see if any of the physical and mental rituals I was doing fell under this umbrella of compulsions and safety behaviors - CHECKING, AVOIDANCE, RUMINATION,, DISTRACTION, AND SEEKING REASSURANCE. If I was doing any of these in response to obsessions, I knew I was making the OCD stronger. When I was in treatment and even to this day, I continue to identify my CARDS and resist these the best I can while re-engaging in what is meaningful to me. This is not always easy and sometimes delaying and postponing compulsions can still be really effective. Identifying compulsions was HUGE for my treatment as I looked at it as a way to start seeing how OCD was trying to call the shots. Once I was able to identify all of my compulsions, the next step was making a plan to either delay, postpone, or fully resist them under the help of a trained ERP therapist. OCD tries to bother me during times of stress, lack of sleep, too much caffeine, life transitions, vacations, down time, etc. but if I am aware of my CARDS, OCD gets bored and leaves me alone because he knows I am not falling for his tricks. From one OCD warrior to another, KEEP PUSHING and get the help you deserve!! If I can do it, you can do it!!
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