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 😬
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!!
I been dealing with OCD my entire life but recently I been finding it really difficult to find the slightest relief. I know it’s not good to do but I been trying not to think of the thoughts but of course they come back even stronger. Does anyone know what I could do in the meanwhile ? Thank you
Hi this is my first time posting on here. I wasn't sure if I should because I want to make sure I'm not seeking reassurance because I heard that makes ocd worse. I don't want to talk about what my ocd problem was, but basically I was really upset about a religious ocd problem that I know isn't true. I'm feeling a lot better about it now, but when it was bad I decided to try and get better on my own. I read about ERP therapy and how you're supposed to make a list of your ocd problems, from least distressing to most. So I wrote them down on two pieces of paper. At first I started with the simple ones, like looking for spiders before leaving the room. I have a tendency to look for spiders before leaving a room but lately I've been trying not to anymore. Then I decided to try and do one of the hard things. It was a religious ocd problem. I decided to start simple, and just write the problem down on a piece of paper. So I went downstairs and got some paper. But then I thought, oh no, my ocd is probably not going to like this. What do I do with the paper once I write it down? If I think what I wrote down is bad and going to upset God and I will go to hell, (even though I know logically it's not), my ocd is probably going to freak out if I throw away the paper. It probably won't calm down unless I erase it. So I just decided to not write it down on a paper, and just type it on my phone instead. So I did, I typed it on my phone. So, even though I didn't write anything down on the paper, now it feels like that peice of paper is bad. I feel like it's connected to the problem I was having, and I was so upset I called my mom crying asking her what to do. Eventually I decided to just put the paper back with the rest of the paper downstairs, but I'm still upset. I feel like I have to throw away all the paper downstairs, the pencil I was going to use to write down the problem, and the eraser I was going to use in case I needed to erase anything. It feels like if I use any of those items I will make God angry and go to hell. I know I shouldn't do this though, so I'm not going to. I don't know what to do with the papers where I wrote down my ocd problems. They are on my desk and I'm too afraid to move them. And if I put them in my desk I'm afraid they will get mixed up with other papers. I guess I can do whatever I want with them. I think I'll put them in a folder or binder and if I make any more ocd papers I can just put them in there. I'm just really confused on how to move forward. Right now, I'm too afraid to use the papers, pencil, or eraser for anything. I feel like I can't write on them, draw on them, or anything. It's even making me feel like I can't make digital art. It's making me feel like I can't do a lot of things. I guess what I have to do is just do whatever I want to, because I know the ocd isn't true and doesn't make sense.
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