- Username
- licia
- Date posted
- 5y ago
Iiterally my life lol i have times of peace And forget ocd is even a thing but sometimes it pins me and spins me lol... existensial is my theme rn too ans having some depersonaliztion i had health anxiety / ocd before this and yeah it paniced me occasionally and made me anxious but this existential ocd is the first one thats made me depressed so its hard
Battling with existential OCD too finding it hard to make it through the day
Yeah licia i agree i rather deal with my health ocd any day lol i had anxiety but i was happy i hate these scary thoughts about life and reality and existence because how can u enjoy anything questioning whats it matter if u enjoy it not lol
Im in therapy just a regular therapist who has interest in OCD .. idk mostly talk therapy with him giving some advice but mostly alone... hby?
I've just started my third medication and third lit of therapy. Nothing is helping and I've been suffering for over 2 years now.
Yeah cbt isn’t enough for ocd I think erp and act are the best. I never heard of meta cognitive therapy
Yeah but honestly i dont know if i have mental compulsions.. its hard for me to realize them. I do watch mark freeman i also listen to OCD stories podcast!
Yeah the most annoying thing about existential ocd is the disconnect and depression with it and it’s like in my mind I rather have a different theme?? But it’s like I don’t want to keep fueling the cycle and jump around themes. I kinda nipped health anxiety in the butt and now this popped up and I’m trying to deal with it but yeah it’s so hard ?
I’m sorry RDR86 it is very tough. And milio right? Lol it’s like how can I enjoy my day when Everything and everyone I look at I’m like questioning and like having these fearful anxiety ridden thoughts. I hate how it affects relationships with myself and others....it’s tough are you in therapy or doing anything to try and overcome this right now ?
Milio I’m in not in therapy because I noticed it seems to exasperate my symptoms I think it has a lot to do with the fact they just think I have anxiety and depression now I’ve come to realize it’s ocd which is a blessing because now I do know how to go about it. I’ve been learning a lot online and educating myself problems is putting it in action and staying consistent is hard with out much support but it’s what I need to do... I’ve recently been applying erp which has helped a lot but I’m inconsistent which I think doesn’t help. I also am trying to track down my mental compulsions and eliminating them I actually was doing great for a few days then got triggered and because compulsive actions, my physical ones are researching online which I needed up doing all night and day today. I need to restart tomorrow and not give up. I heard talk therapy doesn’t really get to the root of the problem I really think you would benefit for ERP. It’s hard to find therapists that specialize in it so learning it yourself and applying it would be good
RDR86 what type of therapy are you doing?
Metacognitive therapy. I've tried CBT and it wasn't helpful.
Im trying licia i also have been trying some erp/cbt on my own... reading books helps me a lot too OCD books etc... but we have the same compulsions - looking everything up and reading everything about it... lol that is my life that ive been trying to stop doing
Milio yeah it’s hard my more you focus on something the bigger it becomes for sure. Once you have the knowledge about it it’s not about looking it up anymore or reading about it but putting what you learned into action while focusing on your values and goals. Mark freeman is great he son YouTube he has a buncha books and he has these online workshops and programs you should try... but I think that’s one of our bigggest problems is the constant looking up and stuff do you know about mental compulsions?
Your probably do if you have ocd most likely you have mental compulsions mark freeman talks about them and it’s important to make a list of them because they can be a bit tricky anytime you start analayzing a thought, ruminating, checking your mind to see if obsession is still there, trying to repress a thought(does that complete opposite and makes it show up more), trying to replace thought with another(reassurance), trying to solve thought all are mental compulsions and feed the obsession you need to cut these out it’s very important. I just made flash cards actually and I’m going to start taking them everywhere to check in with myself and ask myself if I’m doing any of these things and if so stop it. These are different then just thoughts popping up in your head and feelings associated with the thoughts. This is something we do deliberately and create a habit of it that we need to break just like any other physical compulsion.
https://youtu.be/5Xk0rMvkw2Q this guy explains it well
If youre still using this app how have you been? Hoping your doing better
It’s so crazy how even though you have been through this a million times, when a new thought pops up or an old obsession resurfaces, it feels impossible to get through. You know the tools and you recognize the feelings, and yet somehow “this one” is different. It’s more serious, more disturbing, it’s a sign of your true desires, etc, etc. Taking the risk of uncertainty is not worth it “this time”because the consequences are too severe. Every time you start to make progress on an obsession or even just part of an obsession, you think you are finally getting the hang of it…and then ocd hits you back and it’s like all the confidence and progress you were starting to feel like you were developing gets blown away and in that moment you are back at the beginning. Ocd is truly diabolical and so smart. It causes so much suffering. I am so tired of making progress or even just maintaining my current obsessions just to get smacked in the face with something “different” and somehow “worse”. It is exhausting. One thing I never considered I would need to fight ocd and use erp was stamina. I really hope everyone out there struggling with ocd is doing ok. If you have ever felt like this, just know that I am in that same place.
I have been dealing with all random sub types the past 4 months and it seems like as soon as I don’t let one one obsession. Other me anymore, I have a couple hours of relief and clarity and then all of a sudden my mind will be like “you aren’t worrying about anything, that’s not normal, let’s try to find something to latch onto and bother you” and all I keep doing is letting things fizzle away and then it’s like I just cycle through my common OCD thoughts because I’m just so used to being anxious and worried about bothersome thoughts. And a completely new one came in recently that’s ridiculous and I am almost embarrassed to even say what it is
Hey everyone. This is my first post here and it’s probably going to be a long one because I guess I feel comfortable enough to be open here. I need help. When I first got diagnosed with OCD, I figured it only impacted a small part of my life. I thought I was only affected with compulsions and obsessions that dealt with contamination, tangible perfectionism and the obvious intrusive thoughts and that’s it. Well, I’ve come to realize that most of my thinking has been impacted by OCD. At this point the only way to describe how it feels to me is a forest of thorny vines growing in place of my mind or maybe through and around my brain constantly growing every-time I give into this type of thinking (which is basically all the time because I wasn’t aware this was OCD). I’ve definitely felt it more recently, but I know it’s always been there from what I recall from past memories. I got diagnosed not so long ago with OCD and I was happy to because it explained this thing I knew was wrong with me but I didn’t know how much it will and has impacted me in the past. So, I think I’ve created a matrix in my mind or strengthened the OCD thought patterns because now I feel like my OCD impacts everything I do. And I guess I’m saying I need help here because maybe you guys will be able to see it, maybe validate me and point me where I can get help. I’ve been telling the people around me, I think my thinking is disordered and I need help but I don’t think they really understand the amount it’s affecting me or grasp what I meant when I say “I Need Help”. I did have a therapist before but because of a insurance change, she can’t work with me anymore and I’m not sure when I’ll get another (just to clarify). Back to the matter, the past couple of months I’ve been in my head just thinking and thinking. About everything. To the point where my head starts to hurt or until I feel sick of thinking about it but I can’t. I find that’s my obsessions and compulsions (other than the need for order [which can also be mental]) are very mentally based and I find myself ashamed of them so I hide them so maybe that’s why the people around me don’t feel my need for getting help as much as I do. Anyways, examples of this have been, -constantly thinking about what’s the purpose of all of life and the hidden messages in life -feeling like if I don’t do everything perfectly then what the point or being very mad at myself -being obsessed with how I present to the rest of the world sometimes even in close relationships -having calculated movements and actions (having to move my body a certain way or it doesn’t feel right) -obsessing over an absolute truth -questioning friendships and other relationships - obsessing over achievements or failures -obsessing over people -obsessing over decisions and outcomes because I want to make the perfect decisions I could go on and on but basically it’s just a lot of thinking and ruminating and obsessing to the point where people tell me I look like I’m some where else all the time. And I’ve started to feel like I find comfort in it now. I’m also diagnosed with depression and anxiety and I feel like it’s all just OCD. And same goes for my dissociation. I feel like they all root from my OCD. I’m so tired of feeling like this all the time and without my therapist I feel like I’m stuck here. I can’t make decisions, I’m never present, I can’t make or keep friendships/ relationships, everything impacts me deeply because I create a emotional obsession to it, I can’t just be without questioning everything and I’m constantly in my head. I’ve also started getting high all the time because I feel like it’s the only way to escape my brain but I’ve felt like it’s getting out of hand. I’m starting to lose in any type of hope of getting better. Does anyone have an advice for working on OCD by yourself or identifying when it’s OCD (especially mental obsessions and compulsions) so I can start to chip at this boulder that’s weighing down my life and energy?
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