Existential/philosophical obsessions? Anyone dealt with this before? I literally feel like I’m getting better with it and boom I get triggered by something I read unintentionally on the internet or talks with others, movies or tv and I feel like I’m back to square one with a new existential obsession that I feel like I need to solve. I just am so frustrated I’m trying to go about this in the right way I’m trying but I just don’t know how to go about it right. My ocd has taken many forms and everytime it’s one I wish for the other it’s so wierd. Like right now I rather be dealing with my health obsessions then this. But if it’s not one it’s the others it’s like I’m addicted to ocd and juggle obsessions. I just want peace but idk what to do. Does anyone else feel like they conquer one obsession and a new one pops up? I feel like I constantly am in a loop I look at old notebooks and realize I’ve been jumping around the same obsessions for over 3 years. Insanity. I would love to hear what has helped you guys and what I you think I should do?

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