Does anyone else feel like there intrusive thoughts go away when the are deeply involved in some sort of work? Then when I come out of it, my mind goes straight back to my rocd. It makes me feel like it’s not actually rocd.
Hi Jigjon, I’ve noticed that sometimes when I’ve been busy with work or life events, I don’t notice my OCD themes as much. And sometimes stress/busyness with work can exacerbate my anxiety + ocd. Just because you don’t always notice it/it’s not as loud doesn’t mean it’s not OCD. OCD is a rollercoaster, there are times of high prevalence and times where things aren’t as noticeable. It’s the doubt disorder, so it’s going to make you doubt things, even doubting that what you’re experiencing is OCD! My best advice to you is to accept the uncertainty; maybe it is ocd, maybe it’s not. You may never have a concrete answer. But worrying, ruminating, over thinking won’t get you any closer to an answer. If you’re not in therapy, I definitely recommend giving NOCD a call for their free consultation!
Often the best way to deal with Intrusive thoughts is to accept the uncomfortable thoughts/feelings and not engage with the OCD. Since that is so hard to do, sometimes redirecting can help. It sounds like what you are describing is a form of redirecting. Perhaps you just need to add in a step prior to redirecting, where you let the thought come up and sit with it for a moment prior to redirecting by focusing on work, etc. I am in ERP (Exposure and Response Prevention) therapy for my OCD. It's helped me to deal with thoughts in a clearer way.
Yeap!
of course, I think it's kind of a coping mechanism
I’m having a big OCD relapse and would like to hear anyone’s tips on how to be present and healthily deal with these intrusive thoughts and the “need” to preform compulsions. Thank you!!
These past few days I was fine. Minimal intrusive thoughts ,no anxiety etc(to add I'm on medication so maybe it's starting to work although it barely is 2 weeks) and today I got a sudden wave of anxiety and it started latching on some thoughts like" what if I'm in denial and I wanna break up with my bf? And what if erp doesn't work for me because I actually wanna break up with my bf?" But they didn't really stay long usually those thoughts would make me spiral for days or so, now they lasted for some hours. And now I'm trying to trigger myself into being anxious again because if I don't it means I don't have ocd and if I don't have ocd it means I don't love my bf and if I don't love my bf it means I have to break up. Idk if it makes sense but the lack of anxiety makes me wonder if I actually have ocd or not.
Sometimes I notice my intrusive thoughts cause me to spiral and sometimes not. I've been practicing ERP for quite a while so it's a bit easier for me to not spiral. But I wonder why that happens. Does anyone else have it? Also I'm on medication idk if that plays a role.
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