- Date posted
- 3y
What's the difference between living with OCD and
Living just with the intrusive thoughts that makes you uncomfortable and anxious Does OCD have to be severe to have it?
Living just with the intrusive thoughts that makes you uncomfortable and anxious Does OCD have to be severe to have it?
OCD, like any other disorder or illness can have differing impacts on the people it affects. Everything is sort of on a spectrum, right? We know that often times people who have OCD report times in their lives where it ebbs and flows, so it makes sense that there are times when people may feel like it is completely gone or times when it seems to be ever present. I think that living in recovery means that you recognize what OCD is, you have the tools to fight it, and you live your life in spite of what OCD says.https://www.treatmyocd.com/blog/im-living-in-recovery-from-ocd-heres-what-that-means
Well, to my understanding the repetitiveness and anxiety comes from the compulsions feeding the obsessions and the cyclic nature of OCD. Ex.) I see a knife, I have an intrusive thought (obsession), I tell myself it’s okay (compulsion). I’ve learned I can’t handle it without my compulsion.
Wait, calming myself and convincing myself that my thoughts are not what I really think can be a compulsion?
@bluesapphire As counterintuitive as that seems, yes! Let me send a resource.
@John E Great article!!
Hey thank you guys so much for your answers! I'm just really struggling understanding what did I went through this year. It was like really crazy for me. I had horrible intrusive thoughts that made my life just unbearable. I'm in a much better place since I've learned how to cope and about OCD in general. The thing is that I didn't want to a psychiatrist so I don't really know rather I have OCD or not and it makes me really to doubt myself even though I've been through hell living like this
Hey all, as an OCD newbie, i have some questions. These might be obvious or stupid, but idk, i just need some answers. 1. Is it hard for anyone else to watch movies and not get triggered? 2. Does anyone else get OCD about their OCD? 3. Is it possible/normal to have a lot of subtypes? And i mean like 6 or 7. 4. Do people usually misunderstand us and assume that our intrusive thoughts are actually what we want to do?
Hi! It’s pretty difficult for me to get the courage to post this but I’m really struggling to figure out if what I’m experiencing is OCD or Anxiety or neither. I think I have the “pure O” type of OCD where most of my compulsions take the form of ruminating and trying to figure out something all in my head. When I hear this talked about in forums or online the intrusive thoughts don’t really match mine- I worry often about things that seem more “grounded” if that makes sense. A common one for me is my own identity- i will spend long amounts of time stuck in my head trying to figure out my feelings (often sadness or other real emotions I have and patterns I have) and why I feel that way and what in my life caused that and how it’s impacting other things in my life. I also think often about which parts of my personality are the real me and which aren’t. Sometimes this takes the form of strictly ruminating and sometimes I have fake conversations with people I know. It’s intense and I feel I have to figure it out but with no specific intrusive thought that says something like “you have to figure this out or all of your loved ones will die” but it’s very intense. I think also often of all of the decisions I need to make in the future and how they’re going to affect those I love and care about as well as how much I’ll regret them. I imagine all of the ways I think my actions will emotionally hurt others and how to make the least harmful decision, but to me this feels like a valid concern but go over and over and never come to a conclusion. I often just get scared and never make any move because I don’t see an option that doesn’t hurt someone somehow. But again I’m having a hard time identifying the intrusive thought behind it. But I also don’t choose to think about these things most of the time. This is almost all decisions but especially big life decisions. It’s such a struggle because they are things I eventually do have to make decisions about. There is so much more to it that would take too long to explain but in general a lot of my fears revolve around pleasing others/ understanding others emotions to ensure they’re okay, my own identity and personality, and work/school performance. Someone mentioned OCD to me because in my head it feels like I have to solve these things and will go over and over them but I seriously can’t figure out if it’s anxiety, OCD, or none of the above. It’s all very disruptive to my life. I am never not thinking or not trying to figure something out and I feel as if I have no control over it Anyone have any insight?
I think I have mild OCD. Maybe that's why I can't relate to many of the difficulties experienced by other posters. My OCD is more on the compulsion side performing certain rituals at key transitions or points during the day. I honestly cannot figure out what the underlying obsession is other than some kind of weird mental hoarding to acknowledge and cherish a moment but also to protect my family and even my pets. I get little or no anxiety (I used to when I was younger). Even mild OCD absolutely sucks and is debilitating to an extent.
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