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?
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
What is the difference between delusional thoughts and intrusive ones? Genuinely just curious. My OCD theme has been about becoming schizophrenic. I googled for my compulsion which I know I shouldn’t of but I keep getting scared that I don’t have intrusive thoughts and that it’s something more. I think deep down I know it’s just anxiety but still I’m struggling. Any reply would be really appreciated! Thank you guys?
I'm curious if anyone experiences OCD how I do. Somedays I barely have any intrusive thoughts and if I do, they cause me minimal anxiety. Other days I'm so anxious and tortured by my thoughts I feel I can't go on. I've gone months with constant turmoil and months without. Anyone else?
Something that really trips people up is understanding what intrusive thoughts are. What I see suggested a lot is that intrusive thoughts are just unwanted, unpleasant thoughts. This however isn't really enough criteria to separate the thoughts of someone who suffers from OCD and someone who doesn't as everyone gets unwanted thoughts. Intrusive, obsessive thoughts can be defined by how disruptive they are to your daily life. It's not that people without OCD live without taking precautions, but the amount of time someone with OCD spends compulsing over the thought is very disruptive to their everyday routine. For example: a person without OCD will acknowledge the danger the sun possesses and they will probably put on sunblock to protect themselves. They can do it well enough is a short amount of time to go in with their day and don't really think much about it afterwards. However, someone with OCD may spend hours obsessing over making sure every part of them which can be burned is protected. They may even check to make sure they're not burning as the day goes on. Compulsive behaviors (checking, testing, researching, asking for opinions/reassurance) will take up the majority of their time where someone without OCD will have more "free time" to go about their day. There is no relief for the OCD sufferer in knowing they did good enough. They need to make 100% sure they won't burn in this very specific example. I hope this makes sense for those of you who ask this question frequently as I believe it is very important to understand. Many people deny to themselves that they have this disorder because they can't define these thoughts properly and they get stuck on whether or not their thoughts constitute as being intrusive. Remember: just because you feel you are in distress doesn't mean there's actually any danger.
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