Does anyone else feel like they have a different brain when OCD takes control? For example; if you start recognising you're falling into and intrusive thought and try to pull yourself out of it it's almost like your normal 'rational' brain has taken over again? Or the thoughts take over and you go into the stressed/anxious and irrational brain? It's almost like pushing out a shadow that's invading your mind, does anyone else get this feeling?
Yes that's pretty much how OCD operates, I've seen in an article when we get an intrusive thought our fight or flight alarm turns on and our irrational part of brain takes full control in order to protect us, so trying to use logic to escape the situation is a zero return investment.
Thanks for your response, I'm still new to OCD so still very much learning about it. That helps me understand it a little more so thank you for that :)
@Jade š¤ Learning about OCD is a huge part of OCD recovery so what I would like to advise you is that you choose someone who knows and have experienced OCD so he or she can provide with solid advices and luckily there are tons of free resources online.
@Mohaš Thanks, that makes a lot of sense. Iāve been struggling lately to understand why I have this and how it works, thatās helpful
@Mohaš I am thank you, I'm getting ERP soon
Yes! And often after the fact, I'm like "Who WAS that?" After getting through a situation, I often realize how ridiculous the thoughts and compulsions were, but when I'm right in the middle of them they seem like they're the most important thing in the world.
@EightiesGirl This is me!! Iām in the middle of all of this and know how irrational all of this is and want my life back! This is the worst itās ever been for me. Usually I take Zoloft and it gets me back. Iāve been on it. For 5 weeks now and I c little improvement. The tiredness is gone but the intrusive thoughts depression urges and compulsions are still there.
@Volballgirl Maybe you need to try a different SSRI. Iāve been on several and they definitely all affect me differently. On Lexapro now and going back to Prozac. Paxil was the most effective but side effects were too bad
Yes definitely. I've had OCD since I was a child (I'm 36 now) and have always felt I had 2 people in my head lol. But it's just 2 different ways of thinking and not letting the ocd take over is so much work but you can definitely feel the difference.
Ye itās a cruel demon. Not us at all
Like cancer itās an illness
Iāve taken Zoloft off and on for about 8 years I guess and itās always worked before. Idk, I dread starting from scratch and weaning myself off of it to start another on e and going through the whole thing again.
@Volballgirl Yep, I hear ya. I was supposed to switch back to Prozac in august and I keep putting it off because the switching is so bad
5 weeks is not enough for the depression Iām thinking but idk
Iāve been thinking a lot about how OCD changes the way we see ourselves, but I recently realized that I am not my thoughts. Just because a thought pops up doesnāt mean itās true or that it defines me. Iāve started learning how to see OCD for what it isājust a disorder trying to trick meāand Iāve become stronger in dealing with it. Has anyone else here had a similar realization? How do you handle these thoughts when they show up?
Does anyone have any advice for how to know the difference between ocd and real feelings/thoughts? Sometimes an intrusive thought will come in and I immediately know itās ridiculous and I can just leave it alone and it wonāt bother me but other times I really really donāt know. Itās when ocd hijacks and twists my real feelings and thoughts and tries to manipulate me into believing theyāre something theyāre not or something that doesnāt align with my true morals or intentions. But since itās twisting and mixing with real feelings I get so confused and scared. Everything gets jumbled and I feel like I canāt trust myself or my own mind. Yet other times and other topics I can laugh off and push away just fine. Make it make sense. And then I start to think well maybe I donāt have ocd at all and Iām just in denial because I donāt want to accept that these scary/concerning things are true about myself. Or maybe thatās just the ocd talking.
My OCD has found new objects that I should be scared or worried about and I have this urge to hide them or throw them away. When Iām trying to watch tv I get really anxious that Iām trying to focus my attention elsewhere other than being in my own head, trying to sort my thoughts out & when I say I donāt want something I feel like Iām in denial. Does anyone else feel like this
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