Introduce yourself and share your journey to NOCD with Casie!

@Trish1014 That sounds lovely, Trish! I’ve seen others at NOCD who have drawn/painted what their OCD looks like, it’s very healing!

@Trish1014 I would love to see your painting!

@Aivlissa You go girl/guy! 😁

@Aivlissa Great! I lost 100 lbs over course of a few years when I joined the gym. I got halfway through college, before my OCD got too bad.

@Aivlissa Excellent!

@Matthew L. Way to go!

@missocdbbb Thank you for sharing, and for being here with us! I am so sorry to hear how much you have been through, it sounds like you have been resilient and strong for a long time. I hope we can help support some of that weight for you! How sweet you and your husband have four pups! What kind are they?

@NOCD Advocate - Casie David we’ve got a handful haha! frenchie, boston terrier, chocolate lab and great dane/greyhound mix Thank you for your kind words🫶🏼

So glad you are here.

@Soniaw Hello in the UK. I found NOCD while searching the web.

@Soniaw Hello there, how cool! I have always wanted to try crocheting, I love art because it keeps my hands busy! I hope you find lots of great resources here. I also found the app first before starting therapy, and it was the first time I found others who understood me!

@Soniaw That is so cool that you crochet. I knit and find it calms me but all I know how to make are scarves so I have all these scarves 😂

@Anonymous There are loads of crochet and knitting tutorials on YouTube

Congrats on finding the best resource on the planet 🔥❤️

@Agrokat! Yes, we are so happy to have you! Did you know Maria also struggles with intrusive thoughts? She has helped so many of us feel less alone!

@NOCD Advocate - Casie David Yes, it’s great that she’s so open about it

@Matthew L. I started NOCD therapy the end of September

@Anonymous Hope you’re having success.

@Matthew L. It is definitely helping! Lots of anxiety and work. I hope it’s helping you too! Riding that anxiety wave when doing ERP. I have setbacks then I also have progress.

@Anonymous Same with me. It is like riding a wave, I guess I’ve progressed, cutting back on compulsions.

@Matthew L. That is great! I have so many compulsions. I’m tackling them but it’s going to take time. I ruminate a lot.

@Anonymous I understand. I’ve been able to decrease my ruminating. It will take time.

@Matthew L. Thank you

@Matthew L. We are so happy to have you! It definitely does feel like riding a wave like you both said. Sometimes I use that to think about how to respond to my intrusive thoughts (the less I fight the water, the easier it is to float on the waves and let them pass)

@Anonymous Rumination was one of my hardest mental compulsions to crack, but once I did I was SO grateful to understand how! I can’t wait for you to make that breakthrough!

@NOCD Advocate - Casie David Thank you. I’m trying so hard. I find when doing some of the ERP exercises other thoughts pop in and I think of so many more compulsions I need to do. So hard to stop these thoughts.

@NOCD Advocate - Casie David Hello, any advice for the rumination it’s a big problem of mine!

@NOCD Advocate - Casie David How did you stop the ruminating? I’m desperate to learn. It’s ruining my life

@NOCD Advocate - Casie David Thanks. I’ve been able to cut down on intrusive thoughts. I focus on being in the “Now”, which isn’t always easy. Glad you’ve made so much progress.

@Matthew L. I’m trying to do that too. I have 9 ERP exercises I’m doing everyday plus the compulsions that pop in. I’m not always successful sometimes I mess up.

@Anonymous I feel hopeful though

@Anonymous That’s a lot of ERP exercises. I do a number of ERP exercises too. It’s okay to mess up, you can only try the best you can.

@ Just had a good session. Continuing to work on things.

@Matthew L. That is great!

@Volballgirl So good to meet you. I’ve had ocd probably for a little over 45 years started in my childhood

@Anonymous I’ve had it most of my life too. I’m really struggling with doing ERP around things I’ve been carrying for so long.

We are glad you're here, it takes a very special person to work with children! Thank you for doing the kind work that you do. I am optimistic we can help alleviate your ROCD symptoms, so you can focus on doing what you love! Thank you for being here!

@Anonymous2222 Never too late. Me too over 30years. Never had this kind of therapy. We will get there. So I hear ya. They know more now than 30 years ago. We’re here to support and relate big time. Let’s learn to accept and live the life we were meant to. ❤️

@LittleSoubrette How did you recover for 3 years? I’ll be grateful for 3 years free of this 😭

@FunkyFred A lot of connecting to my values, pushing through anxiety even when it was tough, and getting proper treatment. I went to a lot of support groups in NYC and they all really helped. The support groups here are great too!

@LittleSoubrette thank you so much!

@LittleSoubrette Thank you for sharing and being here! I’m sorry to hear you’re going through a relapse, I’ve had one myself before and they’re so hard. The good thing is you are taking all the right steps to get yourself back on track, and each time you do your recovery will only strengthen. You are getting stronger each day you show up for yourself and say no to your OCD!💓

I had a lot of shame as well when I started. OCD is very misunderstood, so many of us suffer in silence because we don't feel we are as deserving. We all deserve care and support, so we can live the lives we want! I'm so grateful I took this step too, getting proper care really helped in all aspects of my life (in the same ways OCD was affecting aspects of my life)- relationships with others, managing stress, and even allowing myself to do things I enjoy like art. It's all a learning journey but one you absolutely deserve to be on! Thank you for showing up for yourself, and being in our community!

My advice is that it will snowball. Get help asap if possible

@Anonymous thank you

@fid Agreed. Good luck.

Have you had a free 15 minute informational call with us yet? It was my first step towards getting better, and feeling hope again!

@Anonymous We are so happy you’re here! I’m sorry to hear your insurance was terminated, but I think utilizing the app and all these great community features is a great idea. This sounds like a beautiful painting, you should share it with us once it’s complete! (If you’d like!)

@Recoverer Hi there, wow, what a coincidence! Happy you’re here with us and continuing the good fight. With the strides you’ve made with not only your OCD but also your anxiety, with time I have faith you will overcome this obsession in time too!💪🙏

@ I sure hope so, I’ve made so many discoveries outside of just OCD, like uncovering my triggers, fears, and traumas (that ultimately led to my OCD) and it’s been so much work I could cry 🙇🏻‍♂️ but I’m currently caught in the midst of health obsessions. Did you ever come across this particular obsession?

@Recoverer I have that subtype.. did you have relationship ocd as well?

@FunkyFred How is your health ocd? What are you dealing with? As for relationship ocd, not as a chronic obsession per se, but I do suspect I once broke up with a former girlfriend because of that, but I didn’t know I had OCD back then and didn’t understand it at all.

@Recoverer Understandable.. but as far as health ocd, I worry about stds a lot, I don’t want those.. umm.. i don’t particularly enjoy getting sick, it stresses me out, I just caught covid last month and I was in fear, especially when my taste buds were off.. I go to the doctor for anything and everything that bothers me. How is it for you?

@FunkyFred Yeah I empathize with the covid part, I can’t imagine there’s many people out there who have been terrified of catching it, rightfully so. And I’ve had this head pressure in the back of my head for a couple weeks now. I don’t normally get headaches unless I am sick so naturally I’m hyperfocusing on it so much, but I just have no idea what it truly is or what caused it, unless it’s just anxiety, but it’s really annoying. My doctors have cleared it, so has my chiropractor, but it won’t go away and idk what to do. I don’t want to get an unnecessary scan because I feel like if it was something really serious I would’ve felt it by now. But it’s been nagging and I just want to get over it, but I can’t prove if it’s just anxiety or something else and it’s really frustrating because it’s been kinda difficult to focus on my surroundings and sit upright too.

@FunkyFred Sounds tough, dealing with health OCD, especially Covid. It’s not one of my subtypes. I deal with perfectionism and contamination OCD. It’s hard, but working with my therapist has been helpful.

@Matthew L. If it’s anxiety and I know my brain is causing it, it’s easier for me to sit with it. With health though, it’s so hard when you actually feel something in your body and can’t distinguish whether it’s real or anxiety created and that’s what I hate.

@Recoverer That sounds tough.

@Recoverer Honestly, your headaches probably are from stressed, i used to get stress/tension headaches a lot due to my stress and anxiety. They went away tho.

@FunkyFred I used to get stress pain on the side, back, of my head.

@Matthew L. I’ve been feeling weird for like 2 weeks though, that’s the problem.

@Rcope09 A lot of my OCD concerns failing my littles too! I’m a homeschooling stay at home mom as well. ♥️

@Anonymous Wow! Nice to meet you! Have you started ERP?

@Rcope09 Yes, I’ve been slowly working at it for a few months. I’ve made some progress but still working on my bigger triggers! Baby steps! Hopefully you can find some good tools soon!

@bm Way to go scheduling a call, bm! I also had those same fears, and I wish someone would have told me how normal they are. We start with a diagnostic assessment because our therapists know we oftentimes can’t access proper care to get diagnosed beforehand. Because they understand OCD, they know our intrusive thoughts don’t reflect on who we are as people. That’s what they’re here to help us work through. You will be speaking with people who understand, from your first call! I’m sending lots of good vibes your way my friend!💓💪

@ Thank you for your kind words, Casie. It’s been really tough and a really unstable process to go through but the main thing I learnt through my self-help guides before being able to afford NOCD is that uncertainty is the entire point of this and how to cope so hopefully I can get the proper help to help me heal! 🫶🏻

@68273 I do check ins from time to time! To keep me on track with my recovery goals 💪