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I am sorry that you are having difficultly with ocd right now. It is very common around this time of year with the many different stressors. I am not sure where you are with respect to ERP therapy but I offer you this for thought : when intrusive thoughts are barraging you, try to accept the thoughts without responding. Letting them be there and resist compulsions as best you can. And even if you resist a compulsion for one minute, that is a success. Know this - it takes time to get to a point where we can resist compulsions for a longer amount of time - it build up over time. So give yourself some compassion and acknowledge the small victories because added together they become larger over time. I hope this helps.

So sorry to hear that you’re struggling at the moment! I definitely had days in recovery where I was very frustrated with my journey and thought that OCD would always win. Try not to focus so hard on perfecting your compulsions, and give yourself a little bit of compassion when you do accidentally fall for a compulsion. You’re human still, and there is no such thing as a perfect journey into recovery. I remember feeling trapped in ruminations for weeks when I started recovery and I thought there was no way I was going to be able to stop questioning every detail of my day. It took awhile, but I did steadily pull away from that fear. I had to keep reminding myself that sometimes I wouldn’t catch it. Even sometimes after recovery, I still catch myself sometimes doing something that probably is a compulsion, but remember to be kind. We can’t beat ourselves up. Maybe write down a note to yourself through out the day when you do notice that you’re breaking compulsions. That way you’re seeing your progress and you’re reminding yourself that you CAN get through it when it gets hard. Hoping the best for you in your tough days ❤️

try drawing.... I became an artist to relieve my intrusive thoughts.... creating... find a hobby.... that you love.... and do sports... running, swimming, get your body moving.... it helped me.... stay sane... kind of... 😬

When we resist and want it gone it comes at us harder. I feel your frustration though. I really do. Been there done that. It is hard to offer yourself compassion in this moment but can you try to do that and to allow the OCD to just be. It is part of us, it tries to protect us... It just goes to the extreme and so it ends up hurting us. Keep doing the things that are in your control. Which is ERP and resisting or delaying compulsions. You can do this. Tomorrow is a new day, try, try again!

Thank you for sharing what you are going through. I am sorry to hear you are struggling right now. OCD can be very stressful and overwhelming. With OCD, triggers are constantly coming up, and they are very hard to avoid. ERP (exposure and response prevention) therapy has been very helpful for me. Are you in therapy with a trained OCD therapist or NOCD? If not in therapy, please consider reaching out to the NOCD care team for a free consultation.