What mental compulsions have you identified in yourself? Share your experiences!

Neutralization is big!

You and me both! Thanks for posting that. I do that constantly but working on trying to disregard.

Same!

@Dee C How are you doing now, joe did you and your therapist address these issues?

@auggiec017 Doing better after many years of being misdiagnosed. These days the war in my head is like background noise I don’t pay attention to. Everyday I practice what I’ve learned from ERP and live in the moment, rather than trying to figure things out. In a few months I’ll be starting the next chapter in my journey…retirement. Thanks for asking.

@Dee C God Bless brotha thank you that’s a huge blessing.

@Dee C How did you finally find treatment? My 12 year old is going thru this exact thing every day. I r have tried the call with NOCD and told we have to be out on a waiting list. There are no therapists in our area who will accept new patients. I have called at least 20 different numbers all with the same result: we aren’t accepting patients right now. Meanwhile, he is suffering everyday, suffocating in his own thoughts and doubts. It kills me. I dont know how to help him!

I'm so sorry you experienced this. OCD is very difficult to be properly diagnosed. Suicidal OCD was a big theme for me as well. It's very scary! Thank you for sharing.

@Luke Rylan I’m sorry that you & your child are going through this. While you’re waiting my suggestion is to educate yourself. The beauty of it, your child is young enough to begin unlearning. They may not have a full understanding of what ocd is about. I’ve found The OCD Stories podcast are very educational. There is also the International OCD Foundation.org and Christie Hodges website. There are various books available to teach you about ERP although having a therapist to guide your child is a must. There’s also the Psychology Today website but it’s drawbacks are finding a therapist who actually deals with OCD and has ERP certification. And although your child may not be old enough to post on this app, it doesn’t stop you. So please continue posting here and NOCD also has support groups but I’m not sure if you can attend. Hoping this helps you and please continue to reach out.

@Dee C ‘Many years of being misdiagnosed’ That’s also my story, well kind of. I was diagnosed back in the 70s with ocd, but as you prob know, it was so misunderstood back then. So it was brushed under the carpet. Then diagnosed with bipolar, adhd. And lots of conventional therapy that didn’t help, and 17 years in 12 step groups that seem to make me worse

@YaBoio Biggest thing that’s helped me with this is no longer focusing on getting better and trying to instead just start living the way I want to. Going and doing more, seeing friends and family more, etc.

@Wes01 My intrusive thoughts cling into a lot of enjoyable events for me so those are exposers i need to work on in my hierarchy. Or my depression says what’s the point. I’m a work in progress.

I know how automatic compulsions can be. It's hard to even realize you're in them at times. Have you done exposures for these ruminations?

@Wes01 Same.

@Anonymous Me too.

@Newb82 It felt normal for a long time, and I just assumed everyone does it

@Anonymous I think I partly thought that but I could tell it was a problem.

Neutralization is huge!

It's very hard to break the cycle. Have you tried ERP?

OCD made me feel like a bad person as well.. I'm sorry you're experiencing this. Try your best to act out of your values versus your fears - OCD wants us to make decisions from fear. It's very hard to go against it, but it can take time and practice. ERP allowed me to overcome this!

@ Well said! OCD wants me to decide from a place of fear, and it wants me to decide right this moment. If I can zoom out, I usually see that I don't need to decide right now, and my values (care, connection, curiosity) will pull me through in time.

This sounds like Magical Thinking OCD potentially. It's scary when you feel responsible for others, and the world overall. I'm sorry. You are not alone!

How would you classify hyper awareness

@troytali Hey there, also realised/found out it has been ocd all these years, am 50 years old

I'm sorry you're experiencing this. Thank you for sharing. I'm glad to hear you are not backing down from the fight! It can be exhausting and hard work, but it can definitely make things easier over time. My biggest advice is practice and consistency with exposures and ERP tools. The more you practice, the more the new, healthier thought pattern can begin to stick!

Thank you for sharing Nick!

@pessy Did this as well. Very painful. Maybe you let the OCD push you out of the job. Learn from it. Give yourself compassion. OCD is a hard thing to live with. And commit to try and not let that happen again. Practice, through meditation, staying with discomfort.

I'm very sorry to hear this. ERP allowed me to get past things I was latched on to, and I highly recommend it. There is a lot of opportunity. You're doing the best you can right now!

I am so sorry OCD has impacted you in this way. It can really take everything from you. I hope one day you can see him again. Have you tried ERP? It saved me and allowed me to live my life again!

Just trying to change the train of thought...think about solving a math problem, anything to break the rumination spiral.

Once I realize I'm ruminating, I use an ERP technique to pull myself out of it! Are you familiar with ERP?

@AJH11 I’m not an expert but for me it means to be stuck in my head trying to find the answers to the ‘what if’ or ‘why’ the feeling of fear questions.

@Dee C Also I get rumination where I’m trying to get the perfect answer, that can be deciding on going for a walk, circular thing on finding the ‘perfect’ walk, or deciding on what to cook, or constantly thinking about my artwork, finding solutions to it, oh and about clothes (a very recent and painful activity)

@Dee C *circular thinking

this explains very well! https://www.treatmyocd.com/blog/the-rumination-trap?utm_source=google_ads&utm_medium=ppc&utm_campaign=14264736622&utm_adgroup=&utm_term=&gclid=Cj0KCQiA5NSdBhDfARIsALzs2EBc9vaNWK1jwR1XYHxQ2RNPhKx4xns6BDAENej85XBjltP7YK666oAaAheOEALw_wcB