Living with somatic OCD

Having any OCD can be incredibly stressful. Somatic OCD is something I have recently come in to familiar terms with and is not leaving my vocabulary. It is constantly being aware of your bodily functions to the extent you get shortness of breath because you forgot how to breathe. Getting sore eyes because you started becoming aware of blinking and suddenly people are asking if you’re okay or “why are you crying???”. But the breathing OCD is what I am especially here to talk about today so here are my best pieces of knowledge that have helped me: When in distress, focus only on your outer breaths. Your body naturally breathes out for longer than it does in. Just notice how on your in breaths your body does it naturally and it will feel right. Your breathing also naturally has a pause after each full rise and descent so let it do that too. When you hyperventilate it is often not your oxygen that is the issue but instead tour carbon dioxide levels which can be thrown off and both can feel the same. So even if it feels uncomfortable at first just allow yourself to breathe normally. And if you need to take a deep breath focus it in to your stomach to counteract what your body normally does in stress. Sitting down and leaning forwards can help too. Otherwise, and this goes for any somatic OCD, just try and build more trust with your bodily functions because your body has been doing it all its life and remember that forgetting can genuinely be the best option despite all of this. Your body can and will do it naturally, you cannot ‘forget to breathe’. My guidance is merely to stop panicking going too far. I hope this helps :-)

Beeleebop

Date posted: 2y ago

This is so helpful! I do not struggle with this theme anymore but this is how my OCD manifested at a very early age. I was like 7 and I started obsessively worrying that I was going to forget how to breathe. I said those exact words. I would ask my parents “what if I forget how to breathe?????” And they would have to reassure me that it’s impossible. Can’t believe how young I was when OCD first started taking over

Whyyocd

Date posted: 2y ago

This is helpful! Thank you! I think my main worry though is that I’m going to keep paying attention to my breathing, which will make me feel like I’m manually breathing, and then I’m scared I’ll start hyperventilating for paying attention to my breathing instead of just letting it happen naturally :(

Apersontbh

Date posted: 2y ago

@Whyyocd You’re very welcome :) Honestly its been a long journey for me but just expect the thoughts will come back. The acceptance will eventually make you realise it isn’t happening anymore and if it does, you can or may refer back to the advice I mentioned earlier to alleviate it. Just trust yourself. Even if you fainted, you would start automatically breathing again and by that point I think there’d be people there to help you. You will be okay.

Whyyocd

Date posted: 2y ago

@Apersontbh Thank you again! 🫶🏻

Hyades

Date posted: 13w ago

OCD Teaming Up With A Real Life Bad Experience.. Help?

So, I know my capacity to get fixated on things. And it's normally something that's relatively remote but, my latest issue is really getting to me and I was wondering if people have any advice. I'm avoiding getting too into specifics, as I don't want this to get reassurance-y but, in essence.. I came to the realisation recently that people who I'd been "friends" (feels like the wrong term now) when I was younger were not very nice people, and normalized a lot of very unpleasant behaviour towards other members of the group. They really normalized it, sold themselves as figures of authority, as older and more responsible and grown-up than others, and looking back, they acted horribly. And coming to this realisation, that I'd been manipulated into just accepting their behaviour has just... broken me. My OCD has latched onto it and I can't stop feeling irreversibly tainted by it. I've talked to others about it, and they've reassured me, told me it's not a big deal and that I hold myself to too high a standard, but none of that sticks. I feel better for a bit, then think 'Maybe when you told them you were skewing it to make yourself look better' or 'Did you leave out a crucial detail'. I keep ruminating over and over, trying to remember exactly how everything played out, trying to figure out if I fed into the behaviour, if I did something bad myself (because y'know, I feel like I was accepting of it at the time, so what does it say about my own values?). I know I need to stop doing all this if I want to improve, but then some part of me keeps saying 'So, you're just going to let yourself off the hook then?' Normally, I can rationalize my own fears to some degree, assure myself something won't happen, but the realness of the situation, and the fact I only came to understand the reality of it because the thought had been bothering me means it feels so much more all-encompassing. I know confessing in itself is a compulsion, but I keep feeling that if I'm not I'm somehow concealing what I 'really am' from others around me, and any positive interactions are me deceiving them in some way. I feel like I can't enjoy anything in life right now, and a good part of me feels I should not enjoy it ever again. If anybody has any advice on it, I'm all ears. Or even hearing if you relate to these feelings, I might appreciate the solidarity at least.

HelloPeoplee

Date posted: 10w ago

How do I know if I have OCD?

This list by ai gives a good summary of my symptoms. Does it resemble OCD or is it something else? 1. Compulsions (OCD-specific behaviors): • Feeling the need to flex or contract muscles an even number of times, equally on both sides of your body. • Needing to reverse actions (for example, if you roll your eyes or trace a line with your finger, you feel compelled to do it again in the exact opposite way). 2. Intrusive Thoughts (OCD-specific ruminations): • Daydreaming about people you care about getting hurt (e.g., school shooting, injury, or kidnapping). • Sometimes feeling like you might want something bad to happen to someone you find attractive—possibly because of a desire to help or save them, though it’s confusing. • These thoughts can sometimes provide a twisted sense of relief while remaining distressing and confusing. 3. Sexual Orientation OCD: • Experiencing confusion or doubt about your sexual orientation. 4. Contamination Thoughts: • Feeling like things are contaminated, especially after touching something gross. 5. Sensory Compulsions: • Feeling the need to smell your hand after touching areas like your ear or hair. 6. ADHD-like Symptoms / Additional Observations: • Fidgeting or moving your legs when standing or sitting.

Iceberg Climber

Date posted: 10w ago

Rolling Anxiety Attacks with OCD?

Does anyone have any experience with this? I wake up early with severe, severe anxiety and nothing seems to help. I try embracing the anxiety, breathing, and exercising. But these things only seem to help a little. Fortunately, I do think the length of the attacks are getting shorter (mainly because I'm still trying my best to live normally in spite of them), but they are still lasting a good 5-6 hours. They are quite debilitating. Does anyone have any advice for dealing with these? I've read much about potential solutions (being okay with the anxiety), but I was looking for some personal antecdotes. Thank you

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Living with somatic OCD

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