I always feel like I’m finally getting somewhere and then one day all of the anxiety just comes flooding back and I can’t cope 😭 when does it get to a point where I can cope better and I’m not picking myself back up after every couple of weeks!!
Hi, I think I can provide some hope! Everyone has intrusive thoughts, even people who are not diagnosed with OCD. But those of us with OCD have some good days and some not so good days. Our response to the intrusive thoughts is what makes us different from others. Some days you can hear the thought and not panic, other days you are having a bad day and the intrusive thought hits you like a ton of bricks. Regardless of how you respond, the onset of the intrusive thought is the same - how we respond to it needs to be different. Taking a few moments daily to hear the thought and make a conscious effort not to panic in the moment, and even say "yeah that would be unfortunate if that were true" or "I could really overthink that thought and get higher anxiety or panic, or I can just chill, accept the thought is there, and move on with my day reducing my current anxiety by sitting still for a few minutes and not ruminating." Doing this a few times daily as an exercise when you have thoughts that feel heavy can help so much to train your mind to respond differently and with less anxiety and panic. This may help decrease those times when you feel like you have to pick yourself back up every couple of weeks. Always remember: When you are sick, exhausted, stressed, or have had a big change in life... OCD thinks that is it's opportunity to come in and throw intrusive thoughts your way, and often it is very hard to accept them and move on because the anxiety is so scary. But anxiety can and will calm if you just give yourself time to sit with the thought, not fight it and let your symptoms calm. ERP therapy is also great to help you learn this technique and others. Best wishes for joy!
@NOCD Therapist - Ursula W. Thank you ❤️ this has made things in my head a little clearer and more manageable xx
@NOCD Therapist - Ursula W. Thank you so so so much!
This just happened to me! Was doing so good and every since last night this rush of anxiety and intrusive thoughts came rushing back. Trying to learn to be with my thoughts and not push them away, hang in there! We got this!! B
@rowenc8 Thank you! Just have to remind myself of this ❤️
I was doing so good early last week and now I also feel like I’m back at square 1. These thoughts are so hard to not engage with 😭
@Megan W I know! Try sitting with them and remember they are just thoughts 💜 they don’t control you!!!!
@rowenc8 It’s so hard. I just did an exposure that was really difficult and now I’m trying to stop ruminating about it. I’m so worried that I have schizophrenia, not OCD, and am going to go crazy 😭
@Megan W This was also a really big fear of mine - it is your ocd trying to convince you that you have it! What helps me a lot is also repeating the phrase / thought out loud then sitting with the thought after saying it! I practiced this alot with my erp therapist
I'm going through a rough time. I used to think medication would brighten my world, but if anything, it's muted it. The physical anxiety is less, and I felt okay(ish) for a while, but things are getting bad again. I'm so afraid I'll never get to a point where I feel safe in my body and in my mind. Today is the first day I've cried in... I don't know how long. But I didn't feel the relief I thought I would. Initially, I did, but it morphed into dread, and now I'm sitting by myself, trying not to panic. I really want to begin seeing a therapist for OCD, but I don't know how much my insurance covers. There's just so much on my mind right now. A whole bunch of old themes are resurfacing. I wish I could've been given a different path in life. I'm trying to stay strong. It's just really difficult. I feel like I'm being sent back to square one :(
I feel like every day I try to sit with uncertainty, but it just feels never ending. Like I receive a little bit of hope and get to the top of one hill and feel like things may get better in a while, there's another hill right in front of me that feels more frightening. It's really frustrating. I know it's the nature of this disorder but ughhhhh
I’ve been stuck in this cycle for the last month or two and am not sure how to get out of it. Basically, I will work on ignoring the thoughts and not responding or engaging plus limiting/completely eliminating compulsions. After a week or two of constant work, the amount of intrusive thoughts in a day goes down. The anxiety each thought causes also goes down with some, but not all, thoughts passing without notice like they would for a normal person. The thoughts that do stick cause anxiety and make me want to ruminate or do other compulsions but I make sure to limit them. After a bit, I’m in a pretty good head space. This is usually when it goes down hill. I’ll start to question if I even have ocd because some of the thoughts (once again not all) pass without notice. The difficulty resisting compulsions goes down and so does the anxiety, only increasing the questioning. I spend a while questioning if I’ve ever had ocd in the first place and then something sets me off or the questioning itself becomes a trigger and I get stuck back into the same ocd cycle with constant rumination, anxiety, and other compulsions. This lasts for a week or two before I know I need to stop and try and work hard to get back to ignoring the thoughts. And the cycle just restarts over and over again. Does anyone have any tips to stop this from happening? It’s really harming my recovery as every few weeks I dive back into the same negative place I was.
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