Does anyone have their themes change on a daily basis? Since my most recent flair up of OCD in the past two months I have seen it change themes almost daily and things I was stifling with a week ago don't even seem to matter. Makes me fear it will never stop
Hey, sorry that you have been struggling. I have also experienced multiple themes occuring at the same time. It made me doubt my condition many times and then I went to the route of compulsive research. As frightening as it is, just continuing with your life and resisting compulsions ought to help manage it. Hope you feel better.
Yes that is what I am realizing. I did a script today and it was excruciating to get through I listened to it for over an hour and went into a panic state. I wasn't really sure if it worked and am still not entirely sure to be honest. I am just getting started with my journey to recovery in ERP and I am having a lot of fears that once I get over one theme I will just latch onto something else and it will be a never ending cycle. Although maybe I should create a script for that fear too? I do keep hearing that same thing though. Just keep enjoying your life and resisting compulsions will make it much more manageable. Do you have any tips for not giving into compulsions both physical and mental? I struggle with Groinal Response OCD and feel a tingly feeling in that area..this just developed over the past 48 hours and my brain has gone all over the place with it. Thinking it was because of my toddler, a banana, my dog, or even thinking I might be attracted to men. Anxiety does some wild things! Is it just as simple as whenever I feel the physical sensation I ignore it and let it be there? and if I start thinking about it mentally I accept that the thoughts are there but I do my best to not engage with them? I very much struggle with thoughts of "what if" this sensation never goes away. So keeping those thoughts at bay is very difficult.
My themes pretty much stay the same. Each day focusing on same triggers. I understand that fear of it never stopping. It sucks.
When my ocd was bad, my themes changed all the time but also meshed together, harm, rocd, existential all blurred together. Like I could be afraid of meeting my friend because what if I ruin their life and harm them by meeting them and I set our lives on the wrong path? The response I should have is “Yeah, what if I do! Oh well, I can’t control that”
This is a great point. Kinda just like throwing your arms up in the air and going "I don't know! Maybe, maybe not!"
@hellopeople I’d like to have a friend.
@Matthew L. Friends are nice
@hellopeople I’m sure it’s very nice to have friends. It doesn’t seem like I was the kind of person who attracted others. Never felt I had things in common, & maybe I was a bit strange.
@777Q They are. Must be nice to have acquaintances. Sorry for loss of close friend.
Eric, thank you for sharing what you are going through. I am sorry to hear you’re struggling. Please try to keep in mind that OCD is the doubting disease. Therefore, it is not surprising that these thoughts and questions are coming up as you are starting therapy. Try to remember that just thinking something does not make it true. Your thoughts do not define you. Also, trying to just push the intrusive thoughts away, usually actually ends up intensifying them instead. The more effective way is to let yourself have the thought without engaging with it. However, of course, I understand that is easier said than done, but this will get easier as you continue ERP. If your ERP therapy is through NOCD, you may want to check out the virtual OCD support groups that are offered. I find connecting with others who are going through similar experiences to be very helpful. Recovery is not perfection and is not always a straight line. With Therapy, time, and patience tools are gained to manage the symptoms and keep the frequency and intensity of the episodes under control. Be kind and patient with yourself, you are doing a great job. Take it one step at a time.
Thank you so much for the kind words of encouragement. I am learning very slowly that just because I have a thought does mean that I am what that thought is. I realized today that when I have a thought that really bothers me I can also remind myself of my true values and help ground myself. I attended my first support group for newcomers to NOCD and it was incredible. I immediately signed up for the OCD + ADHD that was planned for tonight at 6pm CST. Unfortunately it got canceled for tonight which I am really disappointed in but I see there are other support groups scheduled for tomorrow that I plan on joining. I did my first ERP exposure today listening to my script and it was excruciating...I started questioning why I was doing it since it was so painful. I'm hoping over time I start seeing the benefits and I start seeing improvement.
Anyone else feel that when they aren’t experiencing a theme that their ocd is almost non existent. It almost makes me feel like I’ve been faking it, and also makes me feel ridiculous for obsessing over things. I feel sorry for myself :/ I know that my themes are valid and felt very real in the moment, but after I “get over” them I just can’t believe that I was obsessing over something that either wasn’t true or didn’t apply to me. I would also like to know how to prevent themes from reoccurring. Health, religion and existential OCD themes tend to take turns throughout my life, I just didn’t know that was it ocd. Trying to break the cycle.
So with my theme of ocd, ( hocd ) I get persistent intrusive images, and thoughts. It’s not like one or two a day. Like if I’m out for the whole day they’re constant. I feel I can’t even look at a girl now without her intrusive thoughts about her or about me fancying her and even sexual intrusive thoughts.. It’s awful. It’s everywhere I look. Is this common with ocd with any themes? Like is it constant for you guys too?
I was just thinking about how OCD tries to be tricky and switches themes on us!! The amount of times I have said to myself in the past, IF ONLY I HAD THE OLDER THEME I USE TO WORRY ABOUT BECAUSE THIS NEW ONE IS SO MUCH WORSE!!! Has anyone ever experienced this before? Once I started ERP therapy, I began to really start understanding what mental/physical compulsions I was doing to really keep my OCD alive! While I did this, I would also tap into my self-compassion bucket, even when it felt like it was dry at times, because it was SO easy to judge myself for because of the sheer presence of my thoughts. I would also have the most self-compassion for myself for those taboo intrusive thoughts that really felt so strong, ego-dystonic and real!!! My OCD would hop around from theme to theme and just when I thought I figured it out (compulsion) it would hop again and make me discouraged! I noticed for me that once I really understood my compulsions, it didn't matter when the theme switched as I could tackle it at its core. If I was able to stay steadfast and resist compulsions the best I could, I started to notice that my CONFIDENCE increased in the long run! I also noticed that some of the core fears were the same for different OCD subtypes. OCD treatment is hard BUT living with OCD is harder. I have experienced subtypes including Harm OCD, ROCD, Moral Scrupulosity, Sensorimotor, Contamination, Perfectionism/Just Right, Hit and Run, Magical Thinking, Real Event/False Memory. ERP therapy allowed me to really work on stopping these compulsions and switching from theme to theme. I was fed up with what OCD took from me and I needed to do something about it. I talked to an ERP therapist and it was one of the best decisions of my life. If you are struggling, keep pushing and get the help you deserve!! You got this!!!
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