- Date posted
- 6y
- Date posted
- 6y
Keep posting and share your thoughts and feelings.
- Date posted
- 6y
Also will look into taking the 90 minute interview with professional.
- Date posted
- 6y
Sounds like pretty classic OCD behavior to me! Treatment for OCD is pretty standard across all themes: CBT, ERP therapy, and mindfulness training. You can learn more here: https://ocdla.com/cognitivebehavioraltherapy Since you’re just figuring this out, I’d also recommend grabbing a book on OCD. There are tons out there to choose from but here are some recommendations: https://ocdla.com/ocdreadings Welcome to the community!
- Date posted
- 6y
You are not alone. All of those themes trouble me as well...
- Date posted
- 6y
I have EXACTLY the same contamination issues you described, also showering till feels alright and perfectionism that I now getting less. Yes, sounds like you have mild OCD. There are a couple apps or websites you can do a survey to see how you rate (kinda).
- Date posted
- 6y
I think you might like this book – "The Complete Guide to Overcoming OCD: (ebook bundle)" by David Veale, Rob Willson. Just $5.
- Date posted
- 6y
Have I got OCD? Only a trained health professional can diagnose you as suffering from OCD. The following is a screening questionnaire from the International Council on OCD. 1 Do you wash or clean a lot? 2 Do you check things a lot? 3 Is there any thought that keeps bothering you that you would like to get rid of but can’t? 4 Do your activities take a long time to finish? 5 Are you concerned with orderliness or symmetry? If you answered yes to one or more of these questions and it causes either significant distress and/or it interferes in your ability to work or study or your role as a homemaker, or in your social or family life or in relationships, then there is a significant chance that you have OCD. This test can be a bit over-sensitive to diagnosing OCD, so if you think you might have OCD, it is best to talk to a health professional and get appropriate help.
- Date posted
- 6y
Thank you so much for your comment. Extremely helpful. Will definitely look into the book you recommended.
- Date posted
- 6y
Here are some key ways in which you can lessen your OCD and improve your life. 1 Imagine how you would like to be different, in terms of how you feel and behave. Picture yourself being this way in your mind’s eye. 2 List all of your hopes, dreams and aspirations. Imagine how being utterly free from OCD would help you towards them. 3 Develop a mental image that represents your OCD when it is trying to force you to carry out a mental or behavioural ritual –a bully, a demon, a computer virus, Nazi propaganda on a radio or choose your own mental image. 4 Develop a mental image that represents defeating your OCD. 5 Find inspiration for overcoming adversity –choose a role model or metaphor that helps you to stick with progress and resist the urges to check, wash, seek reassurance, review or analyse in your mind. 6 Identify someone who you can share (and celebrate) your progress with. Help them to see that you need cheering on in your progress, NOT reassurance or debates over safety etc! 7 List all of the strategies that you employ in your mind and in your behaviour that are maintaining your OCD. View these like bad habits you are going to train yourself out of and do not respond to such urges by giving yourself reassurance or try to suppress such thoughts and urges. 8 Imagine that you have a twin, who is the same as you in every respect, but is free from OCD, and use them as your guide in changing your behaviour. 9 Test out treating your problem ‘as if’it’s a problem of worrying too much or being too cautious. The trick is to do this even though you’re not 100 per cent sure. Remember that looking for certainty is very much the problem, not the solution. 10 Find a metaphor for treating intrusive thoughts as events just passing through your mind. Traffic passing in the street or leaves on a river are just a couple of examples. The trick is to allow your mind to take care of itself, without interfering with or responding to the intrusive thoughts. The flow of thoughts in your mind should be as much left to its own devices as the blood flowing through your veins. 11 Deliberately practice refocusing your attention on to the things you can see, hear, smell and feel in the ‘real’outside world, here and now. 12 NORMALIZE your doubts, images, thoughts and impulses. This means fully accepting that your intrusive thoughts, images and doubts are normal and part of being human. 13 Embrace each time you have an intrusive doubt, image, thought or impulse as an opportunity to accept them willingly into your mind. Think of it as keeping your friends close and your enemies closer! 14 Practice assuming the best. OCD has a habit of knocking your rose-tinted spectacles off so get back to normal by assuming the best rather than the worst. 15 Listen to music that helps you to get into the frame of mind to drive your true values and aspirations straight through OCD and out the other side. 16 Focus on getting better, more than feeling better. Measure your progress in terms of your levels of distress and ability to function across the course of a couple of weeks. 17 ‘OCD loves a vacuum!’As you recover, fill the gaps in your life that your OCD might leave behind with hobbies, exercise, education, friendships, deepening relationships with loved ones or furthering your career. There’s evidence that doing so will help you keep OCD out of your life.
- Date posted
- 6y
https://youtu.be/pJp9vlp84Wk Check out these YouTube videos.
- Date posted
- 6y
Thanks for your comment! The information you provided is greatly appreciated and will not be wasted.
Related posts
- Date posted
- 21w
I’m hoping to get some feedback or hear if anyone else experiences similar things. Lately, I’ve been noticing a lot of repetitive behaviors and thoughts that feel hard to control. Some of those things are: - I often get this uneasy feeling, and if I don’t do certain things in a specific way, it just doesn’t feel "just right." - I have to wash my hands until it feels "just right," and if I try not to, I get a thought that something bad will happen if I don’t. - I dislike using public bathrooms and even shared bathrooms at home. - When I shower, I have to wear socks before stepping on the floor. If my feet touch the ground, I feel like I have to shower again. - I get hyper-fixated on cuts, worrying about them getting infected, and I avoid touching water or anything else to prevent bacteria, even if I can’t cover them with a bandaid. - I can’t use dishes that have just been washed because I think they haven’t been cleaned properly. Instead, I use the ones that have already been dried and stored. When I type (like on emails or texts), I’ll fix what I write over and over, trying to make it "just right." - I have a strange dislike for certain numbers (7, 4, and 6) and feel uncomfortable around them. - I also have to follow routines, like making my bed in a certain way, and I can’t stop until everything is in the right order. - I get stuck on intrusive thoughts, like needing to wash my hands repeatedly or constantly checking things (like if I turned off the stove) because I fear something bad will happen if I don’t. - I’ll even repeat things in my head, like words or phrases, to make the "just right" feeling go away. - Sometimes, I treat inanimate objects like they have feelings and worry about hurting them, even though I know it's not real. - I’ve always felt like I’m being watched, which causes a lot of distress. There’s more, but these are some of the main things. I feel like these thoughts and behaviors control a lot of my day, and I just can’t stop them even when I know they’re kind of irrational. Does this sound like it could be signs of OCD, or is it something else? Or just normal behavior?
- Date posted
- 20w
Hi, I’m new to the app as of today. I’m 20 years old, and wanted to get some stuff off my chest about the types of OCD I’ve been experiencing over the years. I’m not entirely sure how or when my OCD was brought up, but I’ve been a perfectionist for as long as I can remember. Anywhere and everywhere I go, if I see things placed in an order/angle that my brain doesn’t approve of, next thing I know I’m “fixing” it to be in the placement I feel looks better. I’m not aware of why I feel the need to do that, but until an object is in the “right” placement, I won’t take my eyes off of it. My eye will even twitch. Another form of OCD I have is in relationships. I spend each day overthinking and over-analyzing every one of the relationships that are important to me. Friends, family, significant other. Another one is what’s considered “Pure OCD” . When I get an intrusive thought of something devilish, whether it’s randomly seeing my great aunt naked bc my grandma considers her “fat” even though she’s not, or it’s seeing something demonic and traumatizing, I immediately tell myself, “I don’t wanna see/think about that” over and over and over until the thought is gone. Or I’ll try to replace one mental image with another. One other form of OCD I face every day, is religion. I got baptized for the first time in my life earlier this year in January. I had finally started to repent for my sins, and now I’m constantly feeling afraid that I’m letting God down due to my depression/lack of motivation and vaping/smoking. I also fear excessively that He’ll banish me from His kingdom, or just turn a cold shoulder. I know that what I’ve just typed up is probably all over the place. That is my brain unfortunately. How do you go from being a mentally disorderly and seemingly erratic young woman, to a more well-established, successful woman? I’m all ears!
- Date posted
- 18w
Hiii! This is my first post. I found NOCD through a tiktok ad that spoke to me. It was titled signs you didnt know were OCD or something like that, and one of the slides was “checking my pulse throughout the day to make sure i was okay”. This is something ive done for i dont even know how long. atleast 10 years, im 24 now. Ive always known Ive had OCD. Light Sanitation OCD runs in my family. But over the years ive started to realize i had way more than the “family trait”. Checking my pulse 40+ times a day is something i refer to as my “OCD tick”. Its to the point where people who dont know about my “tick” often ask if i am okay when they see me do it. Maybe this post is me putting it on paper for the first time so i myself can analyze but some other stuff i struggle with are: Often having thoughts of if i dont do A, B will happen. An example that is common for me is “if i dont refold this shirt me and my boyfriend will get into an argument” or if im out to dinner with a friend, “if i dont pick up this cup and place it back down, i will get into a car accident on the way home”. This is one i struggle with almost everyday, especially when im around people (work or outings). This compulsion happens multiple times a day. Now in my life i try to practice exposure therapy, even getting annoyed i feel the compulsion and think to myself “oh my god this is so stupid no!” but if i dont follow through i feel guilty. often when i get my next compulsion shortly after i tell myself “okay doing this will make up for not doing the previous one”. I definitely dont have a number based OCD, but i would have to pick up and put down the cup until it feels “right” or “correct”- same with checking my pulse. I have to check my pulse until the feeling is “just right”. With sanitation as i said before, i have a very clean and sanitary family, although mine is more severe than their feelings. I avoid touching certain surfaces after i have washed my hands, such as the front door knob, or living room tv remote, etc. If i need to touch or use these things, i have to immediately wash my hands again. Even if someone comes home and asks me to go and lock the front door ill often respond with “i cant i just washed my hands, if i lock the door ill have to rewash my hands”. thankfully my family is very understanding. I often feel like certain things are contaminated. For example when i come home i sanitize my phone immediately as it is contaminated from being outside of my house. I often have a feeling of something having to feel “just right”. If i go out to dinner i have to be the first to pick what seat or side of the booth im sitting on before the rest of my family sits down or i will feel anxious the whole dinner. Sometimes when im typing i have to back space and retype the same word over and over until i feel i typed it “just right”- even if i didnt make a typo. sometimes when i am driving and space out i often think “oh my god did i just hit someone” when there is no evidence that i have. it worries me. I think oh my god i mightve done a hit and run. But tell myself it can not be possible, theres no police chasing me, no honking, or anything. It is scary. this one is very rare. once in a blue moon i get a false memory. A main one ive felt since i was a kid is if someone or some object touches any part of my body, for example my left arm, i have to have them or atleast my self touch my right arm in the exact same way or i feel uneasy. this isnt with every single touch, but mainly when i feel triggered- although i never know what triggers a moment where i need the symmetry. I guess ive always known, i am very honest with my family, friends, and boyfriend about it. But i didnt start to realize how neurodivergent i was until asking some friends “you never randomly feel *insert compulsion*?” and they say never in their life have they felt like that. Im very self aware and have come to an acceptance with all these things, although it is debilitating. Periodically i think, wow it must be nice to not live life with these feelings but oh well. To be honest, downloading this app is the first step ive ever taken to find out more about OCD. Ive always kind of just been like “yeah i definitely have OCD but okay” more or less.
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