Yobi
- Date posted
- 2y
Sitting with the discomfort?
I got triggered today. And Im not going go do anything about. Any tips for effectivelly sitting with the discomfort?
Keira.Flynn2204Keira.Flynn2204
- Date posted
- 2y
i’m in the same boat right now i’m just trying to shake the bad thoughts away and try to move forward it’s hard right now and i’m just trying to move on as much as a i can thanks for sharing i feel less alone
eviepeviep
- Date posted
- 2y
i’ve found it helpful to use non-engaging responses to my obsessions when they happen. responding to a “what if” thought by shrugging and saying a simple “i don’t know,” “maybe, maybe not,” or “i don’t have the answer to that.” it’s hard, but exposing yourself to the thought and accepting uncertainty while you sit with the feeling is one of your best weapons against OCD!
KTSylvaKTSylva
- Date posted
- 2y
@eviep Yeah truly understanding that we do not have an answer to our questions is essential to recovery. Really sitting with the pain and discomfort that “will I hurt myself or someone else?” We don’t know. I know I would really rather those things not happen but I cant have certainty that they won’t. Seems impossible but it’s doable.
ocdhaver22ocdhaver22
- Date posted
- 2y
i needed to see this right now!!
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Ellen_l
- Date posted
- 24w
Advice?
I’m having a big OCD relapse and would like to hear anyone’s tips on how to be present and healthily deal with these intrusive thoughts and the “need” to preform compulsions. Thank you!!
Patrick McGrath
- User type
- Therapist
- Date posted
- 15w
Learning to sit with uncertainty and intrusive thoughts
Here is what I say to people: I wish I could make it stop. I really do. I also wish I could stop tinnitus. What is tinnitus, you may ask? Well, have you ever gone to a loud concert and after it had a ringing in your ears. Or, in movies when a loud explosion hears, first it is often muffled, and then there is a very loud ringing sound. Well, I have hear that sound for over 30 years. Turns out the medications I took as a kid for allergies and all the antibiotics I was on for Strep had a side effect for some people - tinnitus - that sound that I have heard every decade, year, month, day, hour, and second, for the past 30 years. I have learned to live with it. As I type this, it is REALLY loud, because I am paying attention to it. But, in a few minutes it will fade into the background, and, while I will hear it, I will not pay much attention to it, and therefore I will go on with my night. I will listen to music, practice my story for the MOTH radio hour, and work out. I will clean up the kitchen and load the dishwasher, and I will eventually get ready for bed. I will go to bed hearing that sound, and fall asleep for a few hours until tomorrow morning when I start the day all over again. I cannot make the sound stop. There is nothing to do for it - no surgery or medication. Just learning to live with it, and that is what I have done. It is the thing that I hate the most in my life, and, if granted three wishes, it would be the first thing to change. For now, as I have for 30 years, I will live with it, and I will ask you to live with your noises in your head - the thoughts, the images, and the urges, and we will practice together accepting that things are not always as we want them, but we can handle that. We got this.
Anonymous
- Date posted
- 12w
Any tips for leaning in to uncertainty
I need tips on how to really accept the uncertainty the ocd causes, even if it feels so bad like I might get in trouble for something , do I wanna be okay with that?
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