You would think by now, I would KNOW it's just my mind playing tricks on me, but I still believe everything. I will admit I had problems with compulstions in the past, but I overcame that somehow, and now it's turned to reassurance seeking towards everything. Anyone have any tips on how to overcome reassurance seeking, and believing all of my thoughts?
Well, one thing I've done that's helped me a great deal is to challenge OCD. When you have a flare-up, say or write, "Okay, OCD, tell me more. What valid data/proof do you have to back up your suggestion? Can you see the future? Do you have a crystal ball?" And, of course, there's no valid data or proof, just OCD's opinion. At any rate, it's helped me to see that it's only OCD, nothing more. Hope it helps.
My only problem with that would be as soon as I get an intrusive thought, it turns into a full blown memory, very detailed, seems 100% real and I can't differentiate and I start panicking every single time
@Miserable - Hmmm...I see your point. Do you have a trained OCD therapist? I think s/he would be able to help you through this situation. There are many good ones on this NOCD site. Why not contact them for a consultation. I believe they're free.
@Miserable Omg this is my main issue!!! I could have wrote this response. This is exactly what I am dealing with since Feb 😭😭😭
@Nrp So you have false memories as well?
@Miserable Yup!
I’m just starting out in my journey to recovery as I only recently self-diagnosed my ROCD (cheating subset). One technique that I’ve learned which has worked a few times in managing my anxiety is to actually welcome the intrusive thought. I literally tell myself, “welcome to the party…I know you’ll speak but then I’d like to sit back in the corner.” I know it sounds weird but the theory is that OCD wants you to fight it off, so, not giving it any power over you will make it go away. Let me know how it works for you
The consultation is free. NOCD does take insurance for the sessions.
And I explored the therapy on this site and although the initial call is free, the cost for a session is expensive…and they didn’t accept my insurance.
Reassurance seeking IS a compulsion. So is mental checking and replaying. If you have a therapist, I’d bring that up to them. Otherwise, you just have to resist doing those things the same way you resist other compulsions.
Anyone have any good tips for resisting the urge to ruminate? My compulsions are mainly reassurance seeking and ruminating and while I can resist the compulsion to check something on my phone, it’s really hard to resist ruminating, because ultimately, the ruminating is just thinking thoughts, which we all know we can’t control.
Hi friends! I feel like I am hitting a wall with my OCD and ERP. I deal with a LOT of mental compulsions. Often when I am doing ERP it can be hard to know if I am giving myself reassurance OR is it a logical thought. For example: I have this fear I will be fired for being late to work which spiral into many deeper fears. One may say well “people are late all the time or it is normal to be late” or “is it realistic to think I would be fired for being late”. How do you guys separate logical thinking and self reassurance? It’s something I really struggle with. I will start to habituate and then I think well was what I did reassurance? Mental compulsions have been so hard to identify. But yeah how do I tell if it is self reassurance or not? Any and all advice would help so much ✨🖤✨
How do you battle your reassurance seeking? I think I’m driving people crazy with all my questions, constant bothering, and phone calls. I just can’t stop asking “how do you know?”, “are you sure?”, and “what if”. It’s like it just comes out without thinking about it because I HAVE to ask the question. It’s constantly burning on the tip of my tongue waiting to be asked.
Share your thoughts so the Community can respond
