Can I get better while still doing compulsions or do I really have to stop all of them? I just can’t imagine giving up every compulsion but also this is torture. Do I quit cold turkey or slowly stop?
Slowly stop them. It’s very difficult to go cold turkey and not do any compulsions later on. Your brain is used to a certain pattern of thinking, and rewiring those pathways can take quite a while, so it’s important to take it one step at a time 🫶🏽
Depends. My compulsion is to confess, and I’ve found that delaying it is giving me much better results. For me, quitting totally was just too much pressure and when I gave in, I felt like a failure. Baby steps in the right direction is a lot more doable right now for me.
You need to stop them.
Stop them all. Would you tell an alcoholic they can have a couple drinks?
I focus on delaying my mental compulsions and that’s been helping me. For my nail biting compulsion, I find that harder but just started working on it.
Ooo good question. I wanna answer it backwards lol. Cold turkey vs slow... your journey but the goal will always be to remove Compulsions 100%. Until you reach a point where you have a firm grasp on erp and how to process and deal with the thoughts/triggers. I would say honeyshark hit the nail on the head. Delay your compulsion and skip some of the "easier ones". I can see why at this time you can't imagine a life without them but can you imagine your life without the obsession or anxiety? Probably not... I compare it a lot to me quitting smoking. I never imagined a day I wouldn't smoke or use a cigarette to give me a break and make me feel better. Now im glad to say I can't imagine smoking again or having to compulse again. Your journey your path but I'd say ultimately the goal should be 0 compulsion even if it's just delayed or removing some of the more tolerable ones first.
My compulsion is counting and my therapist said that it’s okay. She said I can count all I want cause it helps my anxiety and isn’t hurting me or anyone so idk
@OneTwoThreeOCD Do you feel like it isn’t hurting you? I would say my compulsions hurt me psychologically because they make me feel worse
@LizardLady95 I don’t think it hurts me. I do it subconsciously and only realize I’m doing it sometimes. It helps distract me when I’m anxious which is all the time 😅
@OneTwoThreeOCD That’s good, if it’s not hurting you maybe it’s a good coping mechanism
@OneTwoThreeOCD Do you have an OCD therapist?
@Honeyshark No I have a regular general therapist? Idk what that would be called 😅
@LizardLady95 Yeah that’s what she was telling me. It helps me when I’m having an anxiety attack too
@OneTwoThreeOCD A coping mechanism (compulsion) for someone without ocd isn't the same as someone who has it. Just keep that in mind on your journey.
@Will86 A coping compulsion IS ocd lol
@OneTwoThreeOCD Uh huh but my point is that for others it's not a big deal for us it's different.
@Will86 Why are you comparing our levels of OCD lol if you wanted attention just say that
@OneTwoThreeOCD Nope that's not what I said. "Others" as the post before that said are those without ocd and "us" are those with ocd. What can be seen as a healthy and okay way to cope for a person with GAD or anxiety due to say public speaking is different than someone with ocd. We (THOSE WITH OCD so your insecurity can see who im referring to) tend to take it to an unhealthy place. This is why a huge emphasis is placed on combating all compulsions and learning to live with uncertainty and discomfort. Now that you were nice enough to get nasty and twist what I said I assume since I didn't agree with you I'll just wish you luck and hope the OP can figure out the answer to their question that is the healthiest for them. Good luck
@Will86 Yeah that’s why I was wondering if it was a general therapist vs OCD therapist cuz usually OCD therapists don’t encourage doing compulsions to feel better.
@Will86 No you’re trying to act like the victim. I was talking to someone else and out of nowhere you tell me to remember that my ocd isn’t as big of a deal as others ocd. But sure make me the bad guy you just want attention anyway
@OneTwoThreeOCD Um his advice is sound for someone with OCD vs GAD. If you have OCD performing the counting is part of your OCD and makes it worse. Whereas if it’s GAD, it’s a healthy coping mechanism.
@OneTwoThreeOCD Can we all just agree that we are all struggling in our own way and not turn on each other. I appreciate all the insight and advice but please let’s not get into fights. It’s hard enough to have this mental illness and everyone should support each other the best they can. I think this was all miscommunication.
i don’t want to do my compulsions. I feel like if I don’t somebody will get hurt, sick or die. It’s a very scary thought to feel like if I don’t do my compulsions it will be my fault even though it isn’t & nor will it happen. I know it’s magical thinking & my thoughts are not true nor will they come true. it’s just im so tired of doing these compulsions. im so tired of feeling like I can stop something bad happening if I don’t step on this or touch this 4 times. it even got me believing that if I do something I want to do & love, something bad will happen. I just want to be able to live & feel like I use to. I hate ocd. how can I calm this down so I can be able to navigate in my own life?
I still do not have an OFFICIAL diagnosis (I dont have the means to do so) but given my symptoms, past and present in my life hugely suggest OCD is what I am dealing with. I cannot be 100 percent certain but after searching for answers and researching for a long time now, I am fairly certain and confident this is what I am struggling with. Given this step forward, I am making more effort into giving up compulsions. at the current moment I believe to be dealing with ROCD, as I have been having several intrusive thoughts that conflict with my relationship. For starters, recently over the past month or 2, I have been struggling with intrusive thoughts like not being over my ex, being attracted to someone else, losing feelings for my partner and not being in love, etc. I can consciously identify that I dont believe these thoughts to be true but it causes me so much distress and anxiety. It gets extremely unbearable some days, and I have leaned into 2 main compulsions. I have relied on thought checking and googling as my source of relief. At first the googling was genuinely to start finding answers; hence why I have made some of the discoveries I have about OCD including this site. But it developed into every time I was anxious, I would whip my phone out and start googling strictly to find an answer that would reassure me or calm me down. As for thought checking, it acted as a way to reaffirm my love for my girlfriend in my head when I have had the thoughts that collide with my relationship and how I feel about my girlfriend. It worked at first but developed into a compulsion where every time a bad thought got me worked up id either do my normal googling or Id think about that in my head to calm myself down. Over time these compulsions have gotten less and less affective and now when I do them it only gets me more anxious and desperate for reassurance (strengthening the cycle or whatever it is lol). I did some more research and finally have accepted the very real fact that I am going to have to sit in heavy anxiety and not give into compulsions for a while in order to treat this. I have to sit in the thoughts that make me feel all this hightened anxiety and distress without giving into compulsion. to be honest I am scared, the thoughts are more rampant than ever, but I am ready to commit to this. I dont think I am gonna be able to go cold turkey on my compulsions so I am ready for the reality I might relapse on the compulsions sometimes, But am gonna keep going until I can break these shackles OCD has on my life right now. I wanna ask, what is everyones methods they use to avoid giving into compulsion when the thoughts get loud? any advice is welcome :)
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