- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 2y
Things That Helped Me
Hey guys - So I just had a pretty significant setback in my OCD journey, and in the attempt to make light of it I’m going to share what I learned, in the hopes that it will help some of you. OCD is theorized to have something to do with a serotonin deficiency in the brain. So, naturally, I started doing a few different things to help with that naturally. I’d say the biggest thing that impacted my OCD spiral was stopping my gratitude journal practice. This has the BIGGEST effect on my journey. Being able to take stock of the things that were going well allowed me to break out of the endless loop that is OCD. If you think about OCD in terms of an endless, cyclical train track of anxiety and fear, well the best thing to do is to get off of that train track by CREATING another one - one of gratitude, love, and peace. What helped me was making a list every day of all of the good things in my life, and really feeling the implications of my blessings, believing that I was worthy of those things. The OCD will always be there, wanting to grab you, at least right now. It’s worth shifting your focus to something else. Maintaining healthy attachment - This is very important to OCD recovery. As Michael Greenberg talks about in his articles, oftentimes obsessions are a result of a person not being able to express a healthy and natural feeling, one that their psyche has deemed unsafe. For example, worrying you might want to harm a loved one might be indicative of an underlying anger you have towards them, a healthy anger that we may feel even towards those we love - but for some reason, you’re not letting yourself feel that anger because maybe you were shamed for expressing emotions like that as a child. I’ll attach the article here - it’s so good. He’s got all of these worksheets on there too that really help you find your core fear. Anyways, I know this sounds crazy right? Why would attachment have anything to do with my OCD? Healthy attachment to others allows us to express emotions in a safe way - and not having that can cause things to become repressed, or our brains to try and distract us from them, with an anxiety spiral. Making sure you are setting boundaries, expressing your needs, crying when you need to, expressing your need for love when you can - are all ways to reinforce YOU. Not the obsessional, OCD part of you - but the beautiful person underneath all of that with needs and desires and a need for connection. Look at your life - How much love are you experiencing on a daily basis? Love is crucial for the chemical of serotonin in our brains - and feeling connected to people actually increases those chemicals in your brain - which you need, especially with OCD. How many heartfelt conversations have you had recently? Is there a way you could have one? Is there someone you could ask for a hug right now, or an animal you can pet? Are you making yourself feel loved? Are you around people that make you anxious, because you can tell they are repressing their emotions and you feel like you need to take care of their emotions? Are you able to be honest and truthful about your feelings and needs? Meditation is also a really good one - it’s going to help mentally train you to watch thoughts go by, and be able to direct your attention to what YOU want to. I’m going to attach all of the articles that have helped me from Michael Greenberg - especially the ones on rumination. Think about what ruminating does to your brain - constantly going in that cycle of anxiety and trying to figure something out - in the past or future - think about what that would do to your brain chemistry. Our ruminations are not often ones of how much we are loved or how grateful we are - they are a fear loop, over and over again. No wonder your brain is devoid of serotonin! Now it’s just about rebalancing that - and to conclude, here’s a list to help: Increase the presence of love in your life, as possible Daily gratitude practice to start rewiring your brain to focus on that instead Reduce rumination and eliminate it as possible Work on your attachment style - Personal Development School has great videos on this, read the book “Attached”. Here are the articles: https://drmichaeljgreenberg.com/articles/ There’s some great articles about rumination, the psychodynamics underlying your OCD - I’d recommend reading all of those he has listed. Hope this helps at all! Stay strong guys. :)