I’ve become utterly convinced that my friends don’t truly like me, and are hanging out with me out of pity / obligation. It’s making me spiral worse and worse as the days go on. The evidence feels very real, and I can’t tell if it’s OCD or this is actually the case. What ERP statements do you guys think I should use? What are some methods of counteracting this? I’ve become completely fixated on this, and it’s making me depressed
Acknowledge you can’t know everything that goes through other’s heads. BUT, they ARE your friends, and CHOOSE to hang out with you. Maybe some days, they aren’t as excited to hang out. Happens to all of us. But yet they’ve CHOSEN to be with you. They didn’t have to do that, but they do
I remind myself I have OCD.
I've had this before. I just kinda was like "yeah.... Okay" and it went away. Wish I could still do that. I'd like to confirm your diagnosis, but sometimes the answer to "is this OCD" is "maybe, maybe not". Do you get where I'm going with this? Anyway, for this theme, you should hang around your friends, let the thoughts come, and absolutely ridicule OCD's thoughts as they come in, like "oh yeah, they really hate me enough to hang around me, shut up OCD you're wasting my time". And don't be afraid to get angry at OCD.
Hi there I’ve had something similar. The way I’ve learnt to cope with it is let the thoughts and questions in, as much as it would terrify me let the thoughts be there, not question them and try and figure them out but let them be there and carry on. It took time for me however now when the thoughts and questioning appear, because I’m letting them be there and not going over them I’m not reacting the same way I used to. And once what was a consumable terrifying fear is now barely bothering me at all. I know how difficult this obsession can be but you can get to the other side of it. Please keep going I really hope this helped in some way and you feel better.
I’ve learnt to think like an old wise person when this pops up in my mind. I’ll say statements like “friends come and go”, “true friends will always stick around and those that don’t aren’t” “You have your whole life to make friends and many opportunities to if you just try and search for them” “You believe this because they aren’t talking but conversations are two sided” Etc.
Hi all, my ocd has been flaring up lately and I’m not sure why. I think it may be due to stress and anxiety involving school and the hurricanes (I live in Florida) anyways I keep having random intrusive thoughts involving my real event and a lot of false memories are popping up, they feel so real it’s like I can feel everything in them even though I haven’t actually felt them. It’s so weird, like sometimes I will watch a movie and be able to feel the texture of snow or a piece of clothing even though I’ve never felt it before. I have noticed when I get those “phantom” ? touch feelings that they cause a lot of false memory intrusive thoughts. I’ve also been having intrusive thoughts that because no one interacts with my posts on here that everyone hates me and knows about me and thinks I’m horrible and disgusting or that someone is talking about me behind my back and telling people to stay away from me and then I’m a horrible person. I hate OCD so much, I hate that I ruminate constantly on little things and mistakes I’ve made and things I can’t let go. I just hate it so much. Does anyone else struggle with these thoughts or even the “phantom feelings/touches” I’m not sure what to call them sometimes I also get them with certain foods or smells even if I hadn’t had them before or smelt them before. It’s so weird
I'm reaching out in hopes of finding others who might relate to my experiences or offer insights. I'm dealing with a complex interplay of OCD, depression, and existential anxiety, and I'm struggling to make sense of it all. Here's what I'm experiencing: I have OCD with various manifestations, along with episodes of depression. I find myself in a cyclical pattern where, after a few weeks, I start to remind myself about my depressive tendencies. This reminder seems to trigger a cycle that actually makes me feel more depressed or at least more aware of depressive symptoms. When this happens, I often experience feelings of nihilism and existential dread. I try to think about my family - my two young boys and my wife - to find motivation or a sense of purpose, but this strategy often backfires, making me feel even more anxious and depressed. I constantly check my feelings, wondering if they're depressive or anxious. At the same time, I fear that my feelings of anxiety and panic might spiral out of control. I think about my emotions and thoughts on a meta-level, which means I'm not just experiencing feelings, but I'm also constantly analyzing the fact that I'm experiencing them. There's an existential component to my struggles, a fear of depression and anxiety itself, and a sense that this might be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Perhaps most frustratingly, I often have feelings, thoughts, or sensory experiences that I can't explain or put into words. I feel like I've never heard of these before, which leaves me feeling deeply misunderstood. Does anyone else experience something similar? How do you cope with this complex web of symptoms and experiences? I'm particularly interested in hearing from those who've found ways to break the cycle of meta-cognition and self-fulfilling anxiety. Any insights, shared experiences, or strategies would be deeply appreciated. Thank you for your time and understanding.
Lately my OCD has been very horrible, it’s been more convincing than ever to the point where I’m genuinely convinced that I like this stuff, when I get a thought, I’ll hear my intrusive thoughts go “oooh, I like that, I’d do that.” and I just don’t freak out nor feel bad, I just feel like I like it even more, and feel like I would do/act on it and like it, and the feeling is strong and it lingers forever? It genuinely feels like I do, and I’m just lying now, i can’t tell if I make these thoughts worse or anything All I remember mostly just being like confused sometimes when these thoughts happen, but since I’m getting strong emotions that I like it, my brain says that means I did and I’m worried about that being true because I don’t understand nor know It’s like I am resisting to like this stuff now, it’s even tougher now than it was before
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