MissSocks01
- Date posted
- 2y
Compulsions Sometimes Don’t Work
Has anyone else had it where you do your compulsion and then you actually end up making your anxiety worse? Like doing a compulsion actually then causes a trigger?
NOhseedyNOhseedy
- Date posted
- 2y
Yes this is exactly why we're not supposed to engage in them
anaaanaa
- Date posted
- 2y
Yes, doing the compulsion makes tge anxiety worse but in my case not doing the compulsion make it even more worse. I cannot deal with this ocd. It is so hard to live with this mental disorder.
hen7hen7
- Date posted
- 2y
@anaa I hear you! And it’s really annoying but that’s actually supposed to happen. It’s very normal that the anxiety is higher when you don’t do the compulsions because you’re going against the OCD, which is giving you the anxiety in the first place. My therapists say that during an exposure you have to have that fear so that you can experience that a big amount of fear does not mean there is danger and that nothing will happen. And also that you can withstand the fear (something OCD is trying to tell us is not the case) and that it will eventually subside on it’s own, without doing compulsions. If you don’t experience the fear during an exposure your brain will not learn from the experience. That’s why I always notice that during guided exposures with my therapists they always ramp up the exposure until I’m crying with fear. Very unpleasant but these moments are when I have my biggest breakthroughs. It’s about finding a balance between finding an exposure to do that will make the fear response high enough for your brain to learn from but not to the max of your fear levels causing complete overwhelm, because then the brain will also not learn from the experience. It’s a tough balance sometimes and sometimes it was too much and sometimes not enough. That also happens. You are much, much braver and capable than you think! ❤️
anaaanaa
- Date posted
- 2y
@hen7 Thank you for your kind words. I resist the compulsions for a longer time but then due to my extreme anxiety i sometimes do the compulsions again as this anxiety is unbearable for me. I cannot actually control my brain, thoughts or depression.
hen7hen7
- Date posted
- 2y
@anaa Don’t be too hard on yourself. Every time you manage to not do a compulsion, or even just delay the compulsion that’s a win! (I keep a success journal which is really helpful in seeing what I actually managed to overcome in a day, since it’s easy to forget. Esp when it’s a super tiny win) Recovery isn’t all or nothing. I’m in the middle of recovery and I still do compulsions. And other times of the day I can actually let go and let the thoughts and feelings be there. There are good and bad days. Days when you hardly seem to manage and days where you suddenly do manage to stop a compulsion. Keep at it in small steps and keep reminding yourself of what you have overcome or what progress you’ve made so far.
MissSocks01MissSocks01
- Date posted
- 2y
@hen7 This is exactly what I do now - a success journal. It has really helped me
JDJD
- Date posted
- 2y
Yeah, initially they worked for me but now they make it worse because my desire for relief has increased and I can't reach the level of certainty wanted with compulsions. Staying uncertain is the only choice I really have.
NicaNica
- Date posted
- 2y
They never actually work since you don’t get better doing them.
hen7hen7
- Date posted
- 2y
Oh yes, compulsions often give me new triggers (often causing me to have to start the compulsion all over again), new fears and new compulsions etc. That’s why we need to stop them as soon as possible once we notice we’re engaging in a compulsion.
•°○Amy ○°••°○Amy ○°•
- Date posted
- 2y
Mhm, I hate it when that happens, and everytime I try not to do the compulsion, I just go back to it, making myself feel even worse. :[
reezwellreezwell
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 2y
yes; ive had my compulsions trigger panic attacks so so many times, and of course the proper response is to just Not do it but its hard not to. it's so backwards and redundant but the horrors of ocd keep happening regardless..
MissSocks01MissSocks01
- Date posted
- 2y
I can’t believe the response on this thread, so glad it isn’t just me. Thank you so much everyone that commented. It is so difficult to ignore the compulsions but also so tough sometimes when you do them, it really does take so much of your time and energy trying to debate what to do! I am just glad there is a community of us who understand each other and help out in times of need ☺️
anaaanaa
- Date posted
- 2y
People with ocd are actually only understood by people who suffer from ocd. A normal person can never understand the pain of ocd.
Ihateocd72Ihateocd72
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 2y
Yes. My compulsions don’t really work at all anymore. lol and I mean in terms of they don’t even give me temporary relief anymore, it’s more so just safety seeking. But I’m trying to stop safety seeking too. My new compulsion (suicidal ocd) is saying I’m gonna **kms or wishing someone would do it to me, or saying “I just want to die” everytime i feel an overwhelming feeling coming on to get rid of the anxiety. This in turn makes me feel worse and guilty and it literally makes me panic later on because I regret it but it also makes me wonder if I meant it so it just triggers another spiral
MissSocks01MissSocks01
- Date posted
- 2y
@hellokittylover27 I feel like I’m also at this point. It’s so so tough
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Anonymous
- Date posted
- 25w
Irrational Fears
Usually my compulsions are always motivated by fear. I feel like a child when I have compulsions. Like for example, my brain convinces me that someone is in my house and I need to open every cabinet and all the shower curtains, and do tons of other crazy things like march instead of walking so that if someone where to shoot at my legs they'd have less of a chance of hitting me. How do I stop it? I am just going about my day and I can see in my head, myself getting attacked or something and so my only option to calm myself down is to do a bunch of random actions that will keep me "safe". Does anyone else experience this? Or convince themselves that they are under Milo Murphys law? That anything bad that can happen to them will, so they need to never do anything that could result in anything bad, and avoid everything? And how do you convince yourself you're not in danger?
Hobbit
- Date posted
- 15w
Not making ERP a compulsion?
Anyone have any tips on not making ERP a compulsion? I find myself sometimes wanting to do exposures in order to make myself feel better (feel my anxiety go down and feel relief). 😅
Anonymous
- Date posted
- 15w
Compulsions during exposure sessions
When I catch myself doing compulsions mentally during exposure sessions, it seems alot of the time like the realization that I was just doing a compulsion is more distressing than the actual trigger I'm trying to expose myself to. It feels defeating having to admit the prompt at the end that I performed a compulsion yet again. I still think I've made progress overall, and generally speaking I don't think I'm performing compulsions as much as I used to, and my distress has also gone down noticeably (not completely) but exposure sessions have been kinda tricky for me from the beginning since its all mental. Additionally, I am a bit concerned that I could start using exposures to rid myself of anxiety rather than expose myself to it properly.
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