Recently my rumination has been so bad that my ocd doesn’t focus on one thing. It feels like my brain is just flipping through a theme book and obsessing over every theme there could be… does anyone else suffer from this
Yes. Rumination will always find more material if you don’t break the the cycle. The only way I’ve found to “break it” is, every day when I wake up in the midst of ruminating, I saw to myself internally, “get out of your head and get into the world around you…” meaning I tell myself to get up and start focusing on external things, instead of internal thoughts. Simply looking at the trees isn’t usuall enough for me - I have to stand up, change my clothes, even a shower right away (all of which is thy r exact opposite of what my compulsion is to do - which is to sit in bed with my eyes closed hoping I’ll fall back asleep to avoid the rumination for a bit longer. But that always makes it worse. It’s best to just get up and “eat the frog” as they say, if you can. Don’t beat yourself up if you can’t. Some days I turn off the rumination quickly by getting my ass going and moving quickly, other days not so much. It’s an art, not a science. Good luck and this is just my experience so remember it may not be the same for you!
@Anonymous This is amazing, thank you!
@Anonymous Yeah I really really like this, thanks!!
I didn't even realize I've been getting stuck in rumination paralysis every morning, but thanks so much for that awareness and boost! "It's an art, not a science" that's amazing.
Yes!! It’s like there’s someone who’s like “how can we get the best of them now”, and then trying new cards that have fears or negative thoughts on them. “Hmm okay not going to take that one seriously, what about this” etc etc and new fears pop in and sometimes it’s so overwhelming you don’t know what to do.
@OCD-ouch4545 Exactly it’s like my brain is trying to find one to obsess about
@helenalab I hate that process. It happens to me all the time. Especially on the worst days. Like the past few days for me and it makes everything harder to do.
@OCD-ouch4545 Absolutely what I was thinking. The other day I was tracking these thoughts. Within about 5 minutes, I went through at least 10 intrusive thoughts that are of this kind.
Oh I am right there with you. I get stuck on something and go down the rabbit hole then something happens in it that takes me down another one and on and on and on. It's actually exhausting and distracting me from work and life.
@jgphillips25 Super exhausting.. it also happens to me the second I feel like everything’s fine and I’m doing well. Then my brain is like nawww.. “what about this “
@OCD-ouch4545 - Lol... I have been talking with my counselor about finding the silver lining. Typically that's looking for reassurance in a sense and that's something we need to avoid. However, for me every silver lining comes with oh this good thing can happen but nah it won't happen because these 20 bad things will happen. So looking for a silver lining is actually pushing me into that uncomfortable zone by forcing myself to not throw a but in there.
@OCD-ouch4545 Yes usually when I’m getting better my brain will do this to find something to get me back in a spiral
@jgphillips25 😢
Yes 100% relate to this
the most debilitating ocd flare-up i’ve been having for the past few months has been about the guy i used to talk to. we weren’t dating per-se, but whatever was going on between us was very confusing and unclear, and it ended up with me being very hurt. he was basically leading me on, and couldn’t commit to me. it’s been months since we’ve stopped talking and i still can’t stop thinking about him. i don’t even care about him that much in an objective sense, but i am genuinely obsessed with him. everything i see reminds me of him, and my mind is constantly running through thoughts about him and our situation — why did it go the way it did, what did i do wrong, does he still think about me, etc. it’s honestly so humiliating and makes me feel pathetic because i know he’s probably moved on by now, and i still can’t handle the thought or sight of him. i just wish i could stop ruminating, because it’s gotten so bad that i can’t focus on school or anything else in life. it’s so constant to the point where, when i bring it up to my friends (which is very often), i’m met with concern and even frustration rather than sympathy. how can i cope with the rumination? it’s genuinely exhausting, and i can’t sleep at night because my brain is just running like a motor. i have dreams about it almost nightly as well. anything helps!
There’s this one situation that I haven’t stopped thinking about from last night . So basically, I was reading 'The power of Now' which is a book that I love so much and really got me into spirituality. It’s been so helpful for my OCD and rumination but it’s also been pretty triggering for it as of late, so I’ve taken a long break from consistently reading it. The excerpt I read was about abundance and how its not about being bountiful, necessarily in material things but realizing and being grateful for the things that exist in your life now and in doing so, you will open yourself up to more good things. I understood it but I re-read it a lot because I didn't feel confident enough to explain it to someone else. but otherwise I LOVED IT. It made me feel so at peace, I agreed with it, and it gave me hope to start focusing on the good things in my life rather than the bad. So when I went to bed I rehearsed myself explaining it to someone on a podcast and then all these questions started flooding in like “why should I only focus on the good and aren't we supposed to accept the good and bad? Aren’t those the values of Buddha and spirituality” “Ya, we're supposed to accept the good and the bad but why?- so we can feel more good??? And isn't the point of OCD to not label things as good and bad? and why should I focus on the good- so I can feel good? why should I feel good? because I'm worthy of it? why am I worthy of it? because I'm a good person and do good things? well I’ve also done bad things so why shouldn't I consider that. I just don’t understand why I should feel good without it being selfish. And then this went on for like 2 or 3 hours. Like holy shit. I over explain these ideas and concepts that I resonate with to the point where they don't even make sense to me anymore. It becomes very existensial very quick. And I’m not suicidal but these questions make me feel hopeless in society for some reason?? And myself. Like if everything contradicts everything then what’s the point to life? If nothing can be understood or explained in a senseful way, then how do people move forward and make decisions, like AT ALL? There’s never a right or perfect answer and I feel like with any decision I make in regards, I’m doing a compulsion either way. If I don’t answer them, then I’m avoiding it and if I do then I’m checking and seeking reassurance. I’m sorry if this was way too long and over-explained I just need some advice or to know if anyone can relate in any way. Also, I’m sorry if some of those back-to-back questions were triggering.
my OCD is doing what it does best and it’s randomly selecting themes. Once I’m not scared or react to one it bounces to another. And then i temporarily forget all of my coping skills for that theme. Rn it’s fixating on the time I had a panic attack and it’s trying to make me have one again
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