how to stop body checking

i’ve realised that i spend pretty much all day every day mentally checking everything going on in my body and every sensation that i’m feeling and trying to analyse what it could mean. i have no doubt that this started because of medical trauma but i don’t know how to stop. i’d definitely say that i think this is my biggest compulsion and i know i need to stop for ERP to work but i don’t know how to make myself stop. it happens so fast before i can even notice i’m doing it and suddenly and it’s like a constant awareness. how am i meant to stop a mental compulsion? it feels like i have no control over it and the thoughts just enter my head without me realising it

Will86

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 1y

Noticing before takes some time and practice. You've been doing the checking and worrying and checking for so long it's habit now. Try this... the next time you catch yourself checking take your brain somewhere less scary with it. Go into the head shoulders knees and toes song. Switch it up to keep your brain guessing too eyes mouth throw and belly button etc. This is a more fun less stressful way to get into thr habit of catching yourself and modifying so that you can later put the more stressful versions like escalation into play. If you don't know the rules you can't play the game so congratulations on the awareness of doing it do you know why it's a problem? It's better to know why than to just be told. Keep in mind throughout erp journey that learning lessons is super important as well.

clove444

Date posted: 1y

@Will86 i like this technique thank you so much i’m gonna try it! do you mean why is it a problem for me that i’m always checking?

Will86

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 1y

@clove444 Yes why is checking an issue for you personally. For me I notice that when I self check it doesn't make me feel better I actually feel worse. It triggers my spirals cause I don't trust my check.

clove444

Date posted: 1y

@Will86 i’m the same i think. i feel like i NEED to check because i need to be sure of what i’m feeling and i need to plan out my course of action and how i’m going to deal with it in my head. it usually makes me feel much worse and makes me spiral but i don’t know how to stop anymore. it feels like i’ve done it so long that it’s just become a constant subconscious thing that i do in the background without even realising that i’m doing it. it’s like it’s always just there on the backburner even if i’m doing something else

Will86

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 1y

@clove444 I can relate. One of my biggest habits was to check my pulse. I found I'd do it even when I didn't feel a reason but after I did check it my brain seemed to start a panick. Almost as if it was a subconscious habit to check. When I would notice I was checking it at first I'd start messing my count up on purpose. 1..20..45...2....100...250...16 Eventually I got to where I'd notice if I was about to and would stop and let my brain be ugly with me about not doing it and now it's no longer a habit.

clove444

Date posted: 1y

@Will86 i’m glad you managed to break the habit! i’m gonna try my best notice when i’m doing it and stop myself

Will86

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 1y

@clove444 You got this. :) don't expect perfection just progress. Even if you don't notice til after you start at least you're noticing it which is a great start!

SomaticSun🌤️

Date posted: 1y

Took me a long time to realize mental checking was a compulsion. Like with somatic OCD, just going back to being aware of breathing, blinking, swallowing, and checking to see if you’re doing it, that’s the compulsion. I finally knew what I was working with.

clove444

Date posted: 1y

@SomaticSun🌤️ hopefully i’m able to start noticing when i’m doing it

Mariabae

Date posted: 24w

i feel stuck and with no feeling or emotions

i feel like I can’t even enjoy time with my boyfriend anymore. No matter what we do, I’m constantly analyzing, checking, and questioning if I love him, if I feel anything, if I even want to be with him. It’s exhausting. I don’t feel happy, I don’t feel present, and I don’t know how to fix it. I’ve read about ERP, and I know it’s supposed to help, but I don’t know how to start. I feel like my fears are too real, like maybe this isn’t just ROCD—maybe I actually don’t love him, and I’m just scared to accept it. It feels like I’m lying to myself. I know my compulsions: I constantly check my feelings, analyze past memories, compare my relationship to others, and seek reassurance. I know I’m supposed to stop doing these things, but what do I do instead? What do I do when the thoughts hit me with full force and I feel completely numb? I’m scared to sit with the uncertainty. I’m scared that if I stop checking, I’ll realize I don’t love him. I want to do ERP, but I don’t even know where to begin. Has anyone successfully gone through this? How do you deal with the fear when it feels so real?

Holl1

Date posted: 16w

OCD

I’ve tried living in the uncertainty today & kept myself busy but I can’t shake this feeling that I’m about to lose control & act on my thoughts. I keep feeling like I need to check in to see how I feel & keep my self safe & when I’m near my trigger it feels like I’m being pulled into doing it & feels like I want to but I’m not using compulsions. My thoughts feel like my own & feeling like I’ll be like this forever. Can someone relate or give advice 😩

Harm OCD

issphra 🫶🏻

Date posted: 13w

I feel like I am OCD

It is not the thoughts or urges that scare me anymore. It is the way I feel like I’ve absorbed the compulsions into my identity :( I am doing them so automatically that it feels like I am choosing them freely and they’re me. and because of that, it feels like I AM the OCD now, not just someone with OCD. I think I’m just deeply trapped in a loop. I was trying to survive unbearable fear so I started scanning. Then I started pre-scanning. Then checking if I pre-scanned. Then I check how I feel during all that. I run to beat my OCD to the “punchline” (intrusive thought, urge, sensation) because I’m so scared all the time. So scared that I don’t even feel it anymore. I feel numb and all that’s left is this jittery residue and numbness. Now it’s all tangled together in a huge knot. I feel so extremely lost. I think this may just be meta OCD, but I’ve never ever felt so gone before :( I’m really scared.

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