- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 1y ago
Is anyone…
Is anyone a checker? It’s one of my biggest compulsions. So exhausting. How do you deal with it?
Is anyone a checker? It’s one of my biggest compulsions. So exhausting. How do you deal with it?
I’ll be driving down the road and I’ll occasionally just hit the lock button on the door to make sure the car is locked. I usually do it several times per trip. I also stare at my alarm and slowly read it to myself to make sure I set the right one and then proceed to check it again after putting my phone down. As far as dealing with it? These checks for me aren’t harmful per se so I’ve never really tried to deal with them.
Just posted about how I check a million times before bed if I accidentally posted on any of my social medias and it’s so frustrating bc right after I check I have to check again & again. Or another thing i do is before I leave my house I check the doors and stove and all candles and outlets time after time… I’ve even gotten in my car and had to go back inside to check it’s so aggravating
Well, this is an answer I would hate to hear, but it's what's been helpful: for something important (are the rental car keys in my pocket and not sitting on the driver seat?) I check ONCE and then move on. And then just deal with the uncertainty that bubbles up. For less important things (did I remember to include XYZ in my email) I do my best to not check at all: if it's something that can be resolved easily after forgetting it, I just do the thing and then convince myself not to check that I did the thing. For important things I do check, but like I said, only once. Something like, did I pack a snack in case my blood sugar gets low? I DEFINITELY need to check, because I'm low on money and wouldn't have enough to get a snack on the road. So it's situationally dependent. But to deal with it? Check once, or do it and don't check, and then just let the anxiety naturally go down on its own.
@reneaerts This is so helpful! I definitely to practice the checking once and move on. When I check once, I feel the urge to check again. And so…the cycle begins
I have only pure o - but I am checker lf my mind... i deal with it that I accept danger/fear of unknown and refocus on neutral stimuli
Yes times 5 trillion!Hypervigilance is my name and checking is my game!
I’m having a big OCD relapse and would like to hear anyone’s tips on how to be present and healthily deal with these intrusive thoughts and the “need” to preform compulsions. Thank you!!
OK, this might sound really dumb, but when you guys get intrusive thoughts, do they just come once and then go away? I’ve heard that repeatedly thinking about an intrusive thought is considered ‘checking,’ but it doesn’t feel like I have any control over how many times it comes up in my head. It’s not like I’m trying to check anything—it just keeps showing up, almost like it’s terrorizing me every time. I can’t seem to stop it from looping, stop remembering it, or prevent it from coming up. Every time it does, I feel horrified, and I already know it’s going to horrify me. I don’t think I’m actively trying to see if my feelings have changed, so is this still considered checking? How do other people get an intrusive thought and just move on? Doesn’t it pop up a million times for them too? I always thought that was normal, but now I’m hearing this could be a compulsion, and I feel really confused, scared, and lost. Is this why my OCD feels so extreme? Because I really don’t feel like I can control how many times the thought pops up.
I cannot for the life of me stop ruminating or checking how I feel about thoughts or focusing on thoughts or creating more thoughts. I feel like I’m losing my mind. I want to scream. I try not to ruminate about the thoughts, but trying not to just makes me think about them more. I try not to check, but somehow, I still check. I want to let a thought sit in the background, but the more I try not to focus on it, the more I end up focusing on it. I don’t want the thought to expand because that feels like engaging with it, but I can’t just stop it from expanding. It feels impossible. People keep saying I’m in control of my compulsions, and maybe that’s true for the physical ones. But when it comes to the mental compulsions, I swear I have no control. It feels like I’m missing something that everyone else seems to have, like there’s some tool they’re using that I don’t have. Controlling mental compulsions has never felt possible for me. I’m starting to fear them. And every time someone says I’m in control and can just choose not to do them, I end up beating myself up even more when they happen. Or when I *choose* I guess. I don’t know anymore. If this is my fault, if I’m responsible for this, then what does that make me? I feel like a monster. I am at my wits’ end. How am I supposed to control mental compulsions when it feels like they control me? I freak out when they happen. They don’t bring me relief, they just make me panic. I want it to stop so bad.
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