- Date posted
- 1y
Strategies to manage OCD
Hey everyone, I’m still pretty new to OCD and was wondering if anyone has any strategies that help reduce OCD symptoms that are not compulsive.
Hey everyone, I’m still pretty new to OCD and was wondering if anyone has any strategies that help reduce OCD symptoms that are not compulsive.
Hey, glad you're here, there is a ton of great info here as well as on NOCD's YouTube channel. What helped me initially, and still today, is I pay attention to my behavior. Am I in my head trying to figure something out, solve a problem, make my self feel better or certain? If I am, I label it OCD rumination which is a compulsion. Then I redirect my attention to something I value (maybe something small like playing with my dog or spending time with family). Every time the thought pops back up, I label it OCD rumination and then redirect my attention again. I just keep redirecting my attention and not engaging. If the behavior I notice is not in my head but something I'm physically doing like asking for reassurance, I also label that "OCD reassurance seeking" and again I keep redirecting my attention to something I value. I know it's a lot, but keep reaching out, it gets easier with time and practice. Have you reached out to NOCD for therapy? Therapy with a specialist trained to deal with OCD is what gave me the tools to recover. Take care!
@VGH Thank you for the feedback! From a point of genuine curiosity, how do you keep labeling a thought/behavior as OCD from becoming a compulsion? Also how does this differ from “thought stopping?” Once again I really appreciate the help. :)
Hey, no worries, I’ll try to explain it 🤞for me it feels different. For example tonight I had to change medicines for something unrelated to OCD. I have health anxiety OCD and medicine is a trigger for me. I used to do a ton of compulsions around these kind of things-googling, reassurance seeking, checking directions (literally reading them many times) etc. So this morning when I woke up it popped in my mind about the new medication. I wanted to check and ruminate, but here is where I said to myself “nope, not going there, this urge is probably OCD” then I moved on with my day. It kept popping in my head but it kept labeling and moving on. The labeling didn’t make me feel better or more certain, it really was just a reminder for me to not get caught up on compulsing. Kind of a cue to move on. For me things that become compulsions are things I do that offer relief from the distress. Labeling a thought offers no relief, in fact, moving on often feels worse because I’m allowing the uncertainty to be there. In my case, with the medication fears, when I labeled them as OCD and moved on My anxiety increased, what if thoughts started. However I didn’t engage with the thoughts. Engagement would be a compulsion because it would be an attempt to figure it out or relieve distress.My therapist explained it to me like this: what is the function of the behavior? If the function is to relieve uncertainty and distress it’s a compulsion. For me labeling functions as a cue to move on. Labeling isn’t thought stopping in that I’m not trying to not have a thought, I’m just trying to not engage with it. Hope this makes sense.
@VGH I really appreciate this. I think it’s starting to make sense for me. Also, I liked how you were able to distinguish behaviors. For example, understanding that you may be reassurance seeking at times and stopping yourself. You have a lot of good insight. Thank you again. :)
I have just recently realized that I had SO OCD. This began whenever I was watching porn and had an intrusive thought about the guy in the porn. It was more minor at first, it was a majority of what I was thinking about throughout the day but it didn’t feel as distressing at first. If I had downtime to think about it, it would affect me but if I was just going about my day I wouldn’t notice it. I began going through the compulsions of checking myself. This lasted for a while until another obsession occurred. Then it seemed as if my SO OCD took a step back. I would have flare ups but they would seem to pass. Recently, I had a very bad night of constant compulsions and looking at pictures and imagining things to check myself. After that night it was very distressing, it affected me to the point where people around me began to notice and ask me if I was okay. One of the big reasons I was so upset was my girlfriend, we have been together for over 3 years and I want to spend the rest of my life with her. I was thinking “Oh my god, if I am gay I can never be with her.” I would sit and cry about it thinking I would lose her and that might life would change because I was gay. I finally had enough and talked to her and my parents. We did some research and I was so shocked to find out that I had a form of OCD, it was like a weight being lifted off my shoulders just knowing that other people have been where I am and that I’m not gay. However, I may have naively expected the compulsions and obsessive thoughts to go away now that I knew I had an actual problem. But I found that the compulsions and thoughts were still there and I was going to put some effort into getting better. I have researched and now know what to do when experiencing intrusive thoughts, yet I still have been performing the compulsions which is just feeding into the OCD. I find myself having intrusive thoughts and then start performing compulsions to see if they are true. What really bothers me is when I have an intrusive thought that tells me that I do like something. But when I think about it I have no desire to pursue those thoughts. However when I feed into the compulsions they just seem to feed into each other. It is like my OCD ignores all the things that I know I like and goes straight to panic mode. I am also trying to do ERP and am going to start doing my best to get better. Does anyone have any tips for not performing the compulsions no matter how anxious you are feeling and no matter how real the intrusive thoughts seem to feel?
I’m a good man and I know that. My OCD revolves around relationships. While dating someone a truly enjoy, I find myself needing to compulse everything on my mind or else I feel like I’m being a liar or keeping secrets. I also am pretty confident I suffer from false memory ocd. I don’t like to put a label on things but I’m 99.9% sure I do. My compulsions a lot of times come from things I’m not even sure are real. The more thought I put into them, the more I start to believe they are real. One of the worst compulsions I had in my relationship was I had a thought “what if I find my ex more attractive” and “what if I thought the sex with them was better”. I ended up compulsing these things to my gf. After lots of time to think and get a ahold of myself I was able to remind myself that these things weren’t true and I was just in a downward spiral. There was a 2-3 month period where every time I was relieved of something then I would instantly think of something else. These compulsions have caused insecurity in my gf and I feel like a terrible person. Never meant to hurt her at all and was just trying to find a sense of relief. While I know it is not true, I can’t fix things with words and I feel terrible. I would love to hear from people with tricks and strategies that can help. I love my gf and want to fix things and understand this is not a relationship fixer app but I would like to know what are some ways you are able to deal with these kind of things.
Hey everyone, I’m curious if anyone here is managing their OCD without SSRIs. I’ve personally struggled with side effects in the past such as low libido and emotional numbness. I have plans to have a family and kids in the future, so SSRIs don’t feel like a long-term solution for me—I’m especially afraid of PSSD (post-SSRI sexual dysfunction). Are any of you managing OCD with alternatives like Wellbutrin, SNRIs, Adderall, NAC, Myo-inositol or any other supplements. Even approaches like the ketogenic diet or other functional methods? I read some studies about how Keto diet has helped some people put their OCD in remission. I’d love to hear what’s actually working for you. Trigger Warning: Sometimes hearing that people can’t manage OCD without SSRIs can be discouraging, but I’m staying hopeful that there are sustainable alternatives out there. Thanks in advance for sharing.
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