- Date posted
- 1y
- Date posted
- 1y
I'm not sure anything I say could shake that feeling of dread. In the past, it was something I had to gradually move past on my own. I guess I'll tell you what I wish I had known at your age. First, your life isn't being wasted. It hasn't even started yet. For a good amount of people, their lives don't really start until their 20s. That totally shouldn't even be a concern for you. If you were to dedicate the next 5 years just working on overcoming OCD, that wouldn't be a waste. You would still have an entire lifetime ahead of you. And secondly, I don't know what these mistakes are that you feel will haunt you forever, but I PROMISE you they are not as bad as you think. I cannot stress this enough. I spent so much of my life thinking I was a horrible person for dumb mistakes I made as a kid. But that's the thing; we were just kids. You have to understand it's just part of growing up. Can't be too hard on yourself. You've clearly learned from the past, and you still have so many future mistakes to learn from, but that's alright. We all do. It's part of being here dude. Don't feel guilty for it. This Christmas might not be the greatest for you, maybe not even the next, but I promise you one of them will be. And it'll be that much more special because of this. And just one last thing, you don't have to feel sad. You don't have to stop yourself from forgetting about it all. I don't know if you have this problem too, but I used to feel guilty for even enjoying myself. I'd forget about all my worries for a little bit, then I'd suddenly remember and feel like I had to go back to being sad. Like I deserved to be miserable constantly. I just hope you give yourself a break sometimes.
- Date posted
- 1y
@bxygenius I promise you no matter how bad those things might have been, you're alright. You were young and you still are. You learned from them and changed. That's a good thing, not a bad one. Like, a good person isn't good because they've never done terrible things, they're good because they've decided to do better. I'm sorry you aren't able to get professional help though. Just know that it's not a requirement for overcoming OCD. It helps a lot yeah, but I actually never got any in my journey to recovery. I don't know if things have changed in recent years, but my regular doctor prescribed me an antidepressant a couple years ago which helped me a lot. Didn't need a psychiatrist or anything. It wasn't some magical cure, but it did help me see things a bit clearer. It varies for everyone I guess but yeah. If you have a family doctor, might be worth asking them about it.
- Date posted
- 1y
Have you send a physiatrist? Meds might help
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 1y
I'm so sorry you're struggling, please know you're not alone. There are many of us on here who also struggle. You deserve to get better, you deserve to live the life you want, no matter what. Recovery is a journey that takes time and practice, keep trying, you are worth it. When you are on the other side of this disorder, your journey will inspire others who are suffering. Take care!
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 1y
Everyone has mistakes that haunt them forever. I have done messed up things that still haunt me til this day and I know other people who have messed up but they are still good people. I did something really messed up last year and I also felt like my life was wasted and honestly so many people feel the same after doing something they regret. Good people can do bad things and bad people can do good things.
- Date posted
- 1y
Be patient time will give you perspective. We are all human and will make mistakes sometimes big ones. The important part is to acknowledge them which you have, learn from them, and to try to do a little better each time as life goes on. I have a hard time letting go of past mistakes and I sometimes fixate on them as well. It can really waste a lot of time which can make you feel even worse about it. There is a book called brain lock you might be able to find at your public library for free or close to it that could help with OCD.
Related posts
- Date posted
- 22w
i don’t know what changed, but in the past 1-2 weeks something switched in my brain and now i am obsessing over every mistake I’ve ever made, and i firmly believe the guilt i feel is justified. i am a pathological liar and i’m realizing i may have lied about more things than I ever intended to. i think i tricked myself into believing some things and now I feel awful that I’ve lied to myself and others about so many things. my mind is a mess and i can’t even tell what is a lie and what isn’t anymore. i also feel like i’ve been taking advantage of my boyfriends family who has financially supported me for these past few years, because i had convinced myself and everyone around me that my physical health & mental health was worse than it actually was. i never meant to take advantage or hurt anyone, but i can definitely say that i became complacent and comfortable living these past few years without having to worry about work, school, or really anything. i think i used “not feeling well” as an excuse to not do anything because i was too afraid to leave the house and function in society. i feel so awful and disgusted by my behavior and the guilt is eating me alive. i even feel bad using my phone because they pay for it, and feel bad being in my apartment for the same reason. i feel like everything about me is a lie and they’ve been paying for and supporting a person completely different than they thought. maybe i’m not who I portrayed myself out to be at all. i’ve felt so disgusting and so awful i can barely stand it. this morning i woke up feeling like i was suffocating, my chest hurt so bad and i felt like there was absolutely no way out. i really felt like i was dying. other than the lying, i’ve felt awful about things i did as a child where i didn’t know any better, or i even feel bad about my own thoughts and emotions that I have no control over. my mom says i’m being too hard on myself, and that i can’t help that i lie, but i don’t believe that. i think i deserve to feel this way and that i’m not being hard enough on myself. i lied and took advantage and therefore i deserve to suffer. i caused people to worry for me when it wasn’t necessary, when i was fine. i deserve to feel so guilty that i’m nauseous, i deserve to feel ashamed. i feel like i don’t deserve to eat or feel better, even though i desperately want to. i feel so guilty and so shameful i literally can’t function. i want to escape this feeling so bad, i want to get out of this guilt that’s keeping me from moving on and improving myself. i acknowledge that i have a lying problem, that it’s a mental illness, but i am ashamed of it and feel disgusted that i’m this way even though i can’t help some of it. i truly don’t know what to do or how to have compassion for myself. probably a good idea to share that my dad is a pathological liar and never received help, and i’m pretty sure i learned this behavior through him. not to mention all the stuff i did as a kid that i feel bad about, or the fact that i feel bad about things i can’t control. and i even feel bad about finding certain things funny. the guilt is killing me and i don’t know how i’m ever supposed to become a better person if i’m so sure that i’m undeserving of ever feeling better. in my head i truly feel like im a monster. i feel like i’m having a crisis because i’m realizing i lied about a lot of things without even really realizing it. or i deceived myself into thinking things. and I’ve lied about things for sympathy, for attention, to make myself seem more interesting, or to make me seem less pathetic than i actually am. i’ve lied about some serious things, and i’ve lied about things that don’t matter at all. i don’t know how to keep living. i want to go home to my apartment and be in my safe space, but i feel disgusting being there when i’ve taken advantage of my boyfriend’s family, even though it was never my intention. no matter what I do and where i go, i feel wrong. because i’ve done so many bad things and i can’t forgive myself. i feel so morally wrong i can’t stand it and i don’t see things ever getting better. i feel like I’m going crazy and i feel so alone. i can’t escape this guilt no matter what. and i feel overwhelmed because I know this isn’t something that can be fixed quickly. am i ever gonna be able to live without shame ever again? am i ever gonna be able to do the things i love again? the things that brought me comfort? nothing brings me any comfort, and i spend all day in bed or sitting around doing absolutely nothing because i can’t distract myself. i can’t stop thinking about all the things i’ve done no matter how hard i try. i obsessively read and look up online things to try and find reassurance. i feel like i’m going crazy. and i just feel so sorry. to everyone. and i’m so extremely ashamed of my behavior. i can’t stop obsessing about the past, the present, and the future. don’t i deserve to feel this way when i’ve lied and done bad things? even if it wasn’t my intention, or if it’s a result of a mental illness? don’t i deserve to feel debilitating guilt when i’ve been a bad person? even though i know i never had any bad intentions, i don’t think it matters. am i gonna feel this way forever, where everything i do or everywhere i look, im reminded of the the things ive done?
- Date posted
- 22w
It’s never been this bad before. I feel like I’ll never get better. Every day I remember new things to feel guilty about and new fears pop into my head. What if I get doxxed? What if I said something online that could get me in trouble? What if I was hacked? What if someone is looking through every post, every message, every account I’ve ever made. I feel like I’ve dug myself into a hole and there is no way out. I’m 21, I keep thinking “no one will have grace for you because of your age. You are an adult. You should have know better. You don’t deserve to get better”
- Date posted
- 18w
I genuinely feel like the worlds most horrible person deeply for my past actions in childhood and general mistakes I’ve made. I feel like I shouldn’t be here or there’s no hope for me despite doing right ( trying to do right ) I’ve wanted to open up to my mom about things from my past but when I was talking to her about a situation that happened just to share, she was like “Thank God you’ve never done anything like that” But really my past mistakes are worst. It’s like I feel like I should disappear. I don’t know how to deal with the guilt and I feel horrible. I’ve made good and bad decisions but despite this being a long time ago ( which doesn’t erase my stupid actions ) I still keep bringing back into the present and I’m filled with guilt I genuinely think it would be better if I wasn’t here. I wake up think about my past things and I’m filled with guilt and shame that maybe I am a bad person and voices don’t stop, they keep telling me a lot of things that I start to believe. It makes me upset that I did something like that in my past and I try to be understanding but I can imagine the reactions of people and being condemned so much. I literally do this to myself every single day and it’s exhausting I don’t know how you guys can treat me with so much compassion and understanding. It really doesn’t feel real or like I deserve it. Like even on nocd, it makes me feel worst because I come across comments that say “as long as it’s not —-“ or something and I compare it to my past and I feel like a horrible unacceptable person.
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