Lew818
- Date posted
- 1y
It’s hard again
I had a good 2weeks and it was so nice not dealing w my ocd. It’s back and I’m ruminating. Any advice..?
VGHVGH
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 1y
Hey, sorry you're struggling. I have found in my recovery journey that we really can't control when the doubts/uncertainty of our themes are going to pop up. I have found it helpful to not be surprised, have an attitude of "Oh, OK I'm noticing I'm having intrusive thoughts. That sucks, but I'm not going to engage with them even though I feel like I'm making a terrible mistake by ignoring them." I will do my best to take some deep breaths, remind myself of my values, then I go do some behavior that leads me towards my values. I was triggered this morning, I felt the "whoosh" of anxiety. It felt terrible, but I decided I would follow my values, offer support on here, do some work, and now I'm headed to the gym. It doesn't feel great, I feel like I may be making a mistake, but I am willing to take the risk to get over OCD and get my life back. Wishing you all the best.
Charlie10Charlie10
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 1y
Let it wreak havoc. See the thoughts as thoughts, because that’s all they are. Try not to give in to a compulsion that will make that thought go away for a little bit. Let it happen.
Lew818Lew818
- Date posted
- 1y
@Charlie10 Thank you
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Tony Davies
- Date posted
- 21w
Help!
My ocd is hard today- it’s been two weeks focusing on the same ocd thoughts and countless checking repetitively. Any suggestions?
Hi_1
- Date posted
- 18w
Advice?
I’ve been stuck in this cycle for the last month or two and am not sure how to get out of it. Basically, I will work on ignoring the thoughts and not responding or engaging plus limiting/completely eliminating compulsions. After a week or two of constant work, the amount of intrusive thoughts in a day goes down. The anxiety each thought causes also goes down with some, but not all, thoughts passing without notice like they would for a normal person. The thoughts that do stick cause anxiety and make me want to ruminate or do other compulsions but I make sure to limit them. After a bit, I’m in a pretty good head space. This is usually when it goes down hill. I’ll start to question if I even have ocd because some of the thoughts (once again not all) pass without notice. The difficulty resisting compulsions goes down and so does the anxiety, only increasing the questioning. I spend a while questioning if I’ve ever had ocd in the first place and then something sets me off or the questioning itself becomes a trigger and I get stuck back into the same ocd cycle with constant rumination, anxiety, and other compulsions. This lasts for a week or two before I know I need to stop and try and work hard to get back to ignoring the thoughts. And the cycle just restarts over and over again. Does anyone have any tips to stop this from happening? It’s really harming my recovery as every few weeks I dive back into the same negative place I was.
kitchensink234
- Date posted
- 16w
Advice please!
I have really started to take control of my compulsions and im starting to string together better days! Still not great days or even good, but they are better!!! I have controlled my outward compulsions (googling, research, reassurance, checking) the past couple of days and felt the positive impact of that. But unfortunately, I am realizing that the rumination is still constant. My sexuality and relationship are the only two things constantly on my brain, and if they aren’t I freak out and wonder why im not thinking about them! Anyone have any advice on how to deal with the rumination. Sometimes I don’t even notice im doing it, but it’s taking up 90% of my day. Once I start to tackle this I think I may make some real big progress! Hope everyone is fighting today! ❤️
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