- Username
- spaceo
- Date posted
- 51w ago
Has anyone else isolated themselves
And if so what does that look like to you. I think i may have and I can't figure out if I have or not.
And if so what does that look like to you. I think i may have and I can't figure out if I have or not.
I certainly have but I'm trying very hard to break out of that. Isolating for me is not taking anyone up on offers to spend time together, not seeing my family, not engaging with coworkers. But isolating for me is also hiding from myself and the things I enjoy. For example I have stopped my hobbies and anything else that I like. All of this is due to my irrational ocd fears. Essentially I have no time for anyone BUT my OCD. I'm trying very hard to turn that around
I hope you do break that cycle, you got this.
With my rocd, I find myself refusing to do certain hobbies because I’m afraid I’ll lose control and start having horrible thoughts.
I've had experiences like that.
Yes. It made me worse. When I was 10 my family moved from the town where its busy and my friends are all around, to the country side with one neighbour and fields surrounding us. I used to go out to the local park every day but that instantly changed. I have a little brother and he'd kick and scream to go see his friends to the point where my mum would cry. Due to my moral scrupolosity, I didn't want my mum to cry and kept my mouth shut regarding my needs. I started playing video games and shut myself away in my room because that's all I felt I could do to be sane. My school attendance dropped to about 60-70%. My anxiety went up. I became withdrawn and people told me I never smiled. I was outgoing before, shy but outgoing. Mental health issues kept coming in including audible hallucinations with ocd. I struggled to sleep for years with the berating demands of my very vocal ocd. I ended up sleeping at school when I could. I went from a straight A student to getting Ds and Fs. I didn't do homework because I was so tired all the time and saw detention as a chance to rest. I then began to drink energy drinks to keep me awake during the day and became dependent or addicted. That did not help with anxiety at alllll. To shorten the story, I isolated myself for almost 10 years like this. It took a full family mental breakdown for this to change. Plus, getting my driving licence and a car helped a lot because of no local transport 😅 My habits and diet were awful. I love my parents but I had a huge go at them 2 years ago about how they completely neglected my needs as a teenager. I called them every name under the sun and said the worst stuff possible. I meant everything apart from one comment which I took back. Couldn't speak prolifor days because I don't think I've ever screamed that much in my entire life. So yes, I isolated and it felt like I was being a martyr for my OCDs values and gave up an important part of my life for nothing.
Dang man sorry that I made you have bring that up
@spaceo I'm good now dw. 🤣
@spaceo Sharing this stuff helps others. Shared stories form other users helper me get better. I hope this helped you
Wow! Speechless! Which as you know is a miracle for me. 😉. I am truly sorry you had to go through it all. I am also truly happy that you have moved on and are strong enough to share that and help other people. Big hug.
@NODA It was what it was. We put parents on a pedestal naturally when we are younger but as we grow up we slowly figure out they're just winging it like everyone else. It's disappointing and funny at the same time 🤣
Speak for days *
Does anyone here get disassociated or disconnected from themselves ?
Ive made my intrusive thoughts worse by isolating myself, avoiding triggers. The anxiety and panic I suffered due to these thoughts got so severe I caved and locked myself away for over 2 weeks now. I was just so terrified I would act on my thoughts. Now I'm stuck in a horrible vicious cycle.
I have only recently come to terms with OCD and decided to do something about it. I have found that I no longer have any desire to be around anyone who isn’t part of the OCD community. I don’t want to talk to anyone else. I want only to be around people I can share things with and not face judgment or the “Oh my god, that’s insane” response I know I will get from anyone on the outside. I don’t know if this is just a normal part of early recovery but I really feel like disappearing from the rest of the world and only engaging with this new community I have become part of (albeit against more than 30 years of resistance). Has anyone who is farther along in recovery experiences this and come out of it? Is anyone else also in the early stages and feeling this way? I can’t decide whether or not it’s healthy but I can’t help but think I shouldn’t be isolating from friends and family to spend all of my waking hours focused on this. Maybe it’s just part of the agreement we have with OCD that anything new becomes an obsession… Anyway, I just wanted to share and see if anyone else has experienced this.
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