- Date posted
- 1y ago
How do you "sit with the anxiety"
How can you do that with mental compulsions like arguing with yourself in your mind, trying to make it go away etc?
How can you do that with mental compulsions like arguing with yourself in your mind, trying to make it go away etc?
Mental compulsions are tricky. I never knew my ruminating and other mental compulsions were compulsions until I spoke with an OCD specialist. The trick is, stop. Just stop arguing, replaying, stop responding to the thoughts and sit with the uneasyness
Thank you for the insight+
@Anonymous Thank you for posting here. You're not alone. We're all here for each other
@Someone99 But how do you just sit with the uneasiness if it’s difficult? I find it difficult to sit with the uneasiness of feeling anxious at times. I’m going through a very rough moment in my relationship and we’re giving each other space and time. I’ve been trying to process everything that’s happened. It’s been days where it was so hard for me to just with that feeling. I tried not checking my girlfriends social media accounts, seeing what she reposts on TikTok, checking her location, maybe overthinking about what she’s doing at work, overthinking about what will the outcome be when we hangout and talk this weekend. I can’t just force the thought of uneasiness to go away and sometimes I just get anxious to a point where I gag because of that feeling.
@Anonymous Don't force the thought of uneasyness to go away. Allow it, sit with it, don't respond to it. That's one of my response tools, I'm feeling uneasy, I don't like it but I'm going to sit with it. I'm so sorry to hear you're going through a tough time, especially with someone extremely important to you. As far as relationships go, it's important to allow her to be her, and for her to allow you to be you.
@Anonymous And don't forget to build positives in to your life, self care.
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Exactly!! I do the same thing. No sure how to combat it when the compulsion is in the brain
When an intrusive thought comes I can’t just say “that’s not true” and just move on. I always feel like I have to disprove the thought and be able to say it with confidence but the problem is that the ocd doesn’t allow me to feel and say it with confidence so I get stuck for hours or even days. How can I stop feeling like I need to do this?
So maybe the title wasn't the best to to put it but when you guys start having obsessive thoughts how do you stop them before it turns into compulsions and anxiety?
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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