- Date posted
- 1y
What are your struggles
Hoping to find others that suffer with similar issues.
Hoping to find others that suffer with similar issues.
Well I can help I have a lot of experience with OCD and therapy related to it if you need any suggestions. Don't give up OCD can be eliminated to the point you barely notice it each day it just takes the right tools and hard work.
@StoicGuy You have ocd?
@TheOCDpig For 25 years now. Since I was young.
@StoicGuy What kinds do you struggle with
@TheOCDpig Harm OCD, contamination, scrupulosity mostly.
@TheOCDpig But it doesn't matter the subtype all OCD treatment is the same.
@StoicGuy What do you mean and what is scrupulously
I struggle with the constant feeling of being an awful terrible person that doesn't deserve anything good to happen
@Studybug I think having that feeling actually is what makes you a good person. A bad person wouldn’t care
@TheOCDpig Thank you. It’s just I'm always worried something I've said has come out wrong or too harshly and then I start feeling guilty and ruminating on it for days
@Studybug I’m sorry you deal with that
I'm sorry I know it can be difficult. Remember feelings are controlled by OCD too so you do have a choice in how you respond. Thoughts and feelings aren't facts. Let your brain know this is an intrusive thought, then tell yourself you may be a terrible person. Your brain is scared of the uncertainty. Deep down you know you aren't terrible but OCD demands certainty that you can't ever give it. So accept that you may be a terrible person even though highly unlikely allow yourself to accept the possibility. This will make the thoughts infrequent and not bother you anymore.
@Studybug If these are OCD thoughts. If just general anxiety then you'd treat them differently. It's important to get diagnosed and make sure they are OCD thoughts so you can treat them effectively.
@TheOCDpig Scrupulosity means I struggle with extreme guilt and OCD related to religious concepts.
@StoicGuy Thank you 🙏🏾
@Studybug No problem, I know it's scary to have to accept these thoughts as possibly true even if one in a trillion chance but it helps to remind yourself each day that thoughts are just thoughts, not facts nor anything to pay attention to other than recognizing it's intrusive and letting it be because it has no value. Don't push or force the thoughts to stop as this is telling your brain they are important and the brain will continue to focus on them.
@Studybug Let me use an example. Don't think about a pink elephant. Try really hard to not think about a pink elephant. See what happens? The key to beating intrusive thoughts is recognizing them and then letting them be. Don't do anything to them just accept they may or may not be true. They don't receive any special attention because they have no value other than saying, maybe or maybe not, in response to the thoughts if it's an OCD fear.
@Studybug I do that too. But then I actually do say something stupid and end up feeling like an jerk.
Hello, you deleted your other post where you said you felt hopeless. I can help you. What are you needing help with specifically?
@StoicGuy I don’t delete it, the site did…
@TheOCDpig Didn’t *
I deal with race issues even tho I’m not racist at all!
OCD attacks whatever we value so you value not being racist. The scary part but effective for treating OCD is you have to tell yourself maybe or maybe not that you are racist. You have to live with the uncertainty.
They are thoughts or feelings but not facts. There is no way to prove you aren't racist because your mind will come up with new examples every day that you must ruminate about. So reassuring yourself you aren't racist will make the OCD worse and the thoughts will keep coming.
@TheOCDpig i’m struggling with this currently , can i ask you what ur experience is like
@sayso Sorry I didn’t see this earlier… I can’t be around people of a certain race or I compulsively clean EVERYTHING. What do you deal with?
But I have obsessive cleaning along with it that I can’t stop when I try it’s dangerous mentally
What do you mean dangerous mentally?
@StoicGuy SI
If you have contamination OCD it's treated the same way. You can't see the germs so you can never be certain even if you wash, even if you clean. Accept that you may or may not be contaminated and live with the uncertainty. That's how you escape OCD. Mindfulness, meds, and ERP all work for me. Meds come with risks so you have to weigh the pros to cons of course but without them I get severe panic attacks that lasts weeks.
@TheOCDpig I haven't personally dealt with SI so I can't offer insight into treatment for that. Are you working with a therapist?
@StoicGuy No lol
@TheOCDpig Oops no lol… I can’t find a good one
@TheOCDpig There are a lot on this app. It is really tough to find one locally. OCD treatment is pretty much the same regardless of who you go to.
@TheOCDpig Just try to find someone with ERP experience and someone you trust. I was worried to work with a therapist through a video screen but it's basically the same as in office as I've done both.
I am trying to see if there are others like me. For the past 12 years, I’ve had crippling Anxiety that leads to intense panic attacks. I’ve been in and out of Ambulances and ER rooms and have called 911 several times. The panic is that intense. I can be just driving down the road and out of no where, BOOM! Hit by the anxiety bus. Most of the time it leads to me panicking, thinking I’m going to die or something is fatally wrong with me. The fear is so intense that I can only find a fraction of calmness by consistently checking my blood pressure, putting on a pulsometer and even checking my blood sugar until it passes. I’m not even a diabetic. I’m always having intrusive thoughts that doctors can’t even fix me. I’ve never met anyone else like me. I feel so scared sometimes that I’m going to loose my mind and that I’m going crazy and will end up in a straight jacket. Then I get another attack just thinking about that as well. Starting new medications freak me out too. If I experience ANY minor side effect, I immediately panic and freak out. I’m being so held back by this . This is a constant obsession that I can’t shake. It’s like I walk hand in hand with Anxiety and panic. Anyone else ever had these issues?
I’m 19 and struggle with health anxiety, contamination, harm, and magical thinking OCD and would love to meet people with similar experiences and hardships because I have never had an opportunity for such a supportive community!
I recently got diagnosed with OCD back in May of this year. What started it was a month prior, I took an SSRI which triggered an extremely intense couple of days due to panic attacks I’ve never had before. I’ve never had panic attacks but pretty intense anxiety. That’s when I started experiencing DPDR and hyper awareness. I’m good some days, but other days it’s so so hard. Especially because I have no one around me that understands. The DPDR and awareness of every feeling, thought, and just overall awareness of my existence gets really overwhelming. I feel like I’m losing my mind. It’s really hard to sit with my thoughts especially when they’re on a constant loop of every little thing I’m thinking and doing and on top of that feeling like I’m in a dream. I desperately just want to go back to how I was 4 months ago, but I know that’s just not possible right now. If anyone has experienced this and is doing much better now or even currently experiencing this please let me know! I need someone to relate to lol
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