How’s everyone doing? I’ve had 2 really great days followed by today where the intrusive thoughts and anxiety have come back a little. Sigh. It’s such a non-linear journey. Curious how everyone else has been?
Hi. I have been feeling really stressed. I feel like I'm smiling on the outside but so afraid on the inside. I'm glad your doing well!
@Magdalena mimi I’m sorry you’re feeling stressed. I hear you about smiling on the outside but afraid on the inside. Sometimes I look back on photos and to the outside I look so happy, but inside I’m really struggling.
I think I’ve been better…I haven’t done any of my compulsions in the past few days, and I just stopped myself from doing one, so that’s something :))
@angiew58 That’s amazing! I’m celebrating you today!!
*Hope your doing well
It's been pretty stressful for me recently, and that's triggering my intrusive thoughts and anxiety.
@Sdnrckwd I’m sorry. Always here if you want to chat about it.
@emilytravelswild Thanks. I'm hanging in there. It's just hard sometimes. I'm glad to know there are people who understand OCD though. It sometimes feels like no one gets it.
@Sdnrckwd I know. I’m so grateful for this community and ability to connect with other people who really get it. It can be so hard navigating this journey. What’s something that’s made you smile recently?
@emilytravelswild Listening to music. What about you?
@Sdnrckwd I love that. Music is great. I’ve been volunteering at an animal rescue and that’s been really fun. Also this silly book I’m reading on my kindle.
I’ve not been having a great day, cheating OCD is still rife after getting blackout drunk the other day. I’m better than two days ago and hope to be even better tomorrow.
@Anonymous Sorry you’ve not been having a great day but I’m glad you’re feeling positive about tomorrow! Do you have anything fun planned this weekend?
@emilytravelswild Hopefully going to see my boyfriend and watch a film. Might go to my old where my colleagues are to get some exposure because they were there during my blackout. Hopefully both of those things will make me feel better.
@Anonymous Are you doing anything nice this weekend?
@Anonymous Watching a film sounds like fun! I hope you feel better soon.
@Anonymous @Anonymous Not much planned for the weekend. But tomorrow night we are having a friend over for dinner and I’m really excited about cooking. Cooking / baking has really helped the OCD because it forces me to shift my focus. It’s been a nice distraction.
@emilytravelswild I love cooking and find it’s super distracting for me as well! Have fun!
@Anonymous Thank you!
OCD wise, I’m pretty good! But my depression has gone rampant lately and it’s just annoying lol.
@blazed Oh no, I’m sorry. I struggle with that too. How do you typically manage it?
@emilytravelswild I usually try to engage in my favourite hobbies! I like reading, baking, and watching docs. I also try going for walks and socializing so I’m not so caught up in my thoughts.
@blazed I love that! Those are also some of my favorite hobbies. What have you done this week? I’ve been making homemade bread lately and it’s been so much fun (plus delicious).
This weekend I plan on focusing on self care.
@Magdalena mimi I love that! What does that look like for you?
hi, emily! that's good to have news about you. it's been hard around here. it started as being hard to manage crisis due to stress, then it got more consistent, and i'm experiencing a setback. intrusiveness is targeting different aspects as i was managing to overcome it in another one, which is common to happen.
don't know if i've shared, i experience both CTPSD and OCD, which intrusiveness is trauma-related. so, you kinda need to offer proper care and healing to each, and it can get tricky to do so sometimes.
@brenoaugusto So sorry to hear of your setback. I’m not familiar with CTPSD. I have PTSD though and I know through my treatment it can be very tricky like you said. Trauma is no joke. Are you able to get support?
@emilytravelswild Unfortunately, no. I’m getting through a professional transition, which has also been a stressor factor to my circumstances rn. I’m just trying to manage, but it’s been hard. CPTSD and OCD interact to the point it’s hard to discern what is one and what is the other, and it flared up next to complete a year since i first started experiencing intrusive thoughts.
@brenoaugusto So sorry to hear you’re not able to get support right now. I went through the same at the end of last year. I so relate to trying to manage but it just being hard. Especially when you have multiple disorders. If one thing isn’t being bothersome, the other one is. I also have depression and I feel like the days where OCD is quiet, the depression is loud. Have you ever tried any kind of somatic practices? This keeps coming up for me and it’s been really helpful. Anything that gets me out of my head and back into my body.
@emilytravelswild Yeah! I do have some body biased practices in my toolkit. Unfortunately, intrusiveness have been targeting these also — kinda telling me it’s a mechanism for me to foolish myself. That’s so hard.
Hello! I'm glad you had two really great days but I'm sorry the intrusive thoughts have returned. I'm finally going to see a doctor tomorrow and hopefully it can ease my worries. I hope I can finally put my worry about an infection to rest and get help with all my other concerns. How are you right now?
@BigGyro09 It’s just part of the process I guess, having good days and then bad. Never fun though but I am learning to see the pattern. I’m feeling a little better now. But it’s like the ocean. It comes in waves. I’m glad to hear you decided to go to the doctor! What time is your appointment tomorrow? I’ll make sure to think of you when it’s happening. Please keep me posted!
@emilytravelswild I'm glad you're noticing a pattern at least! That means you can be prepared to catch the thoughts if they do show up. It'll be an early appointment. I'm hoping to be vocal about all of my concerns and get the help I need. I'm more hopeful than I am nervous! I appreciate your support. :)
@BigGyro09 I’m so glad to hear you’re feeling hopeful! Doctors Appts can go either way for me, but it’s so nice to know you’ll get some answers. I’m so happy for you! It’s so funny about patterns. Even when I notice them. Sometimes the OCD still tries to disguise them as truths. It’s such a tricky beast!
@emilytravelswild Yeah, I see what you mean. I just can't shake the feeling that I've given myself a bad infection. OCD can really be pesky about this. It's really annoying. Have you tried any medication yet? I'm assuming you've been through therapy at some point.
@BigGyro09 Currently in therapy and used to take medication but not anymore. I didn’t do very well with the meds and my doctor said that if I went on them again, I’d be on them for life. Not that I’m against them, but I feel like for me they don’t treat the underlying issue so that’s what I’m tackling now. I finally found a fantastic therapist with NOCD and my insurance covers it so I’m very thankful. I so relate to thinking you’ve given yourself an infection. With me I’m always worried that I’ve missed a symptom of cancer and by the time they find it, it will be too late like for my mom. But, I’m not focusing on that or feeding those intrusive thoughts! My therapist has had me start a gratitude journal and write some powerful statements after what I’m thankful for. Things that start with “I am” or “I can.” It’s been so helpful. Have you ever tried journaling at all?
@emilytravelswild I'm very happy that you found a therapist on here!! I didn't think there would be medication you would take for life. I didn't know that existed. I'm really glad you got a therapist though. I'm sorry about your thoughts about that and about your mom. I think its best that we prevent responses to those thoughts and take them like other thoughts. Especially since your doctor told you that you were fine! I've done journaling before. It helps here and there. Not a regular thing for me. It can definitely help though.
@emilytravelswild Hey! I remember you said that you and update on how my appointment went. For someone that worries quite a lot, I'm in good health. My breathing is good, my temperature is good, and aside from requests that I had, it was a very good visit. I'm happy that I finally got to see someone I can call my PCP.
@BigGyro09 I’m so happy! Thanks so much for letting me know. I knew it was going to be alright. That took a lot of courage to go, I’m really proud of you! For those of us with health ocd the doctor is probably the scariest place on earth. Cheers to facing our fears!
@emilytravelswild I'm so glad we got to face our fears head on and dealt with them! It makes me even more hopeful for ERP to be honest! I'm just so happy that I've been spending this year and last year to just take care of myself and get better so I can go back to doing the other things that I need to do. It's really helpful and it kind of makes me feel strong in a way. Cheers to facing our fears indeed!
I also had several good days in a row. Then I started obsessing about something entirely different. Now Im back where I was. Its OK because this is apart of the journey.
@Ryan Mullen That’s a great way of looking at it! It’s all just part of the process. :)
I’m still in my thoughts it’s been 11 days
@taytay86 I’m sorry. I can relate to that. Are you able to shift your focus on something else?
I’m trying so hard but it keeps sucking me back in. 😔
I have and still have those moments. I let them come and then don’t react or try to force it to stop and kind of helps with anxiety and feeling overwhelmed or “doomed”
It’s baaaaaack....just looking for some support. It’s been a pretty good run for the past few months, and that has been nice. It never really goes away, but it just gets to a low level and the anxiety wanes too. But, I know this disorder cycles and for me it is back. It hit last weekend, and now the anxiety has increased as have the urgency of the intrusive thoughts. I have been here many many many times before and I know it always passes, but when you feel terrible there can be this urgency to making it go away now, and to also wonder why it gets worse from time to time. I know that I just have to feel the feelings and wait for it to calm down, but as we all know it can be hard on our mind when it returns. So, just seeing if others experience these ups and downs. And, just had to write about the hard feelings. Thanks all!
I’ve been having a really rough two weeks. I’ve been great for months and all of a sudden it hit hard out of nowhere. I’m anxious, sad, and my intrusive thoughts have been at an all time high. I feel like I’m trying to do things to combat the thoughts and nothing is working for me. I’m feeling scared and trapped. Each time I hear something bad on the news or see something triggering I feel worse and the thoughts come flooding back strong. Any suggestions?
Hi all! I’ve been doing really well with my OCD, but I’ve been in a flair up the last few days and it’s so uncomfortable and distressing. It’s so hard to remember that I’m strong when OCD is so loud.
Share your thoughts so the Community can respond
