I think my brain literally just zapped under the amount of stress and anxiety I feel. It was scary.. it was like a physical jolt in my head. (even I’m skeptical about it) Nonetheless.. I also just want to see what other ways can I de stress or not be so anxious. I’m either reassurance seeking or ruminating. It’s hard to stay in the current moment and enjoy my life a little bit more.. I hate anticipating my whole life..
You've probably heard this a thousand times already, but meditation can be extremely effective if you aren't already doing it. For me, it's been life-changing. It takes time, though. Many people try to meditate for 5-10 minutes a day using some kind of app, only to be disappointed and ditch it after a few weeks. The thing is, it's kind of like training a muscle at the gym. You need to put in the time and consistent effort. I had a passing interest in it for years. Every once in a while I'd do a group meditation, or try some guided meditations here-and-there, and found it to be nice but nothing significant. Around 2 years ago I decided to really pour myself into it, meditating consistently each day and going on a few retreats. And I can finally say that now I get it. I've seen real benefits in my life, how I handle stress/anxiety, and how I relate to other people. Your mileage may vary of course, and there are also several different approaches and methods. I personally dove into Buddhist philosophy and techniques specifically, but there are other systems you can follow if that's not your thing, ranging from certain religions to completely secular. If meditation simply isn't for you, then there are still plenty of activities that make you more mindful and bring you into the present moment. Really anything that you do with your hands that requires focus will be beneficial, and help you get into that "flow" state. Cooking, gardening, drawing, painting, woodworking, jewelry making, scrapbooking, playing an instrument, etc. And of course, physical activities are always beneficial, specifically outdoor ones. Running, hiking, biking, walking, kayaking, etc. All of these things bring you into the present, and produce endorphins, regulate serotonin, and do all sorts of positive things for your mind and body.
Hi 👋🏻 I’ve had this happen before too and felt the same way! Not trying to reassure you or your OCD but know this is a shared experience. I’m also learning about how to be mindful and live in the present. My OCD therapist here recommended “The Mindfulness Workbook for OCD, Edition 2” and it focuses on living in the present with OCD. Very interesting and introspective 😌 For anxiety I’ve been doing puzzles on my iPad (no clean up lol), needlepoint (any craft or handwork helps me), and sitting down in the shower lol. But even when I’m doing these things, I make sure to recognize the discomfort I feel due to intrusive thoughts so I’m not avoiding it. I hope this is helpful, you aren’t alone! ☀️
Is this my life now? A loop of fears and panic? Freshman year.. two years ago is when all this started. When I began my journey with this debilitating and scary disorder. For a while I felt like everything was okay. Like things were getting better. But tonight it’s getting so bad. I’m shaking, the thoughts are literally making my body enter fight or flight. The feelings.. the thoughts it all feels so real. It makes me question every aspect of who I am.. Is this forever? Will this be my life? If it is, that sounds like pain.. I constantly check myself.. which ain’t realize might be a compulsion. But I wonder, am I lying to myself? But then again I wouldn’t fear it so much if what I felt was true. I try to stay calm, to not fight the thought but let it pass. But it only grows in power. It’s been giving me these fake feelings. Things in which i’d never felt before. I just want to be okay. And I wonder if that’s even possible anymore. All I know is that I have my family, my Mom, everyone who loves me dearly. Please anyone… I don’t want to beg but if you could give me some motivation or positive words i’d love that.
My mind keeps telling me “something is wrong with you. the weird feeling you are feeling or the weird tingling you are feeling or there is a weird mark on your body. Those are actually a severe symptom and by ignoring it you could die!” Or especially the constant, “go to the emergency room because this impending doom you are feeling, yeah that’s because your gonna die shortly” It doesn’t help whenever people say “well if something was wrong your body would tell you” because my mind keeps telling me that what I’m feeling is proof something is wrong and I need to get it checked out. That I actually am severely sick and that I need to get it checked out as soon as possible, that if I get one more test than I’ll be okay because it will prove nothing is wrong. How do I tell my mind that it’s just anxiety whenever my mind keeps telling me “well if you keep saying that you could be ignoring something more serious.” Or “the doctors are just brushing you off..something is wrong with you” It’s hard to live with my thoughts whenever they are constantly coming up with ways to challenge me and challenge logic. New reasons on why I need to get this checked out because “I’m just being ignored” or “no one is listening to me so I’ll just end up dying” My symptoms range from weak and shaking legs and body to dizzy and unbalanced and dissociated. Recently I’ve been getting this tingling feeling inside my head and on the back of my neck. And my temples have pressure on them. My body keeps coming up with new symptoms I need to worry about, whenever most of them are probably caused by severe and constant anxiety. So severe I can’t even leave the house because I constantly worry about whether this is severe and something will happen if I leave the house. I need immediate ways to start fixing this because it’s especially horrible whenever my period comes around and my anxiety/depression is already higher than usual. I’ve even started considering taking medication (Zoloft, 25mg) which is another trigger for me, I worry about the symptoms I might get from taking it. That’s how you know it’s gotten pretty bad whenever I’ve come to taking something that I’ve been actively avoiding. What are your thoughts? Do I take the medication? What are ways I can deal with my symptoms that seem so severe in the moment but pass by once I’m not anxious? What are ways my thoughts can ease and I stop taking every symptom as something serious, because at the end of the day my anxiety is most likely the reason I have these horrible symptoms. I’ve always been extremely healthy and everytime I go to the doctors they express how healthy I am with all the tests I’ve had.
Guys I need help. I feel so alone . Basically I have this compulsion where I feel the need to write everything but this stems from me being anxious about EVERYTHING. Like my mom came in my room and I was irritated and snapped, immediately regretted now I keep writing “don’t be mean to mom next time” but I keep thinking about it. Then I think about how I finally left my house today and all the surfaces I touched that could’ve been contaminated and now I’m writing “next time don’t touch this and this”. Then I think about all the things I need to be doing for this week and I’m writing “don’t forget to do this and this” even though I’ve written it 5 times already. This is what happens everyday btw. My brain always thinks about something I need to be doing and making me anxious that I’ll forget it which is why I write it down on my notes app. I’m sooo mentally exhausted I need help pls!! Anyone have any advice ? I used to think I need to stop the writing but really I need to stop the anxious thoughts coming into my head . People say I need to accept the thoughts and let it go but that’s too hard for me
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