OCD can turn even the smallest choices into towering dilemmas, leaving you trapped in a cycle of second-guessing. Everything feels much bigger than it is which can lead to indecision and confusuon! How has this shown up for you?
One of the biggest things I second guess is actually having ocd. I know that I do but my brain just keeps telling me that I’m bothering all these people around me with my ocd and that I don’t even actually have it so I’m just wasting their time
@morganr10 I get that sometimes
@morganr10 I second guess that too sometimes. Whether it’s OCD or not
I'm in the process of figuring out if I have it. I definitely have obsessions, but I don't believe I have any compulsions? Any suggestions?
I can relate. One example of what I deal with on a daily basis is when I set my cup down and have to move it several times to just the right spot. Sometimes my mind will look at the table I'm trying to set it on as a puzzle, as well. Once I find the right spot, I feel like I can breathe. Sometimes I will get intrusive thoughts telling me that if I don't move the cup to a specific spot, I will have bad luck. I try to ignore it, but I end up stressing about it, because it's such a simple thing to move the cup to prevent possible bad luck. I do find that if I don't listen to the intrusive thought, the day does actually start to go downhill, and in a way that I don't have any control of (like the car breaking down, finding out your babysitter is sick, some natural disaster, etc.) I do it with other random items, too. Anyone else? 😆
When ruminating I often second guess the outcome of my thoughts even if I’m in the clear
I always question what I'm doing and if it's harmful to someone in some way. I worry that my existence itself is harmful. I'm exhausted
@ninjastone me fr. anything i do leads to me questioning if i like made someone feel bad or i made their life more difficult and that i should have done it better
Same. Every day I worry about using too much water or wasting food or causing too much pollution with any task that I do. It builds up and eventually really stresses me out and I feel like there isn't anything I can do to keep from harming the planet or potentially other people. I hate it. I just want my thoughts to chill out.
@Aerylyn Seriously!! I feel guilty abt leaving the light on. I feel like this is a type of ocd people should talk abt more! Like are we good people? Idk
@Jewelsandgems I'm the same way with the lights. >_< I totally get it and agree that it should be talked about more. We ARE good people! It's so stressful thinking that we aren't!
@Aerylyn Yeah one of my exposures is like thinking i am a bad person and i am a bad friend but idk i can get too meta abt the whole thing
I have been through this but managed to cope and stick with my first choices since last year. The best way to do it as I found that choose the first positive choice that makes a positive outcome ❤️❤️
I read too much into things and this makes me think I have to apply rules that don’t really exist to my life. I take meds now so it sort of stays at a level but tbh every now and then it gets overwhelming and restrictive.
Why‘d you just brush your teeth, man???!🤣
I'm really struggling to figure out where my OCD ends and where I begin. I’m scared of most things—not in a panicky way, but in a deep, cautious, worst-case-scenario kind of way. Example: I haaaaaaaaate my spectacles. I’d love to do Lasik, or even just wear contacts, but the idea terrifies me. I’ve heard about the tiniest risk of blindness or infection, and once that thought is in my head, it takes over. I picture the worst, and then I don’t act. TRIGGER Also Lasik involves cutting TRIGGER which petrifies me. I’m stuck between wanting change and being too afraid to make it. The same goes with wanting to travel but being scared I'll be trafficked or someone will plant something in my bag & I'll get arrested overseas. No amount of praying will fix it. Does anyone else feel like their OCD makes them freeze in everyday decisions? Like you can’t tell if you're just being practical or if it's the OCD gripping the steering wheel again? Maybe it's just me. Maybe it's not OCD but my personality, that's what I'm trying to figure out.
My OCD is continuing to have me constantly check and check and check! I keep doubting and am very confused! How can I get out of this trap!!!!!
Hi! It’s pretty difficult for me to get the courage to post this but I’m really struggling to figure out if what I’m experiencing is OCD or Anxiety or neither. I think I have the “pure O” type of OCD where most of my compulsions take the form of ruminating and trying to figure out something all in my head. When I hear this talked about in forums or online the intrusive thoughts don’t really match mine- I worry often about things that seem more “grounded” if that makes sense. A common one for me is my own identity- i will spend long amounts of time stuck in my head trying to figure out my feelings (often sadness or other real emotions I have and patterns I have) and why I feel that way and what in my life caused that and how it’s impacting other things in my life. I also think often about which parts of my personality are the real me and which aren’t. Sometimes this takes the form of strictly ruminating and sometimes I have fake conversations with people I know. It’s intense and I feel I have to figure it out but with no specific intrusive thought that says something like “you have to figure this out or all of your loved ones will die” but it’s very intense. I think also often of all of the decisions I need to make in the future and how they’re going to affect those I love and care about as well as how much I’ll regret them. I imagine all of the ways I think my actions will emotionally hurt others and how to make the least harmful decision, but to me this feels like a valid concern but go over and over and never come to a conclusion. I often just get scared and never make any move because I don’t see an option that doesn’t hurt someone somehow. But again I’m having a hard time identifying the intrusive thought behind it. But I also don’t choose to think about these things most of the time. This is almost all decisions but especially big life decisions. It’s such a struggle because they are things I eventually do have to make decisions about. There is so much more to it that would take too long to explain but in general a lot of my fears revolve around pleasing others/ understanding others emotions to ensure they’re okay, my own identity and personality, and work/school performance. Someone mentioned OCD to me because in my head it feels like I have to solve these things and will go over and over them but I seriously can’t figure out if it’s anxiety, OCD, or none of the above. It’s all very disruptive to my life. I am never not thinking or not trying to figure something out and I feel as if I have no control over it Anyone have any insight?
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