Need advice on how to stop researching stuff

Hi everyone, I'm writing to ask if anyone has found a technique to stop compulsively researching stuff on Google. Oftentimes I get completely stuck researching things and can't stop even if I want to. My therapist has told me that when I get the urge i should focus on something else or focus on what my senses are perceiving. However, if I try to focus on my sensations, the stimuli that I get are not strong enough to distract me, or they don't last long enough, while, on the other hand, if I try to focus on a different activity, my mind is completely unable to focus and keeps going back to the thing that I want to search. Do you have any other suggestion?

Username: AnonymousAnonymous

Date posted: 43w ago

Your therapist is correct - what you’re doing it focusing to hard on distracting yourself so your brain goes “are we good? Okay back to the thought” - you’re fighting the feeling which is never good - remember you have 100% free will - you completely decide to research or not nothing is forcing you too yk? Instead of fearing your thoughts to the point you have to research try accepting the thought no matter what it is (I know it’s hard) then pivoting (distract yourself) stay present with it don’t go back and think “is it working” just go on with your day. It’s gonna take practice it’s NOT gonna heal your anxiety up right away it’ll take practice and a few days but I believe in you’

Username: Jem30Jem30

Date posted: 43w ago

Thank you for your answer. I think I understand what you are saying, but it is very hard to actually put it in practice, at least for me. It's very difficult to just sit with your feelings and thoughts without reacting and just going about your day.

Username: jj5678jj5678

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 43w ago

Hi, I’ve dealt with this in the past big time! What has helped me is training myself to sit with being uncertain. Also accepting that, if I’m having trouble resolving my concern/issue via the internet, more and more searching is likely not going to help.

Username: SpeedyBattleElfSpeedyBattleElf

Date posted: 43w ago

UGH This is so hard. I know it'll take practice to get better at doing this, but it's so hard.

Username: JB21

Date posted: 6y ago

Does anybody struggle with POCD? I’m putting things into place lately to let my thoughts be there and not having to listen to them and I do admit I feel a little better and the thoughts are less and anxiety it less when I’m around people but there’s an urge in the back of my mind to ‘make sure’ and to think and analyse about things just to ‘check’ I definitely know for certain that this isn’t true, this is making recovery quite hard! Any tips please? Also I find sometimes reading things on google can be unhelpful and disheartening, which I need to stop doing! Thanks for reading ?

Username: Chichi

Date posted: 5y ago

maybe a trigger for rocd-people: Right now I should be working on an essay I have to hand in but my thoughts drive me insane... for the last hour I‘ve searched the internet about the difference between (r)ocd and general anxiety disorder, because I wasn‘t sure, cuz maybe I do not have ocd and its just anxiety, which would mean that my worries about my boyfriend not being the right partner for me are indeed true... and I couldn‘t stop researching, it was so hard to close the browser because maybe maybe the piece of advice I was searching for would be behind the next link... Now I feel so fucking drained and tired and my head still keeps going: what if you do not have ocd, what if you are just acting that you have ocd, what if you do not love your boyfriend, what if my googeling is not reassurance seeking what if it’s just a way my mind is telling me that I do need to leave my boyfriend, what if rocd is not real ocd and everyone just pretends that it is, what if what if what if... and it‘s so fucking draining and I‘m so tired of it? any advice on what to do? (no reassurance obviously)

Relationship OCD

Username: Bng10160

Date posted: 2y ago

Having another bad day

I was trying really hard not to like google incessantly and go on Reddit and stuff but I caved and I went down this rabbit hole of watching tik toks of women coming out and like comparing/contrasting my experiences with them. How do you stop yourself from doing these things? Especially when it feels like you have to watch the videos in order to like, “figure it out” and whatever. SO-OCD is SO HARD especially when sexuality is so fluid anyway. It’s so frustrating!!

Sexual Orientation OCD

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Need advice on how to stop researching stuff

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