Anonymous
- Date posted
- 1y ago
Someone please explain
Why is reassurance a bad thing for OCD?
AnonymousAnonymous
- Date posted
- 1y ago
You'll stay in your comfornt zone, and you'll keep wanting MORE reassurance and each time you get it you feel like it's not enough so you CONSTANTLY NEED it and it doesn't help you beat the problem you'll just be simering in it for longer.
NicaNica
- Date posted
- 1y ago
Here’s an article about seeking reassurance and why it’s bad for those with OCD. The Psychology of Seeking Reassurance: https://www.treatmyocd.com/blog/reassurance-seeking-ocd-anxiety-how-to-stop-cycle
Wolfram Wolfram
- Date posted
- 1y ago
It will never be enough. Its bad for ocd because it can be ocd. It's a common compulsion to seek reassurance. It reinforces the walls to your comfort zone but ironically cages you within it. Your comfort zone is like a place of rest at the end of the day. Life gets uncomfortable when you leave it sometimes. Doesn't mean you should avoid going through discomfort especially when it benefits you in the end. Reassurance counteracts all that and provides shelter when you're supposed to be vulnerable. That's when you grow
Zoë_84Zoë_84
- Date posted
- 29w ago
Seeking reassurance tells your brain that your intrusions are important. And when something is important our brain tends to focus on it more, causing the frequency of the intrusions popping up in your head to go up. The more the intrusions pop up, the more anxiety we feel, the more compulsions we do and the more reassurance we seek. By doing that, we give attention to the intrusions and signal our brain again that they are very important, which leads to our brain focusing on them even more and increasing the frequency of them popping up in our head again goes up. This goes on and on and at some point it turns in to a vicious cycle.
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sierra6
- Date posted
- 13w ago
Why no reassurance?
Hello! I just got diagnosed with OCD a week ago and joined the app today to find a sense of community. Since my understanding of treatment is minimal at this point, I'm confused why everything on here tells us not to seek or give reassurance? If someone could explain the reasoning behind that it would be greatly appreciated, as I want to make sure I'm not only watching out for it in my personal life but also using this app appropriately.
Ok_Paint758
- Date posted
- 11w ago
Is telling myself "it's just ocd" a compulsion?
When I was a child, before I knew this was OCD, I struggled with constant "magical thinking" compulsions (don't step on the crack or mom's back will actually break, etc). When I later learned this was OCD, it almost immediately solved it. Any time I got a magical thought, I would say to myself "that's just an OCD thought. ignore it." and it just stopped coming! Like seriously it fixed the magical thinking stuff forever. But of course the OCD has resurfaced in other ways. So naturally, I've tried to use the same strategy since I had so much success with it previously. But I wonder sometimes if telling myself "that's just OCD" is almost functioning as a reassurance compulsion? I hate how meta this gets. For example, I have ROCD that comes and goes. So sometimes I'll get a thought like "what if i'm still in love with my ex?" and then I'll tell myself "that's obviously just an ROCD thought" and will feel relief, almost like reassurance. But it comes back. So is telling myself that it's OCD a reassurance compulsion ?? It's just so weird because it worked so perfectly as a kid with the magical thinking thing.
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