I have two main contamination themes and the other day I had a major win over one of them and felt pretty good. Today I had a terrible terrible turn back into my other theme. I can't handle the back and forth and now I feel in a really bad place
Totally relate. Recently what has helped me is treating the ‘eh, no big deal’ and ‘this is the end, I’m going to never recover from this one’ the same. What I mean is, the actions you take are important in the moments. If you can feel intense anxiety but physically do what you would do if you felt ok, your brain learns, especially if you can minimize or eliminate ruminations and compulsions in those difficult moments.
@Simon I know it’s easier said than done. I’ve had full panic attacks that I practiced this technique with, and it is highly effective. Consider it an investment in your future well being and ocd recovery, as it will not feel comfortable in the moment
@Simon Thanks a lot for your reply. I understand where you're coming from with that and I am trying to learn how to do that. I know what you do is different from what I do in this situations but if you're comfortable with providing an example of how you did something like that I'd love to hear it. I get inspired hearing how others can manage to tackle their ocd. Even being on this app it is still hard to not feel alone
@justinisscared Sure thing. I practice ERP on a regular basis. I use a recording of my voice saying my OCD fears and loop it. When it brings up anxiety, I sit calmly with it, anchoring my attention on my breathing. You can try doing the same thing when a scary thought comes in out of the blue. Instead of trying to solve it, deliberately sit with the anxiety. ‘Don’t do something, just sit there’ is a nice punny way to look at it. Start with a more mild trigger to start, so you can get the hang of it.
@justinisscared Also, I know how lonely it feels. It’s one of OCDs illusions. All of us sufferers are in this together . I know exactly how crappy you feel . You’ll get to the other side of this sooner than you think. Try your best not to cling to the future relief, and it’ll arrive faster
THE MENTAL WHIPLASH. i totally get this. i used this term today regarding religious ocd. i go from, “i’ safe, i’m good” to “NO NO MY WHOLE LIFE IS GOING TO HELL IT’S OVER” in literally 2.5 seconds
It really is such a brutal blow to your mind. It hurts a lot
Dang… I get that man, I was like that for a couple days last week,but it will get better, just hang in there man. The back and forth of struggling with OCD with feeling sane and then not that great is tough. I hope you feel much calmer soon and have more major wins too. Thanks for sharing
Hey thanks a lot for replying. I really appreciate the support. I hope you are feeling relatively calm too. Trying hard to not give in to compulsions
My OCD theme just switched so fast. I was freaking out about having schizophrenia now my religious theme is starting. I’m having a lot of anxiety. Is that normal? Can your theme just change. Can you have more then one at a time? I feel like I’m losing it. It’s also so intense that I started feeling hopeless. I hope this passes?.
So I have GAD and OCD, harm and POCD. Up until a month or so ago I had been spike free for 2 years. I was so happy and free. The best I’ve ever felt. I was able to go off my meds and really enjoy life again. I guess a month or so ago I could feel my anxiety creeping in due to being stuck at home from Covid. Things just began spiraling and here I am back in another POCD spike. Same theme different worries every day. I’m back on new meds but it’s only been 3 weeks so Idk how well they’re working. I guess I’m posting because I’m really upset I spiraled after doing so well and I’m really upset it’s the same theme. That makes me feel like more of a bad person. Like what if it’s not OCD? Yes I know that’s the OCD talking. Ugh why can’t I just be worry free??? Have any of you been doing well and spiked with the same theme?
The first time I experienced pure OCD was about 2 years ago. Although it was hard, I have been able to come out of each theme that I experience and manage them with time. I haven't had an OCD episode in MONTHS until yesterday. I was able to get out of it after a couple of hours and then had a normal day. However, this morning I woke up "checking" to see if my OCD was still there. I felt extremely stuck and I'm not sure how to get out of this one. I'm super down and anxious because I feel that I was making great progress and now I feel like I'm back to square one. I'm also not sure how to get out of this "theme" when I'm not even sure what this theme is - like my mind just keeps checking to see if I'm ok and not letting OCD get to me as I try to get through my daily tasks, which makes no sense. Has this ever happened to anyone / does anyone else feel this way?
Share your thoughts so the Community can respond
