- Date posted
- 1y
To the people that have had success.
What are your best pieces of advice? Other than get a therapist cause some of us are months away from seeing one.
What are your best pieces of advice? Other than get a therapist cause some of us are months away from seeing one.
Learn about ERP (exposure response prevention), because that's what you'd work on with an OCD specialist. Practice mindfulness and meditation. Learning to be present, and to notice exactly what you're feeling emotionally and physically is crucial. Get regular exercise. Eat a balanced diet. Form strong social connections. Quality over quantity! Just 1-2 people who you feel comfortable sharing your deep thoughts with is hugely beneficial. Hobbies and passions are always helpful. Especially ones that bring you into the present moment (like anything creative). Ideally they don't involve too much screen time. Altruism is very helpful. Do some volunteer work, or make an effort to be kind to others. We are naturally wired to be mentally rewarded when we do that. That's what comes to mind off the top of my head!
-Drink more water/stay hydrated, -Minimum 7 hours of sleep per night, Get on a daily and nightly routine (as in you have a schedule and you go to bed at the same time and wake up at the same time unless sick or on holiday), -Cut back on or completely cut out sugar and carbs and focus more on protein, healthy fats, and veggies, -Go outside for at least 30 minutes a day, -Exercise every day or every other day. This includes weight lifting and cardio and stretching, -Pick up a hobby or two (or more!) that can be done with others and by yourself, -Check out Yoga with Adriene on YouTube for free yoga content, -Check out either the Calm app or Insight Timer app for meditations ( 20 minutes per day as the end goal but start with 5 minutes and work your way up. It WILL take time), -Practice mindfulness all day, every day. And this is a life long process, -Seek out therapy (also for life), -Medication if it works for you, -Look into grounding techniques for when things get hard, -Spend more time with loved ones (it does not have to be blood related if you have abusive family members).
Lol I got sleep apnea and a torn labrum.. 7 hours is a tough one for me but great for others. The OCD makes me dread bedtime but I'm at least trying fo me same bedtime every night over the last week.
@Mr. Baldbastic Studies have shown the brain needs an average of 7 hours and 13 minutes to fully function. We do have a sleep crisis in the US and other countries. If you want a jolt of reality about sleep, Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker PhD is great.
@Nica Hopefully I get some improvement once I get my CPAP.
I just invested in a VR meta quest and going to buy the Virtual meditation app.. Heard from a friend that's very good...
@donnocd Quest 3?
@Mr. Baldbastic Quest 2..the three was a little to expensive for me
Some very good suggestions already mentioned on this thread. To further add Mark Freeman has free You Tube resources a program every two weeks called Brain Tech Support Live . Walking often to the extent your physician permits you to , that in itself can assist mental , physical and emotional wellbeing. Stopping smoking completely. Supplements, medication, reading , exercise.
Typo not medication that is meditation.
Educate yourself. You can watch 5 different people talk about the same thing with ocd but sometimes only one of them kind of clicks with you and how you'd approach recovery. There's a YouTube channel called ocd and anxiety (I think) and he is a very nice guy and is well versed in his field of expertise but his approach is too limp for me sometimes. However, the info he provides is too tier
I know some might roll their eyes at this but can't the fake it until you make it thing be used as a tool? It kinda makes you sit with the anxiety for a bit and go on with your day.
@Mr. Baldbastic Yeah definitely. Talk back to the OCD like you don’t care about it. Non-engagement responses are great for this.
@alissaa This is a 12 round fight. Problem is that we have no damn idea how long each of these rounds are lol.
@Mr. Baldbastic Especially when you know the shit is mental and you almost feel it physically subconsciously.
★ The first step is confessing , if you don't find a therapist , I think this app can help you to confess your OCD because it's the first step towards healing I wish you speedy recovery
Confessing is a compulsion though. Besides I have a fiance for that and she's wonderful with that I just try not to overload her.
❤️we all just want it to be over already, but do not set a deadline for your recovery (e.g. "i give myself 3 months to get better") and let yourself go at your own pace ❤️accept that healing is a very, very non-linear process with highs and very dark lows.. it's a lifelong process for us those with ocd, when you stop suffering you start learning ! ❤️WITHOUT ruminating on this, identify the root of your obsessive themes. they hurt so much because they go after your deepest wounds. clearing out the fear or pain that stands at the base of your obsessions will help (e.g. my sexual ocd came as an emotional outlet for my inability to accept a new family member in my life) (e.g. my solipsism ocd came from the deep fear of being alone and abandoned) ❤️the truth will always surface. even if you have no hope anymore and not even asking for reassurance helps, put that last bit of your trust in the other people that are in good states of mind and who are trying to help you. remember that you're living by a distorted mind and if you can't trust your own brain, have trust in others. those who love you are your life net when you're down in the slumps. trust me. ❤️ocd can be caused by chemical imbalance. if you feel like you need it, don't be reluctant to try medication. it's important to have the correct dose and the correct meds. it may change a lot before finally being effective, but it can help A LOT. it was lifesaving for me. (I personally took 125 mg sertraline at 14 years old) ❤️cliche, but the exposure part of erp is in you already. we get exposed to relentless obsessions and terrors already by our minds, our part is the response prevention. throw yourself into the depths of uncertainty and fear by refusing to act upon your compulsions. any learned behavior can be unlearned, our brains are changing! 🧠 it does feel like we can't risk because we can't "know for sure" and we better be safe than sorry, right? well, screw this. unlearn these behavior and live life your own way. ❤️connect with other people with ocd. community is our pillar as humans, especially those communities who share our suffering. ❤️we tend to ask for reassurance a lot and other just reassure us because it's rational to them, not being aware thar it only causes us more pain as we have distoerted thinking. teach your loved ones to respond to your reassurance in a way that doesn't feed the cycle. (e.g. reassurance seeking- "hey, are you ABSOLUTELY SURE that I didn't hit an animal on the way back home??" ❌️wrong response- "no, you didn't, I already told you, I don't remember hearing or seeing anything!" ✅️better response- "I can see you are really distressed right now, why don't we go cook something together/watch a movie/paint together/etc.." ❤️keep your faith close to you. there is something bigger around us that surrounds us with love and takes care of us. even if you don't believe in a god, spirituality goes beyond religion. for me, this higher being was the sky, and everytime I saw the giant clouds I'd tell myself that they felt my emotions and they're watching over in my suffering. strangely enough, this pillar i built in the clouds was strong and really did give me a helping hand. who's to tell these connections we make are not real?
What's a piece of advice you give when someone has constantly intrusive thoughts and ruminations that won't stop? Interested to see what you tell others.....more on this when I see some replies!!!
At this point I feel like I need to get on something ASAP. I know that therapy is a long road and hard work and I am totally down to do it but in the short term (I just started this journey) I think I need pharmaceutical help. Some of the people closest to me agree. I have never been on meds before and it's scary AF but the road I am going down is scarier. Advice?
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