- Date posted
- 1y
Losing loved ones
How to deal with anxiety and obsessive thoughts about my loved ones travelling to a dangerous place for 3 months? They haven’t travelled yet but I’m so scared of losing them already
How to deal with anxiety and obsessive thoughts about my loved ones travelling to a dangerous place for 3 months? They haven’t travelled yet but I’m so scared of losing them already
I didn't let my partner go anywhere for 5 hrs. I unknowingly controlled him &, had to hear from him a ton of times to alleviate my anxiety/ fears. What I realized is NOONE knows what can happen at any given time. I had to literally give up the idea of thinking that my loved ones are ever 100% safe. My partner now goes skiing & when I think all the horrific thoughts about what COULD happen I talk back to my OCD and say we'll it could. And I'm not going to worry about it till it does. It is very hard. Dont think its a walk in the park. So you for example could talk back to your OCD and say (warning this could be triggering) well ya know yes OCD that could happen. The plane could crash and it would be horrible and I'm not going to worry about it right now. And yes this or that could happen and I would be devastated and I'm still not going to worry about it now. I had to understand that I could lose anyone I care about at any given moment and it fucking sucks but the alternative is for me to MISS out on my life and those precious minutes with my partner. I find saying things like shut up OCD or yes that could happen fuck you OCD ALOUD really helps me keep things in perspective plus it feels go to yell at it.
@Anonymous Do you ever start to panic when you realize things that will for sure happen some day? For me I always have the horrible thought hit me that I know my parents will get old and die in my lifetime (assuming I’m lucky enough to live a long life). Like, it’s not an “if” at this point, so my OCD reminds me that ERP doesn’t actually change this fact and I know my fear will happen some day. Idk, its discouraging me lately because ERP helps me so much with things that have uncertainty and COULD happen, but since death in this scenario isn’t a question, I’m struggling with how to cope with it. :(
@alissaa I'm not sure if my OCD has caused me to panic about that example you gave. I do get what your asking. If your looking to give OCD uncertainty in regards to Death I'd be like yeah it could happen today or tomorrow or sometime idk when so I'm not going to worry about it right now. OCD likes to be a fortune teller. We don't know when we're going to die. That's as uncertain as we can get. If we're unsure and uncertain when we're going to die then I choose to not worry about it right now cause who know when it's going to happen.
It was 5 years not 5 hours.
Hi, so my mum and sister are going away for 5 days this week/weekend and i genuinely dont know how i am going to survive. I still have my dad, but i feel my mum is the only person who knows what to do with me, and if i stress out/feel sick then she knows how to calm me down. My sister also is okay with this, and def better then my dad so idk what to do. I have cried so many times over the last couple of days and usually the longer ik abt it and the more i think about someone going away i start to feel better and see the positives, but this time it just keeps getting worse and worse. I also feel horrible that i am making my mum feels bad for going on a trip she is excited about just because of my stupid OCD. I have talked to my therapist about it but no one truly understands what it is like so they cannot really help me.I honestly dont know how i am going to get through this and go to skl for a couple days and act like everything is ok. Please help me and tell me tips or advice for this.
Hi! Just got this app. I don't have an OCD diagnosis, but I have some traits, such as a constant obsession over a topic that causes me distress. Like, fears. It's been pedophilia, racism, global warming, death, secrets I've kept, suicide... Basically everything I don't like the idea of. Now, it's the obsession of my dad passing away. I've come to the realization that if my dad died right now - I'd have to move in with my mom, 2,000 miles away from home. Not only would I lose my district scholarship, which would ruin my plans of going to college, but the room at my mom's house would not be big enough to house all of my belongings, so I'd have to get rid of most my stuff. All of my dad's belongings (books, video games, clothes) wouldn't fit either. Not that my mom would be pleased with me showing up with all of my dad's stuff (they're divorced and not on speaking terms.) I try to counteract these thoughts with things like "dad is not under an active threat" or "even if dad died, I'd figure it out." But I'm still plagued with little jabs from my brain about it. Yesterday, my dad expressed his excitement for this year. He's gotten a new job, we're making more money, we're happy - having the last few years be ruined by my mom running away and other fun things along those lines; we deserve to be excited about this new opportunity. But then he said: "I think this year is gonna be our year." As his daughter, I should be thinking "yeah!" or "right on!", but the only thing that came to my mind was in season 4 of Stranger Things when Eddie Munson says "It's my year, '86, baby!" Before getting eaten by demobats in the upside down. This morning, while driving to school, my dad expressed his happiness about the VaultBoy bobblehead on the dash standing up (there's a magnet on the dashboard that helps him stand, and in our old car, it always fell over.) I just said normal things like "yeah, that's cool, I'm glad." But my mind told me "if dad died right now, would you have time to grab the bobblehead to keep to remember him?" which led to "if dad died right now, would you have time to say goodbye?" I try to push the thoughts away because I tell myself I'm gonna jinx it, and thinking about it manifests it. I try journaling and justifying why none of this would happen, but the thing is; if my dad died, I really would have to move in with my mom, wether I like it or not. I would lose my scholarship, wether I like it or not. Another thought process I have is: "I'd never expect it if my dad died, because in all the stories, it happens when you least expect it." It's like I'm playing a game with my brain, just waiting for the timing of circumstances to lead my dad to his death. I think about it - I manifest it, I don't think about it - it's gonna happen because I'm not prepared. How can I cope with this?
I’m experiencing anticipatory anxiety related to OCD. I have an important trip in 7 weeks and travel triggers my ocd. My feelings are just a dull ache in my belly constantly, and a jittery feeling. I’m confused about the actual obsessions. I used to have harm OCD that sprung from a travel incident years ago and ever since then, travel has been very fear inducing. I get the physical symptoms then my mind starts going hard. I ruminate about whether or not the stress will cause intrusive harm thoughts which in turn causes some intrusive harm thoughts. It’s very confusing and hard. I want to be someone who enjoys traveling and experiencing new things. I want so badly to enjoy this trip. Any advice helps. Thanks.
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