This might be a stupid question for some, but I'm genuinely confused why does any mental illness recovery full of ups and downs, for example when you breake a bone, you treat yourself and things get better from that moment forward, no hurdles no setbacks but when it comes to OCD and anxiety recovery it's very different from a physical illness?
The brain is very complex and life is hard sometimes. And there are definitely hurdles with physical illnesses too but you might not think they are. But overall, nothing worth it is easy and quick. Itās a continual life process.
Agreed, what I meant is that when it comes to a physical illness most of the time you know what you're dealing with, like the broken bone example, you know that from the moment that bone is broken healing starts and nothing can hinder that process, of course if you treat it right, but mental illnesses are quite different, you just sit there with the unknown not knowing when you'll recover and if what you're doing is enough for recovery but most importantly I'm not discrediting any illness physical nor mental every suffering is valid. I liked what you said in the end "nothing worth it is easy and quick".
@Mohaš Ahh, I see! Due to everyone expericing life different for LOTS of reasons and the brain being smart and stupid at the same time, mental illnesses are definitely harder to deal with than most physical illnesses. Some stuff that are physical illnesses that are hard to deal with that pop up are autoimmune diseases. Those are such bummers, just like mental illnesses. And thereās no cure for both, but they are manageable with lifestyle changes.
Yea I think part of it too is that OCD can get worse if you do compulsions, or if youāre tired/stressed it can make symptoms worse and make it harder to resist compulsions. Iāve noticed I can have periods of getting much better, than the theme will switch or Iāll get tired/stressed and get more thoughts and start doing more mental compulsions without even realizing it, which will then make the ocd worse again. Itās all a learning process to recognize OCD thoughts, regardless of the āthemeā at the time and to not engage with them and do compulsions. Itās not linear, but it can always trend upward with consistent effort!
@Ocdeeznuts55 100% this. I have my ocd under control and then experience a major life stressor. I start doing compulsions more without realising (usually mental compulsions) and the ocd gets more intense. Until it gets so intense I fall down and have an ocd attack which can last weeks or months. Thatās where I am now. Had a lot of stress where my son was ill in hospital and was tired from going back to work full time. Then him and my hubby got noro (which is one of my triggers) and bam, full blown ocd attack for the last three weeks
ERP didnāt work for me dispute trying many times many months behavior therapy Inst going to work for everyone I know this Inst what u want to hear but itās the honest answer
What's your theme if I may ask?
I take this as a bit of a philosophical question, and it's an interesting one. My take is that "mental illness" is a loose and poorly-defined term. I say it's poorly-defined because we also use it to refer to mental struggles that occur naturally in perfectly healthy brains. When you break your leg, there is an obvious physical ailment. The body has systems in place to deal with that ailment by slowly rebuilding the bone. Anxiety disorders like OCD, on the other hand, don't really involve a physical ailment. We are dealing with the abstract world of thoughts and behavior, with symptoms that can only be FELT by the individual, and not seen by others. When it comes to OCD, I know they've done some research to try to find some sort of physical difference between brains of those with and without the diagnosis, but in my opinion that's just putting the cart before the horse. From what I understand, there's no PHYSICAL issue with the brain with OCD. It's simply a behavioral pattern that developed early in childhood, which sets us up to be more likely to respond to intrusive thoughts with compulsions. And I think that's key here. The brain is malleable, but it requires a lot of work and repetition to rewire the circuitry that causes it to fall into these unhelpful patterns. When you work on OCD, you are fighting against deeply-ingrained habits. So I don't think that comparing OCD to a broken leg makes sense. It would be more appropriate to compare it to learning to walk in an odd way as a toddler. Like walking "pigeon-toed," for example. It's a habit that needs to be "trained" away. That's my initial take, at least!
hey, it's not a stupid question at all. recovery from mental illnesses like OCD and anxiety can be confusing and frustrating because it's not as linear as physical healing. the ups and downs are super common, and it's okay to feel overwhelmed by that. š by the way, have you heard about this new AI-powered OCD therapy tool called 'unstuck'? when i was struggling, my NOCD therapist recommended it to me (unstuckmyOCD.com/try), and it was a game-changer. i think it'll be especially helpful for you because it offers personalized, step-by-step support for those rollercoaster moments in OCD recovery, just like having an OCD therapist in your pocket. i hate when people promote stuff, but i really think it can help you because it's changed my life. lmk if you have Qs or just want to talk more! <3
To anyone who has POCD and has had a successful recovery, how does your day to day life look like now? Do you still have those thoughts in the back of your mind and just not let them bother you? Or have you gone about your days without even thinking about it at all? Has your life somewhat been back to normal? Do you still have harder days? And how often? Have you gained trust and confidence in who you are? Do you not allow OCD to make you question yourself? The reason I ask is because I worry that though I might get ābetterā I still will have hard days like every other week. Like having to have good days but deep down knowing youāre going to struggle with this for the rest of your life. Because personally I just canāt possibly imagine having to knowingly do ERP everyday for the rest of my life just to not crumble and fall apart. Yes I might be ābetterā at handling it, it will still be something Iām gonna have to be focusing on not allowing OCD to take over. I just want to live my life how I used to. Not having to try everyday to fall apart, ignoring thoughts, forcing myself to be uncomfortable, having to resist questioning things, and faking being okay with what Iām going through. It gets tiring having to do those things everyday. Itās so much easier to just give up. Iām doing my best to not give up. But the thought of having to fight OCD everyday and knowingly sounds much worse than just giving up. I feel like Iām a pretty reasonable person so having to live through this just doesnāt sound worth it and I think itās pretty messed up to shame someone for wanting to āgive upā if you know what I mean. So If thereās no true good outcome after consistent hard work. I think mental illnesses can be just as bad as a physical illness. But we donāt shame them for giving up a treatment because thereās no actual cure. We understand they canāt deal with the pain anymore and want to be set free. But when it comes to mental illness, being set free is looked down upon. But maybe there is no cure or good outcome and all we want is to be set free.
So Iāve been getting treatment for about 3 months now and itās been slowly starting to work I think and days are slowly getting easier. There are still plenty of bad days and days where I just feel completely defeated but Iām gradually learning how to deal with these emotions. Part of me is really relieved and excited as OCD was absolutely awful and the worst thing Iāve ever experienced. It held me back from so many things and I felt so trapped and I never imagined Iād be in so much agonising discomfort everyday. However part of me is also really uneasy as OCD is what Iāve known for so many years and I donāt know life without it. Itās almost unsettling integrating back into the ānormalā way of life as part of me doesnāt know where to start and I feel like I lack foundation if that makes sense as I have been unable to do so much for so long. Iām also finishing school soon which makes things even harder as I donāt know what comes next, or who or what Iāll become and do with my life. I guess my question is, is life beyond OCD worth it and is it worth climbing out of this hell hole? I also know that Iāll probably always have OCD and there may always be bad days but itās just becoming less disabling and time consuming which is so exciting but sort of terrifying at the same time. I also am worried that Iāll live a boring and miserable life because at least dealing with OCD left me with something and made life more interesting, much more painful but It almost became my identity. But I guess there has to be something more beyond this life Iām living. Sorry this is long.
So Iām 33 diagnosed with ocd at 20 but had it since about 17 or 18.. Iām older now a little wiser of my disorder but Iāve always wondered after going weeks or days feeling fine completely forgetting about the waves or spikes were even there and the obsessive fear or doubts existed . Why is it they always randomly come back.. if weāre fine for those few days or weeks not even worrying not even freaked out not even realizing we have this disorder why do the waves or intrusive thoughts that get us in our spirals in the first place come back randomly? Iāve always wondered why that is ? For example I suffer from harm ocd soocd.. and relationship ocd.. when Iām not obsessing I know who I am what I love what I cherish what I like.. for those couple weeks I feel my absolute self not a care in the world for the shit I went through weeks ago or even days ago when dealing with the disorder.. so why does it always come back when things are great for that certain amount of time ?
Share your thoughts so the Community can respond
