- Date posted
- 1y
Drinking alcohol and OCD
Did anyone completely stop drinking alcohol because of OCD, and if not, how are your symptoms with it?
Did anyone completely stop drinking alcohol because of OCD, and if not, how are your symptoms with it?
I’m a month completely sober. Feels good. Alcohol and mental illness don’t mix well.
@Hopefloats227 Very true , alcohol and OCD just don’t mix well . So many times when I’d had a drink I would think about suicide , not ever really strongly but it was there . Not a good recipe , but my wife is amazing and I couldn’t put her through that .
I used to drink a lot with my OCD And found it did help numb the pain but I never really gave a monkeys about anything when I drank anyway , it was just a temporary fix for me the next day they were still there with a vengeance . I haven’t touched alcohol for just over 11 years now , realised it was just a band aid on a gaping wound and not the real answer in the long term .
Thanks for sharing. Good on you for finding what works. 11 years is impressive. I started to stop altogether, then I started to drink again but I’ve noticed flare ups ever since. Thinking of quitting altogether again
Looking back, I realize I’ve had OCD since I was 7. though I wasn’t diagnosed until I was 30. As a kid, I was consumed by fears I couldn’t explain: "What if God isn’t real? What happens when we die? How do I know I’m real?" These existential thoughts terrified me, and while everyone has them from time to time, I felt like they were consuming my life. By 12, I was having daily panic attacks about death and war, feeling untethered from reality as depersonalization and derealization set in. At 15, I turned to drinking, spending the next 15 years drunk, trying to escape my mind. I hated myself, struggled with my body, and my intrusive thoughts. Sobriety forced me to face it all head-on. In May 2022, I finally learned I had OCD. I remember the exact date: May 10th. Reading about it, I thought, "Oh my God, this is it. This explains everything." My main themes were existential OCD and self-harm intrusive thoughts. The self-harm fears were the hardest: "What if I kill myself? What if I lose control?" These thoughts terrified me because I didn’t want to die. ERP changed everything. At first, I thought, "You want me to confront my worst fears? Are you kidding me?" But ERP is gradual and done at your pace. My therapist taught me to lean into uncertainty instead of fighting it. She’d say, "Maybe you’ll kill yourself—who knows?" At first, it felt scary, but for OCD, it was freeing. Slowly, I realized my thoughts were just thoughts. ERP gave me my life back. I’m working again, I’m sober, and for the first time, I can imagine a future. If you’re scared to try ERP, I get it. But if you’re already living in fear, why not try a set of tools that can give you hope?
How long did it take to make this? And is it actually possible?
People who went from a really bad time with OCD to a better time now. Is it really possible? What was your theme? Did you take medication?
Share your thoughts so the Community can respond