ocd flare up when happy

Hey all! I just joined this app and wanted to ask for your thoughts and encouragement on something I’ve been experiencing lately. (*long post ahead*) I’ve had an OCD diagnosis for about 2 years now, along with generalized anxiety, depersonalization symptoms, and depression diagnoses since my teens (I’m 24). Been lucky to have great family and healthcare that have helped me get out of some very dark places. I’m currently on a very high dose of Prozac, a smaller dose of Wellbutrin, and have been in therapy pretty consistently since my late teens. Life is pretty good....I’m in grad school and am doing well socially and academically. I am moving out to another part of the country to do an internship for 10 weeks, starting this Friday. But with all of this great and wonderful stuff in life, I have definitely noticed my OCD getting worse, despite my meds and self care. I’ve been having more obsessive fears and doing the rituals and compulsions to soothe those fears. It’s taking up much more of my mental space than it had for the past 2 years or so. I think part of it is the big change of moving to a new place temporarily, finishing my first year of grad school, and going from being insanely busy to having a month of downtime that is just now wrapping up. I’m getting scared that things are going to get really bad again — so far I’ve been managing with mindfulness and acceptance, and reading up on tactics for managing intrusive thoughts and accompanying compulsions. But I am so afraid that things will get to be into the dark and horrible place they were in 2 years ago. My OCD has been really mild the past few years, since I started the meds, and to feel it flare up again is really REALLY distressing. It makes me scared that the meds aren’t working, or that all the thoughts and fears are real. I know this isn’t the truth, logically, but my OCD and anxiety are running with it. I’m just wondering if anyone else has experienced this (change-related flare ups and the fears accompanied by them) and has tools to manage relapse or flare ups. Thanks in advance :) :)

Hello fellow OCD sufferers; Long story short I will be purchasing my own place and taking on some responsibilities that I’ve never had before (taking on and caring for a family members pet). Maybe I was ignorant to everything, but it suddenly hit me in the face overwhelmingly with stress and anxiety how much this was going to take and this new endeavor. While it should be “good stress”, my OCD will take what it can and my dormant SO-OCD has started to get rear its head. My question to you all is, in times of stress and change, does your OCD flare up or get worse? If so, how do you pull it back in, and lessen the noise as well as the stress/anxiety.

This is a little new for me. Each time I figure out or find peace with the OCD to the point where it’s practically nonexistent a flare up happens and suddenly I’m back to feeling “off” and not normal and thinking in my head all day all kind of ocd related thoughts. Endless questions and connections of things that are not at all related. Soo darn annoying. You guys, how do you keep pushing past this!? What tips do you have for this dealing with the feelings after the flare up. The worst part is being able to laugh and smile and just live life again and then just boom feeling soo awful again. Anyone experience feeling off after flare ups??