i’m visiting NYC for a couple of nights for my girlfriends birthday. i’m really excited but i’m so scared my intrusive thoughts will ruin the whole trip for me. i have trans OCD and i’ve been learning to live with it but when i get into my panic modes, it’s very bad. what will i do if i have a flare up in the middle of the trip? i’m so scared. i wish i could just experience it and be happy. this is ruining me.
Keep yourself busy and grounded. If you have a thought or flare up try your best to keep joining in with everyone and stay present. I think having conversation and actively engaging in other things will be a very helpful tool. I have been in recovery for around 5 months and unfortunately today I was having intrusive thoughts. I am visiting family and I tried my best to stay engaged with them in conversation and actively kept myself busy in the kitchen and before I knew it I was no longer in a spiral. You got this, you are stronger than ocd and deserve to have a great time with friends!
Ironically enough I’m doing the same for my birthday next week! I’m having the same reservations as you. Communicate your worries with your partner. Create a safe space while you are there. Shave time out of your days to focus on yourself and your mental health. You’ve got this. Enjoy your time there! See it as a vacation from your day-to-day.
OCD is ruining my life. I thought I had my recovery down & have done so well for almost 7 months. Then this week I had an intrusive thought I couldn’t get rid of - my brain convincing me that I’m in love with somebody else when I am absolutely not. I adore my boyfriend and I’m currently away traveling with him. He struggles to understand my thoughts and struggles with his reaction to it and overthinks my thoughts that I didn’t even want to have. :( please if anyone has any advice, I’m desperate as I can’t lose the love of my life over OCD.
Hi I’m currently suppressing the urge to vomit and hide in some hole and never come out 😃😃 so, I’m traveling technically today since it’s 1am right now, and I have to go on an airplane, and it’s not even just the airplane that triggers my ocd, it’s the airport itself, it’s so official and security stuff scares me bc like, theres a reason they have security. I’m really tempted to start googling “how likely is it for a plane to crash” or “how to survive a plane crash” and the urge to tell my dad that I love him and to take care of my pets if I don’t come back. Why is my mind like this. Wtf. I want to enjoy my vacation, I also don’t want to have a panic attack in an airport, which has happened before lol. I’m traveling with my mom and my sister, my mom understands ocd and has some knowledge on how to handle it, my sister does not at all. How do I calm myself without it being a compulsion?? I mean, is it okay if I calm myself with prescribed medication and like trying to tune everything out, or is that feeding into the ocd? Because my usual compulsions would be to repeat “it’s okay it’s okay it’s okay” over and over again in my head, and “I’m safe I’m safe I’m safe, nothing is going to happen” and I try not to do that anymore, or just simply not go because of the fear, BUT I’m going because I’m not gonna let ocd take away anymore of my life. I’m just scared and I don’t really know how to cope with this, any advice?
My aunt and her family came in from out of town, and we all want to go on a road trip. I was already anxious about it before and now because I got my monthly a couple days earlier, I’m even more anxious as my contamination OCD is always so much worse when I’m on it. I feel like going would be a great exposure for me but at the same time I don’t know if it will be too overwhelming for me staying in a hotel, and just generally coming into contact with all of these germs. I know going will be a great exposure for me, though I don’t know if I’ll even enjoy my time and I don’t want to ruin it for anyone else. Ugh OCD can be so debilitating.
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