Death ocd help

One of the most powerful things someone has told me about OCD is “then just get on with the next productive thing”. When we are ruminating, researching, and doing compulsions it can be hard to remember this! You will heal when you think a thought like that and make it less of a big deal. “Hmm, that was weird. Anyway, I was just getting dressed for the day. What should I wear?” Or “hmm, that was a disturbing video. Maybe I’ll take a break from my phone and go cook dinner, or call a friend, or go on a walk, or meditate” Some of my favorite and most effective “next productive things” are actually time wasters - YouTube videos (NOT about the OCD) or a good audiobook that takes me out of the current reality for a second. Combine those with some movement (walking, biking, running) and boom Shaka OCD’s got nothing on me! You got this!

Currently talking to two different councilors at the same time, but I just started talking about these specific fears and am not seeing myself going anywhere. Has anyone at all gotten over this and gotten back to somewhat normal? I just need hope.

hi!!! i went through this a couple months ago during the summer. it lasted really bad for about a week, and then slowly eased out the less attention i came it. i depersonalized a lot and i couldn’t enjoy anything with my friends because i was so consumed. i learned to just accept the thought and find the beauty in life and that it’s okay we don’t have an answer and we don’t need an answer always. i think that’s the beauty of life and existence is we don’t know. i tried to think of what my favorite outcome would be of what death would be life and tried to convince myself that’s the real thing of what will happen and it helped me. not sure if that’s the best solution but it did help me focus on it less.

i’m really sorry though, it’s such a scary feeling. just know you aren’t alone. even though it feels like no one understands sometimes i promise you u aren’t alone in it and there are always better things ahead :) keep urself busy!!! ur the master of ur own mind!!!

I've gone through similar episodes, so please understand that you aren't alone and it isn't permanent. You already recognize how the compulsions are making things worse, so the next question is, how do you NOT do them? Well the gold-standard therapeutic technic for this is ERP (exposure response prevention), so my best piece of advice is to speak to an OCD specialist. I understand you're already talking to 2 different counselors, but if you aren't actively doing some sort of exposure therapy than this pattern will likely continue, unfortunately. Of course I understand if that's still not an option, so here are some tips that have personally helped me significantly in all aspects of OCD and life in general. It's okay for you to have those thoughts, and it's okay for you to feel anxious about them. The reason I say this is because we all assume that the thoughts are the problem, and that the only way to be happy is to get rid of them. This is actually false, and it's this exact instinct that fuels this terrible cycle. All of these thoughts about death, your own corpse, the frailty and "meaninglessness" of life, etc, are actually not the true cause of your suffering. The true cause of your suffering is your resistance to them. If you practice allowing yourself to physically feel the anxiety that arises after being triggered, rather than trying to get rid of it or the thoughts, over time you will realize that you CAN handle the anxiety. You'll learn that the anxiety comes and it goes on its own, without you having to actually do anything about it. This will naturally make you less afraid of the thoughts themselves, and over time they will naturally occur less often. It's kind of a backdoor approach. Instead of trying to get rid of the thoughts with force, it's more like you plant the seeds that will one day reduce their power over you. If nothing else, just do a deep-dive into mindfulness. That's what I did when I had really terrible suicidal OCD, years before I ever starting going to an OCD specialist. Practice it diligently, and you will slowly realize how many mental health issues are related to us being unable, or unwilling, to truly be in the present moment. Best of luck. Happy to share more tips if any of this interests you.