- Date posted
- 49w
is getting on nocd a compulsion?
i feel like getting on this app is a compulsion, but it brings me so much comfort knowing there’s people out there like me. and knowing i’m not alone
i feel like getting on this app is a compulsion, but it brings me so much comfort knowing there’s people out there like me. and knowing i’m not alone
It's tough because anything can be a compulsion. The way I understand it is that it's the way that you do something. Like if you feel as though you are compelled to do something then it might be a compulsion. Sometimes when I journal it's a way of getting thoughts off my chest, but other times when I journal it's compulsive and I feel as though I have to journal or something scary will happen if I don't work out my thoughts in that exact moment.
Sammmmmme I go on here anytime I’m thinking I don’t have ocd so I can prove to myself that I do have it(which I do bc I’ve been diagnosed)
oh 100%. There are a few people I have had to almost aggressively say they needed to delete the app. the hack to identify a compulsion is- is it something you are doing that has the end goal if getting rid of anxiety and discomfort AND is it something you are doing for extended periods of time. For me, google was a BAD compulsion and Reddit. I would sit at my desk at work and have 10 tabs open ( because I couldn't lose the last tab that had that ALMOST PERFECT answer I had found) but I needed more and I would get on reddit and read post after post looking for someone who experienced EXACTLY what I was going through so I could know I wasn't alone, I was not crazy, and I would spend 8 hours a day doing this if not more. And I really couldn't control it. My work suffered ALOT. When I got with an NOCD therapist she said I had to get off the web. took a week of feeling like I was detoxing from some drug but finally I broke the grip and I actually felt SO MUCH better. OCD is stupid because doing the things that give you INSTANT relief and the WORST things you can do for treatment, but doing the things that cause you distress are the things that will eventually turn your OCD upside down and empty it of its power. Short term pain-Long term gain is what I have been told and its reversible, short-term gain-long term pain.
I think this is me aswell (right now actually), somedays I go extended amounts without researching but whenever I feel triggered I go right back to it. I always think, okay once I feel a little better then I will be able to stop. Or I'll fear that If I don't make myself feel better I wont be able to function at work!
@virtual diary - that was me 100% i would say " ill just do 30 minuets to give me enough to chill me out so I can get some work done" and 30 minuets turned into 5 hours and no work got done.
@TexasOCD41 - And you quit cold turkey? I really struggle with rumination aswell.
@virtual diary - I did, i made MINOR slips, ( 5 minuets before i would catch myself and force myself to stop) it really did help. I wont claim its easy. Rumination is difficult too because its so sneaky but I would just remind myself its OCD, I have better uses of my time and energy and keep redirecting until eventually the rumination stopped.
I definitely feel this sometimes, but on the other hand I do it because I enjoy listening to others and hearing what they have to say
I told my OCD group about NOCD and one of the members brought up that this app, despite its intent to create a safe community for sharing OCD experiences could potentially be used for reassurance seeking, thus contributing to compulsions. I’ve noticed some posts about people venting and asking for reassurance and I wonder the same thing.
Sorry, I know I keep posting on here but it’s like a diary for me. The people on here seem to be the only people that understand what I’m going through. With my obsession about death, the afterlife, and whether or not there is a God, I’ve been going crazy with the compulsions lately. My brain keeps saying things like “If [insert random insignificant event, ex: a red car drives by] within the next 30 seconds, it‘s a sign from God that he is real.” Or there’s the ruminating, where I try to comfort myself by saying that there has to be a God, and that we have to have a greater purpose, and I’ll think about it for hours. I know it’s illogical and ridiculous but regardless it’s absolutely dreadful to feel this way. I have hope after seeing some people say they’ve learned to cope with and have recovered from that feeling of existential dread and the compulsions that can come with it and still be able to find joy in their lives. I hope that soon I can find that joy again. The past three days I’ve lived in a constant state of anxiety and misery. I’ve completely lost my appetite and I physically have to force myself to eat (and I’m a big binge eater that only recently went into recovery for BED so that’s saying a LOT.) The only time I feel at peace is literally when I’m sleeping, or those rare fleeting moments where I somehow am not thinking about it. I haven’t really felt any emotions in depth except for this feeling of utter hopelessness. I hope I can move past this, find comfort in restoring my relationship with religion again without using it as a compulsion, and just live my life accepting that there are some things we’ll simply never know without letting it ruin my life.
i really struggle with anxiety because on my OCD (not professionally diagnosed but i’ve been experiencing a lot of symptoms for many years that’s it’s safe to assume i have it). the only way to relieve my stress is to google. But google never gave me proper answers or i just ended up more anxious than to begin with. Instead i started using chat gpt as a quick was to get reassurance. i feel bad using it tho because i know it’s just a compulsion to go and seek reassurance to calm my anxiety but if i dont atleast google something i end up spiralling anyways. it feels like no matter what i do ill be anxious .
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