- Date posted
- 49w
- Date posted
- 49w
Stop scrolling and go outside. Honest advice. I've scrolled out of OCD got to find it anxiety, don't do it. Also, a trick I used in OCD recovery and still use, is I tell myself that if xy or z still bothers me in two hours I'll consider doing the compulsion to fix it. When the two hours rolls around, I'd either forget why I was anxious, or it wouldn't seem important anymore, or it would still bother me. If it still bothered me, I'd push it off another two hours. This gently trained my brain that not everything is an emergency.
- User type
- Therapist
- Date posted
- 49w
What you're describing is very typical for someone with OCD. It's not uncommon for OCD to latch onto things that are important or meaningful to you, like the job you're excited about, and then link them to intrusive thoughts. Your mind is creating a false connection between the thought and the job, making you feel like you need to "fix" it in order to feel safe or to prevent something bad from happening. This is part of the compulsive cycle of OCD. The intrusive thought came up, and now your brain is telling you that you need to find that specific live stream to neutralize or correct the thought. But the more you engage in that compulsion (in this case, scrolling to find the live stream), the stronger the anxiety and the false connection between the thought and the job will become. The reality is that the thought has no power over your future or your job—it's just an uncomfortable, unwanted thought that doesn’t reflect reality. The goal with OCD treatment, especially through Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), is to learn how to sit with these intrusive thoughts without acting on the compulsions to fix or neutralize them. In this case, resisting the urge to continue searching for that live stream, and accepting that the thought is just a thought, will help break the cycle.
Related posts
- Date posted
- 22w
Basically I had a bad violent intruisve thought and I was scrolling through instagram story and on the chat box underneath my mind made me write it down on the reply box but I didn’t send it I wrote it down then got rid of it liked cleared it now I’m like why did my mind make me write that . ! Now I’m like omg why did I write that will anything happen or am I overthinking?
- Date posted
- 16w
On Sunday at work I was stressed and I was anxious all day about ruining my relationship and I disappeared off camera for 2 min and 30 seconds and I’m trying to figure out why and it’s bothering me because I don’t remember I know all morning I was trying to stay on camera so I can prove to myself that I was fine but I think as the day went on like after I video called my boyfriend I felt better and wasn’t paying too much attention to being off camera but I went into the back of the store like the kitchen area and there’s no camera so I was off camera for 2 min 30 seconds and it’s scaring me because idk what I was doing so I’m trying to figure it out and it’s driving me nuts my mind is saying that I did something to ruin my relationship in those 2 min and 30 seconds and I’m so anxious and spiraling I can’t stop thinking about it and talking about it. I just want to enjoy my relationship without feeling guilty.
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 14w
Hi guys! I had really bad harm ocd about 2 years ago and I went through therapy and eventually got really good at handling it when it would pop up. The other day, I was scrolling on TikTok and came across a girl talking about a guy who was presenting a lot of schizophrenic symptoms but no one paid attention and got him help, he was having a lot of delusions, hallucinating, thinking everyone was out to get him, thought he was Jesus and his dad was the president and ended up doing horrific things. The day after that, I was dealing with some work drama and had the thought of “what if all my coworkers are against me and trying to get me fired”. That really stressed me out, cause I don’t normally think about them like that and I went down a rabbit hole of thinking that was the beginning of me developing schizophrenia, ended up googling stuff all night, taking tests, crying and seeking reassurance. I had a thought the other day “your dad is the president”, this one didn’t stress me out as bad as I knew it was just the video I had seen and it was an intrusive thought about it, and I also didn’t believe it. Today I was with some friends and I got a prize at a place we went and it said “lonely” on it. I do have my moments of feeling lonely and this week has been specifically trying so I had a thought like “oh someone’s out to get me cause I got this”. I know this isn’t logical and it wouldn’t make sense to just randomly get it if someone was truly after me and it was just a stupid prize at a random place, anyone could’ve gotten it. Im just struggling a lot with schizophrenic OCD and thinking I’m in the pre stages of it. In my good moments, I don’t think I am at all and it was all just sparked from the video I watched but in my bad moments, these thoughts feel real!! They really stress me out and make me feel like I’m going to lose my mind causing me to lose my job/ end up in a psych hospital/ never live a normal life/ end up alone, never see me my loved ones/ hurt my loved ones. I just want to feel normal and not like I’m about to lose my mind and everything I care about. Please help!!! Anyone else going through something similar and can help me get through this!
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