Hi everyone. I have been struggling with OCD for over 10 years and I am a college athlete. My OCD is majorly interfering with my ability to perform my best in my sport and it’s breaking my heart. I really need help. I am not medicated and I do go to therapy. I have horrible mental blocks that have been very difficult to get through. Every day feels like I’m managing my kind all day long. Any tips?
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@Anonymous Thank you!! I will take a look at this!
@Anonymous Yes, I love Nathan Peterson!
Steven Smith, the person who founded NOCD, was a collegiate football player. His OCD got so bad that he confined himself in his room. (You can read his story at the very beginning of this community thread!) He tried some therapies that didn’t work, but he saw huge progress in his life when he at last started ERP therapy. ERP therapy is such a huge gave-changer that he founded NOCD so that everyone could have access to ERP therapy. After doing ERP therapy, he was able to return to college football. Is this the type of therapy you are currently doing?? It works. Some therapies work much so much better than others.
@Tea and Honey Thank you, I had not read this but I will be sure to do so! I have been thinking about trying to switch my therapy to ERP as I am currently with a general therapist.
@sammy57 ERP might just change everything for you. Most other therapies don’t work. ERP really does work.
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@Anonymous I have considered this but worry that I will choose the wrong one. It is helpful to hear that it has been helpful for you!
If I may ask what kind of sports?
@hanysm@gmail.com I am a diver
@hanysm@gmail.com It causes me to feel as if I am unable to perform the dives I know how to do
Very nice, I was track and field. Throwing, hammer thrower. Is it fear of competition or loosing?
@hanysm@gmail.com Thank you for sending the post! It’s a nice message and helpful for understanding why these thoughts become so sticky. I’m not really sure what it’s a fear of, I love competition. I guess I wouldn’t say losing as much as failure is what I’m afraid of. I always worry that I’m gonna hit my head or my face or something like that
@sammy57 I believe both diving and throwing rely heavily on technique. Just like diving, throwing involves handling heavy objects, which increases the risk of injury. What helped me stay calm was focusing on perfecting my technique through intense training. During competitions, I concentrated on "having fun" and aimed to achieve a smooth, graceful performance, almost like a dance. I even played rhythmic music in my head. When I achieved that beautiful dream throw, it set a new national record. After that, I discovered the secret and broke the record again. I also had a fear of failure, but I managed to channel it into motivation to practice harder and excel. Dealing with the uncertainty of competition is something most athletes face. Could this be what you're experiencing? This post talks about certainity. https://app.treatmyocd.com/community/posts/2030461
@hanysm@gmail.com This is really helpful. I don’t think I thought of it that way before. Now that you say that, I definitely think I am waiting for certainty while doing my dives. I have to trust probability that I will be fine, because I always have been. Thank you so much for your help with this
Let me share a post link that might help you understand OCD better. As an athlete, it's important to study your competition to strategize for victory. Trust me, you can overcome OCD. https://app.treatmyocd.com/community/posts/2043944
Hello, I’m in undergrad and recently was diagnosed with OCD. Its a very new diagnosis and it’s both been stressful and relieving to receive it. Looking back at my past I’ve been able to explain a lot of behavioral issues that I thought were simply attributed to me being “crazy”. It’s comforting to know it’s something that others struggle with and that there are set coping mechanisms and treatments for it. There are a number of thing of which I obsessively think about, and it’s been getting really hard to deal with all of them. The most troubling are my thoughts toward suicide. I can’t stop thinking about it. There’s not really any intent, it’s just like my brain has tuned into a frequency that plays in the background at all times. Usually though this leads to more dangerous behaviors, and so I always try to do any preventative work to keep myself safe. As for the asking for advice portion of this post, what do you all do to combat unending loops of thought? Because I’m so new to my diagnosis, my therapist and I haven’t found good strategies for me yet, outside of just labeling those thoughts as OCD in an attempt to delegitimize them.
Hi I’m 17. My life since I was born has been full of exploring and tons and tons of hobbies. I have adhd. But about 1 year ago is when it kinda started or at least when I started to notice these thoughts and compulsions. I got in a relationship with my girlfriend. And about 2 weeks into that relationship my I started thinking “what if I don’t love her” and I didn’t even know that that’s what ocd was at the time and it ruined with gut wrenching anxiety for months. Then I started titling it as ocd. After we broke up I started to notice that my ocd was starting to flare up a lot. Like when I was snowboarding and normally when I was having the most fun is when I would ask myself things like “what if I hate this” “what if I’m not having fun” then I would try to feel if I was having fun. I would use chat gpt a lot to try and help it but it didn’t really help. I have lots of other ocd thoughts aswell but at the time this one really caused be anxiety and I just felt numb and I became not social. To this day I’m still not as social and I don’t feel like myself anymore. This is the opposite of who I was a year ago. Then I started questioning everything I do and people I love. So it feels like from the moment I wake up my mind just starts spiraling. I can’t seem to find peace or joy in anything anymore and I just feel like my life is going to continue like this and I’ll never be happy. I’ve accepted it at this point. I would love some help. I haven’t really told anyone I know so any tips would be appreciated. I’d be surprised if you even read this far haha. I’m also Christian and love to approach things from a Christian standpoint. I don’t want to sound like a baby who isn’t experiencing real ocd and it’s hard to put into words how much it affects me I just really hope yall understand and can help.
This my first post and frankly I am so scared. I was diagnosed with OCD as my first diagnosis, at only 10 years old. Ever since, my OCD has COMPLETELY overtaken my mind and actions. Im scared that if I ever get my OCD figured out and under control, I may loose a part of myself, because its so familiar to me and all Ive ever known. As someone who is ready to tackle their extreme OCD thinking, where should I start? I am open to any/all suggestions. PLEASE leave any advice that you recommend and that has benefited you in your own journey!!!! Thanks!
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