- Date posted
- 5y
- Date posted
- 5y
I'm afraid I don't have any experience on minimizing that, but I can assure you that I have similar issues. Not only do I perform multiple cleaning rituals (picking at my eyebrows, skin, lips, etc.), but I also over-audit everything I say or write before sharing it. It's rough. The only thing I can offer on the latter issue is that I am starting to reach a point (at least in some aspects of my life) where I feel confident that I can just say something now and understand more later, whether I need to apologize for offense or I otherwise don't have the full picture and need more details. It's incredibly difficult to take that risk, and there's no rushing it for anyone - but I sincerely hope for you that you will make progress towards a point where you feel comfortable initiating a conversation in some form or another and facing the responses head on. It'll be messy for sure, but I genuinely think this can be counted as progress. :)
- Date posted
- 5y
Hey, this definitely sounds like OCD although I don't struggle with the same compulsions. A lot of people view OCD as an umbrella and some people even have changes in their symptoms over time. Since I was a child, I've always picked at my lips when they are chapped, even to the point of bleeding. I've just made a habit of always carrying lip balm to avoid having flakes because I know if they're there I will pick them. The best known treatments for OCD are ERP and ACT. The first is exposure and response prevention where you gradually engage in situations that might cause you to perform a compulsion, but resist performing it, so that you condition yourself to do it less often. ACT is similar to mindfulness, and I know a lot of people on this app try to do guided mindfulness meditations because they really do help. Sorry I couldn't address some of those compulsions but believe me, a lot of people here understand what you're going through and wish you the best!
- Date posted
- 5y
I have trichotillomania (I pull my eyebrows out when I'm anxious). It bothered me for years but then I just stopped caring when people thought.
- Date posted
- 5y
Thankyou for your comments , means alot ☺️
Related posts
- Date posted
- 18w
Hello, I’m new to this app. I’ve always had an anxious brain, and I’ve had coping mechanisms for as long as I can remember. When I was a kid, from as early as I could spell, until I was probably early teens, I would constantly write words in my head along to the beat of music. It’s such a vivid memory because I never stopped doing it. The word had to perfectly match up to the lyric and I loved that it kept my brain busy. I grew out of that, but felt like good context. My anxiety increased drastically around ages 17-19, and I began therapy. I was diagnosed with generalized anxiety and panic disorder, due to having a panic attack nearly every day at that time. I overcame that as well, and now the panic attacks are every now and then, but the anxiety is constant, and some recent symptoms have led me to believe I might have some form of OCD. Maybe not. I’m trying to understand myself and get better so I joined this app to make sense of things. Lately I’ve been having really intense intrusive thoughts. I’m really embarassed and they make me feel like a bad person. Thoughts pop in my head seemingly out of nowhere. It will be an image of me harming myself or someone else in a really bad way. (Trigger warning) for example the other day I couldn’t shake the image of me putting a knife through my own forehead, although it’s not something I want to do. Or I’ll imagine someone killing me. I imagine my loved ones dying often. The thoughts feel so out of my control it’s insane. I hate them. Another persistent issue that isn’t as new is replaying social scenarios. I’m a hairstylist so this one is difficult since I meet a bunch of new people every day. I obsess over how I act and if people like me. I will impulsively say things all the time and they will haunt me for weeks. I question even my closest friends and family who show their love. I find myself so angry and numb and like I have so much built up emotion and a busy mind always. While doing my job I spiral really badly if any little thing goes wrong and it’s embarassing. I know there’s more but I can’t think of it now. I just want to feel better and like I’m not constantly battling my mind.
- Date posted
- 12w
Does anyone have any good tips on how to reduce the urge to pick your skin? I wasn’t aware that this was something often associated with OCD until my therapist told me about it. I regularly engage in skin picking especially on my face and it has made my acne even worse and lead to scarring. I don’t want to continue doing it but sometimes I just do it without even realizing I’m doing it.
- Date posted
- 9w
hi everyone!! so idk if anyone will see this, but i guess i have a lot of questions. i got diagnosed with OCD about 2 years ago or so but i’ve had it for as long as i can remember. my obsessions and compulsions root from my worst fears and what i’m most afraid of losing. when i was really young, it started with doing things or else the devil was going to come and get me, because that was my worst fear at that time. i have to count, i usually do things in pairs of 3. i HATE even numbers. only odd numbers. sometimes i spend a lot of time redoing something over and over and over again just until it feels “right.” i have super bad sensory issues. i cut the tags out of everything i own, my nails have to be short or else i will dig them into my skin until i bleed because it just doesn’t feel right. at school i used to be late to class because i would be at my locker turning the combination either 3, 7, 9, 11, or 13 times. it just depended on what felt right. before i would go to bed i would have to sit up and check the door 3 , 7, 9… etc. one time i had to check 27 times before i could go to sleep. i’m actually scared of getting things i want in life because my OCD will hold it against me. “you better do this or else you’ll lose this.” the more happy i am in life, the worse my OCD gets. it prays on my worst fears. if there is even something slightly wrong with my clothes: a tiny thread hanging lose, a bad memory attached, i will never wear it again. there’s one thing im sorta embarrassed to say but it’s one of my worst ones. basically: peeing. at night, i have to continuously go to the bathroom over and over again because i feel like my bladder isn’t completely empty. i will keep telling myself “it’s full, i have to go.” even when i just peed 5 minutes ago. and due to this, it causes a lot of wiping. i have wiped myself raw to the point i bleed a lot. it’s embarrassing, but i can’t stop. it never feels clean enough. my hair is never perfect enough. my clothes are ugly. i think i mostly struggle with perfectionism OCD. but is that it? i also feel like if i don’t do certain things, it will cause something bad to happen to my family or friends. like i have magical control over events. i don’t know. can someone help please?
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