- Date posted
- 37w
- Date posted
- 37w
Hi there! I think it absolutely can--anything that causes stress or strong emotions can cause the OCD to flare up. I find that sadness is a hard one for me, as I don't always deal with with it. I have learned it is very important to allow myself to feel it and to be easy on myself. Losing a pet is so painful--be gentle with yourself and celebrate your memories with your dog, and reach out to your support network as needed.
- Date posted
- 37w
Firstly, I’m so sorry you’re going through that. Losing your childhood pet is an unimaginable tragedy. Stress and enhanced emotions definitely isn’t a bff for OCD. Whenever I’m upset or stressed my thoughts get a lot worse too. It doesn’t have to be linked the brain works in awkward ways sometimes. Any emotional burnout especially loss has a really strong impact on our bodies, both physically and mentally. It’s important to remind yourself of what is true. It helps me to write it down and if I feel like my thoughts are getting worse I will go and read it and take deep breaths. While breathing I imagine inhaling the good thoughts and releasing the negative or compulsive ones when I exhale. Again, I’m so sorry for what you’re experiencing right now. Sending my support.
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 37w
Hi! I am so sorry to hear about your dog. I had to put my dog to sleep last weekend, and it definitely caused my OCD to try to bait me in with lots of different things. I had to figure out some response prevention messages to help me, like “These thoughts are thoughts, not threats.” I also needed some time just to grieve the loss of my pup. Losing a pet is so hard, so take your time and be patient with yourself.
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 37w
OCD gets triggered by any dramatic change. Iv had it be triggered by happy things, like buying and moving into a house, and then it got mega triggered when i had to put my kitty to sleep. OCD doesn't have to be linked in any way to what is happening in your life. It just happens to trigger simply because a routine has changed, that's all it takes. I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. It gets better. i thought id die with grief but its been 6 months now since she passed and i still think about her but I'm not so sad anymore.
Related posts
- Date posted
- 22w
I don’t even know where to start because there’s so much going on in my head and it feels like there’s so much evidence for every thought. Like my ocd feels like it doesn’t just have one specific theme it’s honestly every theme and it just switches throughout the day depending on the thoughts I have. This started all about a month ago, this whole ocd flare up. I’ve been diagnosed with ocd for about 3 years now and looking back on my childhood, I feel like I’ve had it for probably my entire life. My grandpa just recently died back in February and I feel like this whole ocd spiral is a result of dealing with grief especially because it didn’t even hit me for the whole month of April for some reason and things felt “normal”. But since this ocd flare up has started I’ve been constantly reviewing and revisiting my past, all my childhood memories and so many of them are terrifying which is weird because I never had a traumatic event hppen to me as a child. I feel like it’s always been “self-inflicted” trauma if that makes sense? My mind is telling me so many things related to so many topics like maybe I liked my family member as a kid and have just hid it to fit in with society? That my anxiety as a kid has caught up with me and I’m turning into a psychopath? That I’ve always been a creep and enjoyed looking at peoples privates or chests, etc but just ignored or allowed the thought this whole time. Also before this whole flare up I remember always feeling on autopilot and not really alive like everything I did I just felt numb about it. Which aids my ocd to tell me that these feelings are real and the thoughts are true and that I’m “waking up” or realizing or something. I haven’t felt such intense anxiety and distress since I was a kid and I didn’t even understand my own thoughts. It’s like I’m either hyper aware or totally unaware of what’s going on around me and it gets me thinking about my existence, personality, what my role in life is and like genuinely what I’m even doing in the moment like what’s the reason behind everything. I’m constantly questioning my intentions because I don’t know if they’re true or not and it’s like my ocd doesn’t even allow me to consider the thought it just jumps to conclusion. Like telling me I’m guilty before proven innocent. It honestly feels like so much at once to even simply call it ocd or anxiety because it feels like a crisis and any moment I could spiral and breakdown completely. Going to school everyday feeling like anytbing could trigger a panic attack at any moment makes me feel like I can’t be left alone with my thoughts. And like overall since I got down this rabbit hole, my first obsession was harm to myself, then it was harm to others specifically my family, then it was being a pervert or pedo, or being attracted or someone or something I shouldn’t be, which then makes me question my existence and who I am along with also being hyper aware of my facial movements like my eyebrows, nose, etc. Like why does ocd have to involve itself in every aspect of my life? It feels like there’s always something wrong that I need to fix.
- Date posted
- 15w
My OCD has bounced around to a lot of different topics but my current spiral has been focused on existential dread - I have a lot of intrusive thoughts about my loved ones dying and not existing and about my own death and not existing anymore. OCD is trying to get me to find certainty in what happens after we die… and unfortunately I will NEVER be able to find certainty around this. This spiral started after the death of my beloved cat and then the almost death of my dog a week later. I think OCD attached to this idea that everyone and everything I love is going to die and I need to prepare myself for it and somehow KNOW what happens when someone dies. It’s panic inducing and really hard for me to sit with vs other OCD themes Ive had related to health, moral/hyper responsibility, etc. Anyone have this type of obsession around death of loved ones and how did you combat the intrusive thoughts and deal with the mental compulsions (rumination, avoidance, etc)?
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 13w
I had to say goodbye to my beagle early this morning and I’m severely struggling to cope with this as he helped me through some of my worst ocd flare up’s and it feels like I’m grieving him and the support I had for times like these. I’m at a loss. Looking for advice/coping? It feels so dramatic to be this sad and I haven’t stopped crying all day. This pain is unreal😔
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