- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 36w
What is the #1 thing that helps you fight OCD?
Looking for inspiration
Looking for inspiration
I keep going about my day as if I have no ocd. What would I do with my time if I wasn’t obsessing? That helps send signals to your brain and body that there’s nothing to fight. I think OCD makes you want to “do” something about it. I see recovery as the absence of doing. It’s BEING. don’t try to act or think your way out of it. Just focus on the present moment and try to be fully present in the thing you were already doing before OCD crept in. I also have found stepping back and observing my ocd like I’m a scientist helps take me out of it. “Hmmm, I noticed that was an uncomfortable thought. My chest feels tight and my mouth is dry. That sucks, but I’ve been through it before”. Acceptance is key.
look back on times when u think something awful was gonna happen and it never did. Think of what bad is happening now, and apply the same thing. "Why was I ever so worried?!"
I imagine me in the future laughing at these thoughts and how unreal they are But what works for me might not work for others!!
Choosing to get my life back
Remembering how my life is without OCD . Remembering that this doesn’t last forever. It always goes away. I just need to give it time for the intrusive thoughts to fade far far away so I can feel like myself again
@Anonymous This has been what has kept me in the fight and even joining NOCD, but almost 3 months of this 24/7, I’m starting to doubt recovery for me
ALSO, guided meditation helps sooo much. Theres many on youtube specific to so many situations. Helps you stay in present moment and not your head. Also working out, whether a walk, physical activity helps so much.
This is something new I’ve been trying which I have found works quite effective for me lately - when my OCD is triggered by something (in my case contamination OCD) instead of immediately acting on the urge to react to the response (in my case wash my hands/get clean) I instead sit with the feeling for a while and acknowledge the discomfort. Instead of immediately reacting I give myself time to acknowledge what happened and ask myself if my reaction is justified and required or not. I then see how long I can go and find after a while the initial panic I felt from the trigger is much smaller and I can continue going about my day. I have only tried this with smaller triggers for me so far but have found it to be quite effective in fighting my OCD :)
Sometimes i think, “I dare you [myself] not to do it [the compulsion].” This can help with ERP, although i would say the number one thing that helps is knowing that my Creator doesn’t want me to live controlled by OCD, and seeing the negative effects it has had helps motivate me to keep going.
When I am ruminating about something, I say to myself, "maybe, maybe not."
As a 20+ year OCD vet and OCD conqueror. I wanted to share some tips and tricks that help me. 1. A thought is not the same as a belief. You can think something, and not believe it in the slightest. 2. Thoughts DO NOT represent ANYTHING. They are not indicators to who we are as people, they are pop up ads for the brains computer. 3. We DO NOT control our thoughts! The average person has about 60,000 ( yes, 4 zeros) a day! NONE of which are controlled. 4. We DO have control over which of those 60k thoughts are important. i.e. thought A. I could murder my entire household- survey says? not important ( because yea, sure, you could, but you probably don't really want to) thought B. i need to do my laundy-survey says? important... unfortunately, i hate laundry. which brings me to number 5. 5. Emotional reasoning ( where you let your feelings impact your decisions) is a COGNITIVE DISTORTION. It is a flawed thought process and should NEVER be used. "wanting to do something" does not mean you SHOULD do it, same and sometimes NOT wanting to do something doesn't mean you shouldn't do it ( picked what is important) my brain might tell me i WANT to break up with my husband, ( unimportant) and it might also say i don't want to get up and go to work in the morning ( important). 6. YOU-ARE-IN-CONTROL. Not to be confused with HAVING control. We don't control our thoughts, we control which ones are important, we don't control our feelings or emotions, but we control how to react (or not react) to them. We don't control our OCD, but we can control how it affects our lives, and that can mean that is has all the power, or none. 7. If the action you want to do ( confess, get reassurance, check, analyze, avoid, re-do) are to gain relief from anxiety, IT IS A COMPULSION. DO NOT DO IT. Sit with the anxiety and train your brain to realize its not dangerous or important with ERP ( this takes time, but practice makes perfect) 8. Know your enemy. NOCD has a HUGE amount of articles and information on ALL subtypes of OCD and how to respond and how to treat them. OCD is MUCH easier to combat when you understand how it works. 9. BE PATIENT. BE KIND to yourself. Prioritize healthy habits, a healthy body is better equipped to handle OCD. Good sleep, whole foods, sunlight, social interaction, exercise ( walking especially). When the mind feels weak, make the body strong. 10. You are not alone. OCD is classified by the World Health Organization as one of the top 10 most distressing disorders. Reach out to people, seek medical help. Medication is not evil, it can be life-saving, TALK to people. Bonus Tips * if the question is " What If" its OCD. * Total certainty does not exist, be content with 99%* *"But this feels different, this feels like its not OCD, that its real*- emotional reasoning... its OCD. Hang in there. You got this. Im here for any advice, questions, or support. Today is a great day to have a GREAT DAY.
I’ve seen wayyyy too many negative posts on here (I totally get it)…but can someone please share some positive experiences? Doesn’t have to be so grand, it could be just that you achieved a small goal with your ocd! I don’t want to continue feeling drowned by this debilitating disorder. I want to see what has helped some of you! So we can all encourage each other! 😊
Earlier today I did some pretty high-level contamination exposure, inspired by my therapist, and now I'm listening to a triggering song on repeat — the very song that kicked off my first serious bout of OCD in high school. There is a part of my brain that is telling me I can't handle the song and that I should find a compulsion to do, but my goal is to have it in the background while I go about my self-care tasks. I'm already starting to get used to it 💪 How are y'all challenging your OCD today?
Share your thoughts so the Community can respond