Does anyone Else’s ocd flare up bad when in stressful life situations? I was doing amazing and now that I’m having some drama with my life it seems to have come back with a vengeance. Anyone else?
Yup! Or big life changes, even positive ones, also cause an increase!
@laurenalyssa13 I’ve noticed even when big positive things happen it flares too! It sucks lol!
Yes, but don’t forget that you’re not the same person you were when you first started dealing with OCD, and fighting it will be different this time. I’m sure it’s trying to take control *because* you’ve been doing such an amazing job, which shows you’ve got the tools to beat this. I believe in you and your strength!
@flyana Thank you so much! 💗
Hello LNB90210, As others and yourself have shared stress comes with both positive changes and negative changes in our lives. These periods of transitions inherently challenge us, due to the change taking place. Weather due to a break up or even planning a wedding, there is stress due to the change taking place. To your point, stress does impact symptoms, just like it impacts our mood. This is why I always recommend taking time out of your day for some self-care. This can be spent doing anything you find relaxing or enjoyable. So that you can return to the changes taking place in your life, with a full battery. I hope this helps. If you are struggling with your OCD and would like assistance in making space in your life, don't hesitate to reach out. Know that at NOCD we are always here to help!
Sounds about right.
No yea it happens guys ! I graduated college and I even left home for an internship the summer after graduating and came back and was doing fine . Normal. Nothing . But then like 2 months later thoughts just came flooding in . The job I was in was pretty boring and the fact that I had completed college and the fact that it was dark and gloomy outside since it was Winter contributed to my thoughts and I wasn’t eating well either. I had lost track of my fitness a bit . I felt stuck in life not gonna lie , like it’s all up to me now to figure it out since I graduted college and ouufff it’s gotten better thank god , my OCD was like at a 9/10 . Now it’s gone down to like a 5/10 over the course of a couple of months . And this has been due to starting a new job at a new company and literally just waiting it out . Just patiently waiting. And honestly changing up my routine again . Getting the new job made me feel alive again , like I actually have an important job where I’m needed, before I was sitting behind a computer all day working as an assistant and it made me feel terrible cuz it was so boring. Not saying working as an assistant is a bad job , but to me made it wasn’t it, especially because it was only part time and it could be better . But anyways I been though this before when I graduated High school. And I already know I have an anxious mind so I know it’s all a false alarm 🚨.
@Anonymous The main thing helping me right now is reminding myself that I’m stressed and this will pass. It seems to always get really bad when I’m having something stressful going on, so I just have to talk to myself a lot and remind myself it’s going to be ok!
@LnB90210 It’s all anxious thinking 💭 remember that . OCD is all just a spiral of thoughts that feel very stuck . I get it . A couple months ago I thought I wasn’t gonna be able to get to the point I’m at now . I was crying every single day . If it makes you feel any better my boyfriend of 4 1/2 years is a police officer and I told him to arrest me because I feel like I’m going crazy and he always told me NO. I’m a huge overthinker and it’s ridiculous what I’m asking him to do. My OCD has gone down just with time and changing up my routine a bit and I know if I don’t pay attention to it , it will fade away again . You will be okay
@LnB90210 What exactly is stressing you out right now?
@Anonymous I’m going through some legal stuff right now. Nothing I did wrong, I’m pressing charges on someone for harassment, and that’s got me super stressed out.
This is so common. Happens to me, too. OCD is triggered by a lot of things, chief among them stress. Recognizing that is a huge win, though. The more conscious we are of the machinations of OCD, the better we are at catching its tricks!
Yes! OCD knows exactly when to show up. I tell my to go kick a bucket... it helps :)
Yes, but for some reason it got way way worse quickly. It was fine and then i had a few stressful situations(ive had chronic stress forever so idk why now) and it went into overload.
Does anyone else's OCD get worse when you haven't slept well? I haven't been sleeping well since this weekend and my OCD and anxiety is just making me feel super down. Does anyone else have this problem?
Does anyone else ever feel like they don’t feel “bad enough” to have OCD, or that they don’t feel “the right way” for it? Or like they’re just saying they have OCD as an excuse? Because i was so much better for like 3 weeks now and now im on my period and i started doubting again. So because of that im scared that i was feeling to good and that my fear is actually true.
My mom will sit and listen to me for quite a while, but she interrupts a lot and gets angry/upset. While I appreciate her passion, it's often stressful. Every time I come to her, if I even *mention* OCD, she gets frustrated and says, "Everyone deals with these issues, you know. It doesn't mean it's OCD." And I repeat, "I'm not saying my issues are unique — I'm saying the way I respond to them is a problem." But she just shakes her head and says, "Okay, I need to get back to my day." Full context, I'm an adult, and I live with my boyfriend, but I'm staying at my mom's for the next month. After living away from home for years, I went back to living with her during the pandemic, and I only recently left to live with him. Honestly, I think living with her for so long in my adulthood really messed with me and made me feel like a teenager all over again. I feel like my mental growth is stunted, and that's part of why my OCD is so bad lately. Not blaming, just noticing. She doesn't seem to understand how relieving the OCD diagnosis has been for me, because it explains so so so many things I've struggled with for years, and it's exciting to have more resources that can help me. But I think she sees it as me finding an excuse to *not* work on myself, which is just untrue. I'm not going to let OCD hold me back or use it as an excuse, but I'm also not going to pretend it's not a problem when I know it is — I was even diagnosed through NOCD. The whole point being to fix it, not use it as a crutch. When I have an issue, it's unbearable. Any issue, big or small, feels just the same. I feel a sinking feeling, my mind races, my heart beats out of my chest. I end up running to my support systems, crying, ruminating for days on end. Then, months later, the same exact issue can feel like nothing anymore, because it's no longer an obsession. I'm sure everyone deals with issues in a similar way, but I *know* there is something specific and debilitating going on with me. This is reassurance seeking, but in the face of being told I'm making a big deal out of nothing, can someone diagnosed with OCD tell me if they relate to the specific intensity of these feelings??
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