- Date posted
- 39w
Reading things over and over
Does anyone else read books, texts, emails or any form of text over and over or start again because a word wasn’t “right” if you don’t something bad will happen?
Does anyone else read books, texts, emails or any form of text over and over or start again because a word wasn’t “right” if you don’t something bad will happen?
Hello, Thank you for sharing this symptom of OCD. I know it is aggravating and I am sorry that you are going through this. An effective way to combat this is through Exposure Response Prevention (ERP). This technique will involve starting with reading things that are low stakes, such as a short article from Sports Illustrated, and eventually getting to more challenging things such as an important work related email. You will begin by choosing to read something that you view as unimportant, and then read it ONCE without going back to reread anything from the article. You will initially feel anxiety and a strong urge to reread it as you are concerned that you misread or misunderstood something. You will sit with this anxiety, embrace it, and then eventually it will decrease and your urge to reread will lessen. After practicing this with items you view as unimportant, you will get better at reading these pieces without having an urge to read them a second time. Then you will progress to reading things that you view as more important, such as an email or text from a friend/family member. You will practice reading these only once and embracing the intrusive thoughts that will come, such as, maybe you skipped a critical part of the message and thus you will be unable to help your friend/family member. As with the first step, the anxiety will exist, but eventually, will decrease if you do not give in to the compulsion to reread it. By practicing this many times you will improve and be able to read these pieces much more quickly and with less anxiety. Lastly, you will advance to doing this same exposure and response prevention with things that you view as truly important, such as messages about upcoming medical procedures or important work projects. You will then practice reading these things once and fight off the subsequent anxiety brought on by the urge to reread them. Once you master this you will be able to read in a more relaxed manner which will allow you to open a book, newspaper, email, or text with a sense of joy instead of dread.
Yes! I do this from overthinking, not necessarily that something bad will happen but that I’ll be judged or look stupid
@Anonymous Even my responses on here🫠
yeah i do this too. i think this can be a symptom of perfectionism ocd from what i remember
@get.away Heyy
@zubairAHMED5 heyyy 😭
@get.away Whats ur insta can we connect? We can talk about things you seem intresting
@zubairAHMED5 what’s your insta?
@get.away ??
@zubairAHMED5 i asked you what your insta is. i don’t know you, so i don’t wanna give mine to you
@get.away Mine is zedayyy
@get.away I wanna help you with your situation too and maybe we can help eachother
@zubairAHMED5 alright i sent you a request
I think so too
Yes!
I’ve been my job for almost 2 years now and I can not shake the constant worry that I am going to do something to mess it up. I’m constantly checking things over and over to make sure they’re correct to the point where I almost don’t believe my own eyes anymore. Everyday I go home with something to be anxious about. Today me and a coworker got in a bit of a tiff and I can’t stop thinking about it (even though I was totally right to be upset 🤣) everyday I play out fake scenarios that may happen because of what I said or did. Occasionally I will worry if I had written something inappropriate on the work I turn in. There’s no amount of reassurance that can make me stop worrying and I’m not sure what to do anymore. I’m new here and would love some suggestions!
does anyone else just count for no reason? like their steps or how many times they move. just a few minutes ago i was scratching an itch on my leg and and caught myself counting how many times i scratched😂😂 and recently i’ve just been counting to ten randomly just in my head it’s so random or if i catch myself tapping on something i tap ten times. i got rid of it kind of like i used to do things 37 times or 3 times or 7 times 😂 3 and 7 or just the number 37 was the number for about like 10 months it was BAD. and i also have to turn on a light switch the right way but i don’t know what the right way is tho and it never feels right so i have to literally stop myself and walk away but i usually end up coming back cs ill think about like an hour from then and how ill have this weight on me because i didn’t turn the light switch the right way or the right amount of times but then i literally usually always forget about it so like idk am i weird orrrr does anyone else do thissss 😬😬😬😬
I’ve had the feeling I had ocd ever since I found out about it at the age of eleven, I don’t want to self diagnose thought but I want to find out and I would ask a professional but I am a minor and live with my parents, my family is not from America and any disorder even stuff like depression or anxiety means crazy to them so I’m scared to talk abt it to anybody. Ever since I was like 7 I noticed that if something happens or I feel something in one part of my body I immediately have to do it to the other cause it just won’t feel right, as a kid I even explained it to my parents in the car once and asked if they feel like that sometimes too. I used the example of me accidentally touching water on one foot and then having to do it to the other or else it just isn’t fair to the other foot and I’m like evil. It’s also like that for me if I like hit my arm then I have to do it to the other too. I have many other symptoms of OCD but idk if I actually have it. For example every-time somebody leaves me on read or something I feel like they hate me and don’t wanna be friends with me anymore. Idk it just feels so weird sometimes. Also sometimes when I’m writing something maybe for school or anywhere I always have to reconsider every single sentence because what if somebody takes it the wrong way or it makes somebody mad. And sometimes I feel like the rudest and meanest person in the world. I actually don’t know if that’s an ocd thing idk at this point. edit: after thinking some other things that could be a sign of ocd might be when I was about ten or nine, for about a year I had the biggest fear of losing my mom, it came out of nowhere and I would cry begging not to go to school because my mom won’t be there bc what if she dies. I cried at tennis practice once even tho I toke it with my mom because she went to the bathroom. I was genuinely so scared idk what made it go away tho. Like whenever I had a thought of her it would immediately make me think she’s dying and I would just sob. tysm for reading!! 💕💕
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