- Date posted
- 20w
Who do you talk to when having bad moment alone?
I tend to have an ocd meltdown in the middle of night and am alone and scared. Who do you guys turn to ?
I tend to have an ocd meltdown in the middle of night and am alone and scared. Who do you guys turn to ?
I hear you, OCD can feel so scary, and so loud, in these quieter moments. In these moments, when a person is very distressed, it can be difficult to resist doing compulsions. The problem is, the more we do compulsions, the longer the distress tends to last, and the more we feed into the OCD cycle. ERP treatment focuses on building up a tolerance to that distress, and emphasizes leaning into uncertainty related to fears. This might sound counterintuitive and quite challenging, which is why it's helpful to get guidance from an OCD specialist. If it helps, intrusive thoughts at night are so common, we have multiple resources that address this very issue. I'll link them below, I hope you find them helpful! https://www.treatmyocd.com/blog/intrusive-thoughts-at-night https://www.treatmyocd.com/what-is-ocd/info/related-symptoms-conditions/intrusive-thoughts-at-night/a
I used to turn to my mom or my partner, but there's a great power in dealing with it on our own. I know that's harder and scarier, but when we seek out others it can turn into reassurance seeking -- not always of course, and it's okay to seek help especially if you're in serious trouble and need help -- but if you can practice ERP in those high-stress instances, and move through the OCD using your tools, you'll feel SO good after. I'd highly, highly recommend seeking out an OCD therapist to assist you also. NOCD has great ones but there are so many people you could see out there!
When in the middle of night i try reaching out to my sister, because that's the only person i don't feel guilty to disturb. On other days when i can't even reach out to her then i just tell myself that i'm there for myself. The happy cheerful side of me will calm down the sad side of me. And then i try to distract myself wth some good show or movie which is feel good movie or gives me nostalgia.
Sometimes I will text someone. Or journal. Or read OCD groups online. I try to be careful with that though because sometimes that can be reassurance seeking for me an unhelpful for OCD. So really, it's turning to my ERP skills that helps the most. Do you have an ERP therapist?
I have but more than ERP, he listens to me that helps me more so that helps me. As i used to feel nobody understands my pain. ERP is tough for me but i just do one small exposure not a bigger one, then continue doing it whole whenever i get time. Then on other day, i go for other exposure.
@Kinu - We are so much more than our OCD. It's important to have a therapist to offer understanding and empathy for our pain and emotions! I'm glad you have someone who can offer that and ERP at the same time. Doing gradual exposures is generally the best practice too. That's great that you are going at a comfortable pace.
Honestly sometimes if i’m at my lowest I will talk to chatGPT or use the Choiceful app
Hello, It sounds like OCD is striking at the worst possible time, which it usually does. While support from friends or family may be helpful you might want to notice if you are attempting to get reassurance from them. Reassurance seeking can become compulsive and could lead to feeling worse distress in the long run.
I’ve been in an OCD loop for a month now and Im struggling so much alone, no one in my family get what Im going through and are just ignoring me, and I got no friends to tell Im stuck in this cycle and it feels like Im lonely in a dark place, Im writing this right now cuz u guys know the struggle, if it’s okay can u please leave a comment so I don’t feel alone in this, can u please share tips and advice so I can go through this, I feel like Im losing it
My OCD has become so bad and I feel so alone. I have religious OCD (Christianity) and I’ve been doing okay with letting the blasphemous thoughts go in the moment, but I’m so overcome with guilt and shame I can barely function. I can feel okay and hopeful for a few minutes and then I’m reminded of the horrible thoughts and how nothing can take them back and I can’t handle the guilt. I’m becoming a burden to my family and feel so alone. I do not know what to do. Please help.
Please help. I have felt so off/wrong all day. I constantly worry that the “bad guy” is going to get me. I have awful thoughts and I constantly want God to know that I don’t mean these thoughts. I am at a point in my therapy where I need to choose to use my ERP but it feels too scary. I then do compulsions, which makes the OCD worse, which makes me want to use ERP less. And the cycle goes on. I am currently sitting in my car crying because I feel so lost and exhausted. I’m not supposed to figure out my thoughts, but today I just went into a spiral of sadness and depression, thinking that I will always feel like this. When my thoughts got really bad at the end of the day, I tried to use ERP even though I was shaking and not believing my responses and I ended up feeling like I missed something and that I gave into the “bad guy.” I have no one to talk when I’m not doing therapy twice a week. I am alone and have no one to talk to when I am like this… please help
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