The 5 best lifestyle changes for people with OCD

Have you ever noticed how certain habits can seem to make OCD feel worse? Maybe scrolling social media late at night leaves you feeling anxious, or missing a meal makes intrusive thoughts feel harder to handle. The truth is, our habits can play a major role in shaping our mental health. While lifestyle changes won’t treat OCD on their own, certain small, intentional adjustments can help reduce stress, improve overall well-being, and create an environment that reinforces the benefits of exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy. To help you feel more balanced and better equipped to navigate life with OCD, we’re breaking down 5 key lifestyle habits that can positively impact your mental health and make therapy as effective as possible. Read more about 5 lifestyle habits that can work together with specialized therapy to help you feel your best.

Anonymous

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 22w

The one about limiting doomscrolling and social media overexposure is SO important. Anyone can have any opinion online, no matter how misinformed or scientifically inaccurate or biased, and when our OCD is flaring up we're not necessarily in a good headspace to think critically and filter out the nonsense. Just seeing certain words related to our theme can set us off disproportionately. For me personally, I don't need to pointlessly scroll until I bump into some article with a weird clickbaity keyword that triggers my theme (even if the actual article is generally completely benign!). It's better for me to just check social media for short periods and for actually checking up on how my mates and contacts are doing, not as a source of mindless entertainment or to search for reassurance.

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