I’m coming to the point where I feel like is there reason to carry on and will it get better? I feel like I don’t even know know if these thoughts are true or not I feel so unsure of myself and get so worried that I am a bad person, I just can’t like myself and I feel like no matter what I do I can’t get past this, anybody got any tips on getting me through? Thanks x

Hi, hope you're doing okay. It definitely will get better! OCD tricks us all into hating ourselves, but something that really helped me was thinking of it like this. If a friend came to you feeling the same way, would you sit them down and talk things through with them? Would you love after them and be compassionate? Would you be there to help them through? Or would you shout at them? Tell them they deserved it? I'm guessing it would be the first reaction. Try to treat yourself the way you would treat a good friend who is feeling like you are. It's hard, but once you realise how nasty you are to yourself it really makes you think. Another thing that really helped me at my worst was listening to the OCD Stories podcast (you can listen on YouTube/Apple Podcasts). It's just helpful to listen to people talking about what your going through and professionals saying this is normal and you are okay. Give it a go! An interesting concept that stuck with me from the podcast was a sufferer that said 'i think of it like this, I have a kidney but I am not a kidney. Therefore I have a thought but I am not my thoughts'. It is true! We are not what we think. Thoughts are just reactions to our daily life, not every thought we have is something we agree with. Another helpful exercise is to ask someone you trust, a family member or friend to discuss their thoughts with you. When I was very ill my partner would tell me about they're inappropriate or intrusive thoughts. He had a thought about his family being hurt and played a whole scenario in his head about how he would find the ones that hurt his family and kill them and then he'd be a hero. After that he said he felt weird about it but he knew thinking it did NOT mean he wanted that to happen, and would NOT happen because he had thought it. As an OCD sufferer if had that thought I would think wow I'm evil I want my family to be hurt so I can look good be avenging them/ I want an excuse to hurt people. But it doesn't mean that at all. People have loads of strange thoughts everyday. People play out scenarios in their head they have no desire for in real life. We have over 10,000 thoughts a day, they can't all be a representation of who we are as a person, most of them are just word vomit. It will get better I promise xxx

It will definitely get better! Are you currently seeing a therapist?. I understand the pain you’re feeling, trust me. But there are brighter days ahead:)

In on those theys were I see all so bad and all I do is bad, but trust me, just think that to be better, you only need to be down, sooooo you will be better. Im doing sport and it helps me a lot to at least separate my thoughts of my mind, if you dont like sport you can always do something that you like!

Word vomit and don't mean anything. It will get better I promise xx

Thank you so much for being so kind and understanding everybody is so nice on this app! They do say people with ocd are some of the nicest people haha! Thankyou for that, what you say is very true and I’m going to try out the things you’ve said and see if they help! I do need to be kinder to myself and stop being so hard because it’s not helping, I am going to try and treat myself like I would a friend from now and see if that improves because you are right! Glad to know that you are in such a positive place, it gives me hope xx

I am on those days*

I’m on the waiting list to see a therapist and it’s been 5 months already :( thanks a lot for your supportive words it means a lot knowing I’m not alone in this, I need to try and find a hobby I think! Especially as I’m on my own a lot of the week due to work, my mind is always free to think!