Any tips on how to deal with the rollercoaster of good and bad days with OCD? I had such a good day yesterday with tackling my compulsions and rumination. I tend to get up in the mornings and my OCD loves to start immediately. It becomes frustrating when you feel like you made progress, only to go right back to where you were. Any positive encouragement of how you’ve dealt with this would be appreciated!
I think most people deal with this. I would say it’s important to be kind to yourself and be proud on good days and pat yourself on the back on those bad days. Life has its own stressors and we can’t always be on top of everything, even after full treatment it wouldn’t be too uncommon to have a bit of a “relapse” every now and then. By giving yourself more love and understanding OCD may subside too, even if it’s a rougher day. Best to tell yourself it’s ok to feel the way you do; anxious, scared or even like you have failed (despite it not being true) so as to validate your own experience. There is no winning or losing with OCD, there’s living in harmony with it and teaching your inner child that not everything is so scary. That inner child needs a hug after all. Have a nice day/evening🍀
Hello, Thank you for sharing this because ERP is a journey and there will be ups and downs. One thing that I noticed that can be helpful is to identify one small step you can take to resist engaging in a compulsion each day. Progress is progress big or small. Also, give yourself recognition for the progress that you have already made. Keep it up!
What if you were to wake up every morning and say, "OK, OCD, what you got for me today?" I bet that doing that could lead your OCD to throw some amazing things at you and give you a chance to say, "OK, that was a good one, thanks!" And then move on. Or, must we believe the things that OCD tells us? If the answer to that is yes, society will end in a month, so it was nice to know you all. Otherwise, let's move on from OCD and go get some breakfast.....
I relate to this!! My OCD is usually worse in the mornings when I wake up. I like to give myself a couple of minutes to "wake up" before I actually get out of bed for the day, which helps me immensely most days. I just try to not punish myself if I have a bad day, because I know it's not going to be an easy, positive journey the whole time. Instead of punishing myself, I take a deep breath and just keep trying to resist compulsions as best as I can. I usually notice that if I beat myself up over having a bad day with OCD, it makes my symptoms worse because then I get really frustrated with myself. I just try to be kind to myself and remember I'm one of many, many people who are on a similar journey, which helps me know I'm not alone on this *sarcastic* very fun, absolutely wild rollercoaster, OCD recovery!!
Valentine’s Day is a day to celebrate love, however if you are living with Relationship OCD (ROCD) this can be a very triggering day. Relationship OCD is essentially, the fear of being in the wrong relationship, not truly loving your partner, or not being loved by your partner. This makes you doubt the true nature of your relationship and makes you believe that your entire relationship is based on lies. It can make you feel like a bad person and not worthy of love. ROCD will make you believe that you need to leave the relationship just to find some peace. When we think about ROCD we often think that this only applies to romantic relationships, however ROCD can impact friendships and family relationships as well. ROCD will attack whatever relationship is most important to you. As an ERP therapist some of the most common obsessions that I have seen include “Is my partner ‘The One’”? “Maybe I am meant to be with someone else”. “What if my partner cheats on me or worse I cheat on him/her”? “I find X attractive. Should I break up with my partner and be with X”? “Do I even love my partner? What if they don’t love me?” This list could go on and on. The basis of all of these intrusive thoughts is fear and doubt. The compulsions associated with ROCD are vast. The most common include checking feelings to make sure you really love your partner, avoidance behaviors, reassurance seeking behaviors both from your partner and from others and ruminating on the relationship in the hopes of figuring out if this is the “right” relationship for you. ROCD, as in most theses in OCD, wants 100% uncertainty that this relationship will work out with no conflict or compromise. The problem is this is unrealistic. All relationships will have some level of conflict and compromise in them. There is no “perfect relationship”. Most of us have grown up with fairy tales where one true love will come and sweep up off our feet. Life and relationships can be messy and complicated, but they are worth it and are a key aspect of what makes us human. The fact is ROCD makes you doubt everything and will take the joy, excitement and contentment out of the relationship. The good news is that treatment is available, and it is possible to have a long, happy, fulfilling relationship despite ROCD fears. It does take time, perseverance and patience. Treatment using Exposure Response Prevention has been proven to lessen intrusive thoughts. You will learn to manage your expectations of the relationships while leaning into your fears and learning to accept the uncomfortable feelings. By doing this, you can bring joy and contentment back into you life and your relationships. I'd love to hear about how ROCD is showing up for you. Share your experiences in the comments below or ask your questions about ROCD and I will respond to them.
Does anyone have any experience with this? I wake up early with severe, severe anxiety and nothing seems to help. I try embracing the anxiety, breathing, and exercising. But these things only seem to help a little. Fortunately, I do think the length of the attacks are getting shorter (mainly because I'm still trying my best to live normally in spite of them), but they are still lasting a good 5-6 hours. They are quite debilitating. Does anyone have any advice for dealing with these? I've read much about potential solutions (being okay with the anxiety), but I was looking for some personal antecdotes. Thank you
Each night I go to bed determined to stop compulsions and start beating this disorder. Then I wake up and it smacks me in the face first thing and I’m doing a compulsion before I know it. I told my therapist that I would try to handle it like we do in session, but I’ve already failed. It seems like I can’t bring ERP into my “real” life.
Share your thoughts so the Community can respond
