OCD breathing

Have been struggling with somatic breathing ocd. I start feeling like I can’t breathe and start feeling faint. I have a performance this weekend and my biggest fear is that I won’t be able to sing. I worry that I’m not gonna be able to perform cause it also causes a wave of fear and I’m scared I’m gonna feel too faint where I’m gonna have to go run off stage. I start hyperventilating and I don’t know how to stop it. My mind just makes me aware and then I eventually start hyperventilating. Any tips? I’ve tried just acknowledging it but it hasn’t helped the hyperventilating much. Any tips please? I have to go on stage for tech in 50 mins

Ocd my ass

Date posted: 20w

Treat physical symptoms like thoughts

Chibee

Date posted: 20w

Couldn’t even read ur full post bc I relate so badly to I needed to prevent it from triggering me 😣 But I wanted to give advice. What’s helped me is playing a mindless mini game (2048 game is free online and is what I’ve been playing but it’s kinda boring so maybe find a fun but mindless app u enjoy) until I stop focusing on my body, or even doing breathing exercises (search online for tutorial!) where you breathe through ur stomach and not ur chest. Breathing through the diaphragm forces ur body to exit anxiety mode, and if you are focusing on ur breathing might as well help reorient your body in the process to help with your hyperventilating /panic symptoms. Breathing this way as someone with panic attacks will also be reassuring (and I mean this is in a panic attack reassuring way bc panic causes a sense of doom ) in a way, bc you know it’s good for your body and will not cause you harm. It will feel uncomfortable to breathe through the diaphragm but I’m assuming you’re a singer and so you will know exactly what I’m talking about!! Anyway, this combined with something distracting has helped me. Break a leg!!

Chibee

Date posted: 20w

@Chibee As far as long term solutions, I’m still figuring that out for myself but exposure and allowing yourself to confront the situation with confidence and without fear of what might happen (bc panic attacks amplify our sense of impending doom) because you KNOW it has happened thousands of times before and you’ve always been okay, these are what will lead to long term solutions. Panic attacks were frequent for me a few months back bc I always feared death when I had shallow breathing. After months of dealing with this, my body is starting to understand it’s temporary and a PERCEPTION , not a reality. It took a long time but self-induced exposure caused by my somatic OCD plus an improved mindset has really helped me. It’s not perfect, just about everyday I run into a problem, but it’s getting better! ❤️‍🩹

Chibee

Date posted: 20w

@Chibee I think it’s difficult dealing w panic attacks and somatic ocd bc the solutions are similar (exposure), but one side appreciates reassurance while the other reassurance is unhelpful. If someone tells me i’ll be fine during a panic attack it actually helps me, and repeated events like that have actually yielded positive results. But i suppose it doesn’t treat the somatic side, where we must learn to sit w our initial symptoms and not engage. I’m trying to work through the latter side now. :)

Anonymous

Date posted: 25w

Somatic OCD

I’ve been dealing with my OCD that’s been non stop for a year. From the moment I wake up to going to sleep I have this urge to push air out of my nose nonstop. Sometimes it’s accompanied with weird breathing/deep breathes. It happens like every minute. It’s embarrassing when people notice. I feel like it’ll never go away

Anonymous

Date posted: 19w

Tips for somatic Breathing OCD

Does anyone know how to get rid of these thoughts? I have to manually breathe almost every second of everyday and it's getting tiresome and I can't stop thinking about no matter what the distractions are.

May :)

Date posted: 14w

Hyperawareness of My Body

Hey there everyone, first I would like to say I am very grateful for every single one of you on this platform and it feels so much better knowing that I can be heard. I’ve been hyperaware of my swallowing for 1-2 month. I feel like I have so much saliva in my mouth and I have to swallow and swallow. I feel the urge to swallow even I don’t NOTHING in my mouth, so I just swallow air. This has been really overwhelming and I feel like I can be so easily latched to other body part of my part. For example, I was conscious about my blinking and breathing for a few days, and now I get so anxious when I heard a weird sound my ears make after each sentence I speak. Is this somatic ocd or health concern ocd? I am so helpless and having a hard time to shift my attention. Does anyone have any suggestions or just words of encouragement would really help me at this moment. I REALLY appreciate your help. 💗🙏 Thank you !

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OCD breathing

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