It’s like I drive a little ways on the main road and then something in my head says danger turn around and I do! I don’t k ow what’s dangerous though. I feel like I’ll never get past this and I’m so frustrated
Keep doing your ERP! You got this!
@Tea and Honey Thank you so much I really hope so!
Same here. Thats why i spent forever getting my drivers license, and now i have a love/hate relationship with driving. I feel intense anxiety all of a sudden when driving, afraid that i’ll loose control
@Ocdgirlll Same here! Afraid I’ll lose control!
@Stacey353 Now Im actually regretting getting my license, because now people can ask me to drive etc and i really dont like it.. most of the time
@Ocdgirlll Bless your heart I understand
@Stacey353 Hope it gets better for you! It really sucks.
@Ocdgirlll It really super sucks
I 100% struggle with this. Do you start to feel panicky for what seems like “no reason”?
@joshofsmith Yes!!! And I get so nervous and just turn around and go home. I can’t get past this and I have struggled for a year and a half.
@joshofsmith What do you do when you feel this way?
@Stacey353 I’m right there with you. There will be times where it gets better then it gets worse. It’s unfortunately not linear at all. At first, other therapists told me it was just “PTSD” or “PD” due to some past trauma. I’ve recently discovered through the help of NOCD that it’s actually a compulsion. That “need” to turn around and race back home is a compulsion to help our anxiety feel better
@Stacey353 Honestly there are different coping mechanisms, but my therapist is recommending that I try not to use them. It seems backward, but it’s kinda like “working out” the mind. I have to push myself as far as I can go and sit with the discomfort until it passes. (Because indeed, the extreme discomfort always passes)
@joshofsmith Yes and I always give into the compulsion and turn around. But I also have a fear that I’m gonna go crazy and just open the door and jump out it’s crazy especially when riding. Which I don’t do either. I get urges and hey are so strong. It has made me housebound for a year and a half.
@joshofsmith I just get so nervous I feel like I’m gonna be sick. I don’t know how to push my self any further :( it’s nice to know I’m not alone though
@Stacey353 You definitely are not alone. I know those urges come up for me too. It’s a hard thing to practice because you still have to make sure you are safe while driving, you know? One thing I know can help is maybe practicing with a trusted friend/family member? That way if you get to your breaking point, you can rely on them for the actual safety purposes. Maybe ask them to sit in the back seat/out of view so it feels like you are actually by yourself.
@Stacey353 Yes of course! Have you tried any medication for it? Medication for me has helped me atleast start making SOME progress. Not huge, but some
@joshofsmith Medication does not help at all for me unfortunately:(
@joshofsmith I agree and how do you sit with uncertainty that you might jump Out of the car or run off the road and hit someone
@Stacey353 I get that yeah. I’m so sorry to hear that you struggle so hard as I do. So for me, I don’t necessarily worry about that part of it. For me, I worry about different things. But with that, I would say that those thoughts do come from time to time in a fleeting manner. Whenever I am not in the moment, dealing with that discomfort, I would tell myself “that’s something I wouldn’t do, so OCD wants me to think I would.” You don’t necessarily want to use that in the moment as a coping tool though, as that can actually give those thoughts power. It can make it worse in the long run. But from an understanding & logic perspective, that’s how it’s always been explained to me. Hope that helps :-)
@joshofsmith Thank you so much I appreciate you so much!!!
Yes, ERP is extremely hard but if you can grasp your mind around the “good-feeling” you get once that storm is over, you kind of start to like it. Maybe that’s just me. Over the past week or so I’ve been enjoying those uncomfortable moments because I know that afterwards you get that “runner’s high” for lack of better terms haha. ERP rocks!!
@joshofsmith That is really true!!!
Haven’t drove by myself for a month now. Ive gone through this before.. any advice or tips that can help
Does anyone have hit and run ocd ? Or possibly causing an accident by crossing the middle line and a vechile going into a ditch ?
I'm really struggling to figure out where my OCD ends and where I begin. I’m scared of most things—not in a panicky way, but in a deep, cautious, worst-case-scenario kind of way. Example: I haaaaaaaaate my spectacles. I’d love to do Lasik, or even just wear contacts, but the idea terrifies me. I’ve heard about the tiniest risk of blindness or infection, and once that thought is in my head, it takes over. I picture the worst, and then I don’t act. TRIGGER Also Lasik involves cutting TRIGGER which petrifies me. I’m stuck between wanting change and being too afraid to make it. The same goes with wanting to travel but being scared I'll be trafficked or someone will plant something in my bag & I'll get arrested overseas. No amount of praying will fix it. Does anyone else feel like their OCD makes them freeze in everyday decisions? Like you can’t tell if you're just being practical or if it's the OCD gripping the steering wheel again? Maybe it's just me. Maybe it's not OCD but my personality, that's what I'm trying to figure out.
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