[Deleted]
- Date posted
- 44w
Fr0ggy Fr0ggy
- Date posted
- 44w
Hi there, I still struggle with ROCD but I have learned to some extent on how to calm the thoughts and I will say it is not easy. ROCD is awful because every thought you get makes it seem real as it can affect your mood and emotions as well. I also get thoughts sometimes on thinking my boyfriend is ugly or is getting fat and I obviously don’t like thinking about it in that moment so sometimes I try to shift my focus onto the present by focusing on what I’m doing in the moment. What also helps is naming 5 things you can see, 4 thinks you can touch, 3 things you can smell. Just helps calm your body a bit and bring you back to reality. Now things that you can tell yourself is things like “maybe I do think that or maybe I don’t either way it’ll be okay” and you have to sit with the anxiety. The more you fight it the stronger it’ll get. What helped me is like treating every thought as if it were a cloud just flying past and me not really caring at all on what it says it wants me to do. I hope this helps and wish you all the best of luck!
Mk3Mk3
- Date posted
- 44w
@Fr0ggy Thank you so much. Yes it’s very hard because I think it’s what I genuinely think at times. The guilt is terrible. I try to remember that someday I won’t feel so terrible about this anymore this is not me it’s my ocd
Love1another<3Love1another<3
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 44w
If it helps, there are people who have suffered from Ocd even up until their 70's when they sought help and they still recovered :) Your themes will definitely decrease in intensity too by following ERP therapy, no matter how long you've struggled with them. It's NEVER too late! <3 It is 100% normal for Ocd to make your thought feel like its very true. That happened to me all the time, for several themes. Also even if a thought is true (not saying it is), I find that the level of distress Ocd gives us about it is irrational. The distress is wayyy higher than it should be. That can be worked on so you begin to feel more normal again
Mk3Mk3
- Date posted
- 44w
@OneDayAtATimee Yes! Thank you. Regardless of whether it’s true or not- ocd is playing a big role. Thank you so much. It’s crazy how immediate the ocd can make your thought feel so true. Like it just feels genuinely true! But who knows!
Mk3Mk3
- Date posted
- 43w
@OneDayAtATimee Could the level of distress be way higher with any thought? Even a really mean one?
Love1another<3Love1another<3
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 43w
@Mk3 Oh 100% Ocd often gives us a lot of distress when thoughts pop up- no matter the content. If that’s what you meant :)
Mk3Mk3
- Date posted
- 43w
@OneDayAtATimee Yes. Like even if it’s a real thought, the distress over it is irrational. Even if it’s a really mean thought. Cause of course I thought of another mean thought about my partners appearance that I’ve had
Love1another<3Love1another<3
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 43w
@Mk3 Oh yea that’s totally expected! 🙏 The cycle of OCD is that it gives us intrusive thoughts, images, urges, etc., which then gives us distress, which then causes us to do compulsions. That cycle continues until we cut off the compulsion portion
Mk3Mk3
- Date posted
- 43w
@OneDayAtATimee Yes. But like even if the thought is just real and not given by ocd, ocd can still cause the irrational distress over it? Even though it’s a mean thought
Love1another<3Love1another<3
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 43w
@Mk3 Totally! Ocd can and will latch onto any and everything in your life. I’ve had different real life events with friends and exes and my Ocd caused me an extreme amount of distress over those real events. It ties into “real event Ocd” and “relationship Ocd”
Mk3Mk3
- Date posted
- 43w
@OneDayAtATimee Yes it’s like not even an event, it’s just a mean thought!
Love1another<3Love1another<3
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 43w
@Mk3 Yup same thing applies :) OCD latches onto everything
Mk3Mk3
- Date posted
- 43w
@OneDayAtATimee Thank you thank you. It sucks because if it’s not one thing it’s the other. I always question how I would know whether people without OCD would feel distress over the same thought or not. But I guess it doesn’t matter because I know ocd is involved in why I am distressed over them.
Love1another<3Love1another<3
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 43w
@Mk3 Yeah you’re so right I’m sure we’ve all had that moment of wishing we didn’t have OCD and wishing we could feel regular levels of anxiety over things 😅 The good news is that with our disorder, we do have the tools to feel more “normal” levels of anxiety again. We can re-wire our brains over time with neural plasticity through the process of ERP 👍 That gets our lives back :)
Love1another<3Love1another<3
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 43w
@Mk3 You will get through this ❤️🩹 Trust!
Mk3Mk3
- Date posted
- 43w
@OneDayAtATimee Thank you so much
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