I believe this to be true. I could check my door a hundred times a day, it didn't help. I would want to check even more because I never trusted my checks....i didn't realise my repeated checking was playing into this. I thought it was helping funnily enough it was doing the opposite and making me doubt even more.
Some interesting stuff came up in this conversation . I believe I also have adhd , I just have not been diagnosed . I know how it feels when you are not sure if you did something or not . Then you start thinking is this my ocd or adhdđ¤Śđ˝ââď¸. Iâm not sure some days if I took my medication and then I just say oh well maybe I didnât take it , Iâll just try to be sure I took it tomorrow. Also ,you both were saying treating the OCD has made us more confident to make decisions when we are not sure of the outcome . The same way I challenge a compulsion is the same way I can challenge day to day unknowns in life
Love this!
For me, it was not checking, but asking for reassurance/ruminating. It seems counterintuitive, but itâs true: more repetition = more doubt. Realizing that helped me change my behavior. I have a little bit of a checking issue with locked doors, but I think thatâs more related to my ADHD. I donât remember if I locked it because I wasnât really paying attention. Iâve tried to be more mindful so I donât have to check. âYou are locking the door nowâyou donât need to make sure later.â Would that work with a major OCD checking compulsion? I donât knowâagain, itâs a fairly minor thing for me. Also, I guess youâre supposed to live with the doubt? Iâm trying to understand this subtype, because it seems like you can know whether a door is locked or not, but I canât know if my partner is going to abandon me. Iâm interested in understanding more about this if anyone wants to give me insight. Keep breaking out of your OCD cycles, whatever your subtype is. Wishing you all a good day.
My psychologist said I'm allowed to check the doors once a day, and once at night. And i think this particular checking ocd is same as checking the switches are off. I'm allowed to check once per day. It's kind of like you have to check, just for basic safety reasons. For example, I've been getting really good with these particular checking OCD, and I have actually felt certain the doors are locked. The uncertainty has gone, since practicing ERP. But randomly I had forgotten to check one of the doors and was already in bed when I remembered. I had the urge to get up and check, because I'm allowed one check, so I should get up and use the check....had the thoughts the door is open, not locked....but I was able to remember the door is actually locked. I didn't give into the urge to get up and check and I was able to fall asleep. So I think around actual safety things like locked doors and switches being off it might be nuanced in comparison to complete unknowns like other people đ¤ I'm unsure but it's interesting to think about. Like as in, maybe physically checking things, or things that can be physically checked, differ somewhat from things that can't be checked in that way? And with the door and switches, these are things that must be checked anyway...atleast once
@LilacEyes Thanks for sharing! I appreciate it. It *is* interesting to think about. And Iâm so glad for all the progress youâve made.
@JediMJ Thank you đ yeah, I suppose in essence, the less I've checked the doors and the switches, I've literally had less doubts that they are open or on.....less intrusive thoughts or urges. It's pretty cool when I think about it.
@LilacEyes It was shocking and cool to find out that receiving reassurance made me *less* sure. When I stopped asking, I gained more confidence. I think for me, it was learning to look inward and trust that I could handle whatever happened. I wasnât relying on my partnerâs answers to shape my reality.
@JediMJ Can I ask you what subtype of ocd you have? I don't want to assume and just make something up in my head lol I'm just newly diagnosed and I'm interested to learn about it if you don't mind sharing.
@LilacEyes ROCD (R=relationship), Existential, and Perfectionism are my main themes. đ
Absolutely đŻ
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