Another way to describe it is a loss of ability to let uncomfortable thoughts flow through our minds. It's like a fire alarm going off in our heads and an urgency to work out what these thoughts mean and what we can do about them and it's the exact reason why going to talk therapy is the worst thing that someone with OCD can do.
Personally for me I benefit from regular OCD therapist for ERP and also benefit from regular talk therapy. I try to maintain 2 therapists to cover about 90% of my issues overall. I compare my OCD thoughts to that of an old school manual transmission car , when shifting gearshift it will work but sometimes, “ it sticks “ even though it works.
I feel doing regular stuff to a above average standard is important . Figure this way there are dozens of mental and physical issues that millions of people have and to the extent possible must power through their day to have a satisfying good quality of life , despite the various adversities that mostly everyone faces. This is just my personal opinion I would say maybe around 90% of people are dealing with something whether easier or harder than OCD .
in a nutshell, yeah lol. that's essentially what it is
Agreed. I often compare my ocd to a false fire alarm going off.
I wouldn't quite say that talk therapy is the "worst thing" someone with OCD can do. It depends on the person and what's going on. But in general, yes. OCD isn't the thoughts themselves, it's the tendency to get stuck on thoughts. Everyone has intrusive thoughts from time-to-time. Everyone has thoughts that don't make sense, don't align with their values, or are just overall scary. The difference is that people with OCD have an extremely sensitive alarm system when it comes to thoughts, and we feel the urge to get rid of them or solve them if there is even the tiniest bit of doubt or fear involved. This overactive alarm system makes us hyper aware of these thoughts, and triggers the ironic process, in which the harder we try to get rid of the thoughts, the harder they return.
Yeah that what Ocd is it's sucks I would recommend maybe talking some medication for it it might ease your mind and make you feel more clear headed and also there is a youtube channel that I I discovered it's called anxiety and Ocd it might help you cope it actually helped me when I was feeling like you All my love I hope you will get better ❤️
So with this being agreed on would you also agree that doing normal daily activities is a form of ERP and a form of fighting OCD? So normal things like going to work, going to the gym, hobbies etc These things as opposed to giving them all up and spending hours ruminating on the past and trying to work out where OCD has come from and what it means
Yes, if you are doing these normal daily activities despite experiencing the intrusive thoughts and anxiety, without doing compulsions, then you are directly challenging OCD and practicing ERP.
@djflorio So this is the problem I have. I started doing compulsions at the start of 2020 right before I started talking therapy so have been doing them daily now for 5 years and there's lots of them. Basically I repeat a lot of the actions that I do to make everything feel okay e.g. open and close my car door a few times before getting in and when getting out, light switches on and off. The list goes on and on and it's a debilitating loop Problem number 2. These compulsions all started when I agreed to go to talk therapy after a couple of years of unnecessary pressure from my mum and then partner. There pressure was all because every 2-3 months I would go out and get drunk before returning to not having a single for another few months. Granted it might not be great for your health to go and get as drunk as I was getting even if it is only 4-5 times a year but no ones perfect and we all have our vices. Problem number 3. Having that much pressure from my mum and then partner eventually convinced me that there was something wrong with me despite the fact that I performed well in all other areas of my life and did no compulsions or even think I had OCD and this then made me feel like I needed to do compulsions and find out the meaning of all of my intrusive thoughts which I now know always the wrong thing to do
@Joe87 So the issue I have now is basically finding a way to stop these compulsions and trying to understand why whenever I try to stop them I feel horrific and more pressed to do them. I tried erp btw and I felt like it just made it worse
Don't panic, you're still the same girl, your OC gives you a lot of intrusive thoughts that aren't you and that disgust you and scare you and that you don't want and that you don't think are true, and your OC gives you the false feelings.Also, don't forget that whatever comes to mind, whatever intrusive thoughts you have and whatever you feel, is all yours.
So maybe the title wasn't the best to to put it but when you guys start having obsessive thoughts how do you stop them before it turns into compulsions and anxiety?
I’ve been thinking a lot about how OCD changes the way we see ourselves, but I recently realized that I am not my thoughts. Just because a thought pops up doesn’t mean it’s true or that it defines me. I’ve started learning how to see OCD for what it is—just a disorder trying to trick me—and I’ve become stronger in dealing with it. Has anyone else here had a similar realization? How do you handle these thoughts when they show up?
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