- Date posted
- 6w
- Date posted
- 6w
You can say something like “I’m spiralling” without getting into specifics. This is what I do to avoid getting reassurance from people who don’t really get ERP or OCD!
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 6w
A scale that we use through OCD therapy is the SUDS scale and it’s a scale that goes from one to 10 about the level of stress and anxiety you get from a particular intrusive thought rumination or exposure. My family is aware of the SUDS scale so if I’m in a particularly stressful rumination, I’ll let them know that I am like a seven or an eight and that helps them manage how they think that I’m reacting around them, and that they know I’m just experiencing ruminations. I’m sorry you’re experiencing this. It can be particularly difficult when you’re also worried about how other people are feeling around you and how you think you may be affecting them. Sending you lots of love.❤️🩹
- Date posted
- 6w
Hey sorry you're having to deal with this. One thing I would say would be to try to show yourself a bit of grace. Please remember that OCD is one of the top 10 most debilitating conditions - not just of psychological ailments, but overall. But unlike physical ailments (anemia, for example, is also in that top ten), when our OCD flares up it's not necessarily something that people around us can readily understand and make allowances for. The long-term goal of course is to manage and subdue our OCD so that it no longer keeps us from being the person we want to be and living the life that we want to live. And you will get there! In the meantime, you just need to do the best you can, be the best person you can be for yourself and the people around you, accepting that there will be times that you feel like you fall short. I'd also remember also that we (meaning people in general, but folks with OCD in particular) tend to judge ourselves very harshly. Think of your best friend coming to you and explaining how they were going through this same situation - I bet you would tell them to cut themselves some slack! I would try to be that same best friend to yourself, as much as you can!
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 6w
I usually just say that I'm having a lot of OCD right now. And I've told those around me only to get into it with me if I want to (to avoid reassurance and such).
- Date posted
- 6w
I hear you. When I am in a spiral or ruminating, people can notice
Related posts
- Date posted
- 11w
My mom will sit and listen to me for quite a while, but she interrupts a lot and gets angry/upset. While I appreciate her passion, it's often stressful. Every time I come to her, if I even *mention* OCD, she gets frustrated and says, "Everyone deals with these issues, you know. It doesn't mean it's OCD." And I repeat, "I'm not saying my issues are unique — I'm saying the way I respond to them is a problem." But she just shakes her head and says, "Okay, I need to get back to my day." Full context, I'm an adult, and I live with my boyfriend, but I'm staying at my mom's for the next month. After living away from home for years, I went back to living with her during the pandemic, and I only recently left to live with him. Honestly, I think living with her for so long in my adulthood really messed with me and made me feel like a teenager all over again. I feel like my mental growth is stunted, and that's part of why my OCD is so bad lately. Not blaming, just noticing. She doesn't seem to understand how relieving the OCD diagnosis has been for me, because it explains so so so many things I've struggled with for years, and it's exciting to have more resources that can help me. But I think she sees it as me finding an excuse to *not* work on myself, which is just untrue. I'm not going to let OCD hold me back or use it as an excuse, but I'm also not going to pretend it's not a problem when I know it is — I was even diagnosed through NOCD. The whole point being to fix it, not use it as a crutch. When I have an issue, it's unbearable. Any issue, big or small, feels just the same. I feel a sinking feeling, my mind races, my heart beats out of my chest. I end up running to my support systems, crying, ruminating for days on end. Then, months later, the same exact issue can feel like nothing anymore, because it's no longer an obsession. I'm sure everyone deals with issues in a similar way, but I *know* there is something specific and debilitating going on with me. This is reassurance seeking, but in the face of being told I'm making a big deal out of nothing, can someone diagnosed with OCD tell me if they relate to the specific intensity of these feelings??
- Date posted
- 25d
Sometimes I feel like nobody really gets me. Nobody knows what’s going on in my head. I try to explain in vivid detail, but my ocd immediately reads the other persons face and registers that they don’t get it. It’s a very isolating experience. Anyone else have something like this?
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