What do you think of my therapist's advice

So I just started few weeks ago and my therapist told me that I should try doing the compulsions I do to relief the anxiety and stop the thought out of the love of doing the compulsion instead of the anxiety relief. Like sometimes I repeatdly say prayers when I get an intrusive sinful images to put them away so basically I should say them more out of general love of saying them. Sometimes I crochet and distract myself a lot out of my thoughts so I should do the distractions out of love and enjoyment of doing them instead of fixing the anxiety and making it go away. To basically rewire my brain to not relate the compulsions to the intrusive thoughts so they're less compulsive I think

Anonymous

Date posted: 22w

I think that’s actually a really thoughtful approach! It sounds like your therapist is helping you shift the intention behind what you’re doing so it doesn’t feel like it’s driven purely by anxiety or the need to fix something. Instead, it’s more about engaging in those actions because they’re meaningful or enjoyable for you. That makes sense because it helps separate the action from the anxiety cycle.

please44I

Date posted: 22w

Thank you! Cuz she said some other things that bothered me but I want to think that she can still be good with OCD treatment

JediMJ

Date posted: 22w

My understanding is that compulsions feed the OCD cycle. If you are choosing to do an activity because you love it, that’s great. But if you feel like you have to do an activity to get rid of your anxiety, that’s problematic. Is there a reason why she’s not recommending ERP? Also, it’s concerning that she said other things that bothered you. If you don’t feel confident in this therapist, then it’s okay to look for another. You can learn from anyone, but finding a therapist who you really click with is game-changing.

please44I

Date posted: 22w

We're still starting so I won't leave right away, she's not really bad and I think she understands ocd still cuz I said my compulsions are more mental than physical and well she recognizes that ocd isn't just hand washing loll 😭 what I didn't like was something else related to a situation with a friend where I did them wrong and she kept giving me that whole "love yourself forgive yourself" talk

please44I

Date posted: 22w

I'm not sure if she'll do ERP or yet esp that i still didn't talk about my specific ocd theme because it's too taboo and I'm a bit scared.

JediMJ

Date posted: 22w

@please44I “Love yourself forgive yourself” talk might be really good. You’re human…we all make mistakes and it sounds like you’re pretty hard on yourself. That may have bothered you, but I think that’s a good bothering. 🙂

JediMJ

Date posted: 22w

@please44I It’s okay to be scared. Hopefully you’ll come to trust her more and be able to talk about it. Wishing you the best.

please44I

Date posted: 22w

@JediMJ I mean I get it but it's not very helpful with me yk, I don't want her to enable my bad actions either and she was kind of doing that. I want someone honest and sincere with me

please44I

Date posted: 22w

@JediMJ Thank you a lot💖

JediMJ

Date posted: 22w

I understand. You don’t want bad behavior excused. I like honest and sincere and also kind and compassionate. Balance. 🙂

please44I

Date posted: 22w

yes exactly

Anonymous

Date posted: 22w

I need an opinion

So I am a practicing Catholic, and I've gotten into reading the Bible this year, praying the Rosary, things like that, and while I love to do that, my OCD has been seeming to take over, in ways such as like I have to read the Bible for a certain amount of time before I'm satisfied with the time read, or something along those lines, and it's starting to make the thought of praying and reading the Bible unenjoyable, which is really hurting me inside, because I used to and want to enjoy it so bad, but now this is making it really hard to, because it feels like I don't have control over my own thoughts, and little things trigger the thoughts, it's just so annoying. If there's anything anyone thinks I can do to combat this please let me know.

Annomous_bcye

Date posted: 14w

giving up compulsions with ROCD

I still do not have an OFFICIAL diagnosis (I dont have the means to do so) but given my symptoms, past and present in my life hugely suggest OCD is what I am dealing with. I cannot be 100 percent certain but after searching for answers and researching for a long time now, I am fairly certain and confident this is what I am struggling with. Given this step forward, I am making more effort into giving up compulsions. at the current moment I believe to be dealing with ROCD, as I have been having several intrusive thoughts that conflict with my relationship. For starters, recently over the past month or 2, I have been struggling with intrusive thoughts like not being over my ex, being attracted to someone else, losing feelings for my partner and not being in love, etc. I can consciously identify that I dont believe these thoughts to be true but it causes me so much distress and anxiety. It gets extremely unbearable some days, and I have leaned into 2 main compulsions. I have relied on thought checking and googling as my source of relief. At first the googling was genuinely to start finding answers; hence why I have made some of the discoveries I have about OCD including this site. But it developed into every time I was anxious, I would whip my phone out and start googling strictly to find an answer that would reassure me or calm me down. As for thought checking, it acted as a way to reaffirm my love for my girlfriend in my head when I have had the thoughts that collide with my relationship and how I feel about my girlfriend. It worked at first but developed into a compulsion where every time a bad thought got me worked up id either do my normal googling or Id think about that in my head to calm myself down. Over time these compulsions have gotten less and less affective and now when I do them it only gets me more anxious and desperate for reassurance (strengthening the cycle or whatever it is lol). I did some more research and finally have accepted the very real fact that I am going to have to sit in heavy anxiety and not give into compulsions for a while in order to treat this. I have to sit in the thoughts that make me feel all this hightened anxiety and distress without giving into compulsion. to be honest I am scared, the thoughts are more rampant than ever, but I am ready to commit to this. I dont think I am gonna be able to go cold turkey on my compulsions so I am ready for the reality I might relapse on the compulsions sometimes, But am gonna keep going until I can break these shackles OCD has on my life right now. I wanna ask, what is everyones methods they use to avoid giving into compulsion when the thoughts get loud? any advice is welcome :)

Philz123!

Date posted: 13w

My two cents on OCD [and (r)OCD]

Hey guys, just responded to a post about someone having their ROCD struggles and thought I might share in other groups as well in case it helps. While not everyone has ROCD, maybe some of my message can help others with this battle if it’s not something you guys already know. Maybe some of you guys can add your own thoughts as well. I’d encourage you guys to read my message even if you don’t share the Christian faith as I do. I encourage you guys further to read the Bible yourselves (what does it even say, anyway?). I’m only just a newbie to it, too, but it has helped a lot. The context: This is a response to someone who’s having guilt about their thoughts, partly because it goes against their faith. Anyway, here it goes: I can empathize and relate, especially when faith starts being thrown into the intrusive thought loop. My suggestion is to live your life according to your faith and your values, not your thoughts or feelings. Previously you might have used your thoughts and feelings to guide you as a compass, but try making God and His teachings your compass instead. Read the Bible, heck read it with your partner- that might help with feeling connected with him. Live your life according to your morals, not the world as “the heart is deceitful” (Jeremiah, 17:9) and the world has a way of demonizing certain relationship struggles (“you should be attracted to your partner”, “you shouldn’t question your relationship”, “you should have the same interests as your partner”, “you shouldn’t feel abc because it means xyz”). Make yourself a list for all the things you like about your partner, continually add/review them, and you will relearn to feel the feeling of appreciating them. What qualities about your relationship/partner have you enjoyed/make you stay? Love and loving relationships are built, not found. Notice how the reasons why you “don’t love” or “shouldn’t be with your partner” go against what God would want for you and are shallow lies from the world disguised as truths. Challenge these beliefs you’ve heard/held about relationships that are sabotaging yours. Have you considered maybe God wants you to stay with a loving partner who is good to you and cares for you? (assuming your bf is.) And lastly, find a therapist who SPECIALIZES in ocd. I’ve tried therapists who didn’t know what it was and not only were they unable to support me in the way I needed it but they kept unknowingly feeding my doubts. You are not a bad person or bad partner for having these thoughts. If you have not physically acted on your distressing thoughts, this is an extremely good sign. The fact that you know it’s wrong is a very good thing. Keep trying, even if you lose hope. Best of luck

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