Question?

@Tea and Honey Mine is that I had an OCD thought that if I didn’t eat before I completed something it would either not go away until I completed the task or it would last forever and now I don’t remember sadly so I’m worried.

@Perfect Imperfectionist I understand this. I have different times where my OCD says that if I have a certain thought, that my son will make a basket in the basketball hoop , or that he will have a certain outcome in his sports events. But these are all lies. This is just OCD. In reality, our events are not connected to our thoughts. Tell yourself that this is an excellent time to practice ERP therapy. You are going to let it go. I know I have lots of times where I can't remember, and I usually take a lot of time to try to figure it out. But we have to try to identify the things that are OCD in our lives and just let them go

@Tea and Honey Thank you! That really means a lot. I just feel like I am gonna have anxiety that never ends or is forever now because I messed up and ate when I wasn’t supposed to. I feel so governed by my OCD and anxiety I truly hate having to obey!

@Perfect Imperfectionist That's why we have to break the OCD rules, instead of obey them. When we start breaking the rules, we always feel worse at first. It always brings terrible feelings, and we don't know how long those feelings are going to last. However, breaking the rules is actually taking steps toward freedom. And the next time your OCD tries to tell you that food is connected to an event, you have more courage to break the rule and be free of the OCD control. It will still bring bad feelings because it feels like a "risk" when we break the rules. But every time we do it, we get more and more free.

@Tea and Honey Tell yourself that you are going to try to break the rules every time. You are going to do exactly the opposite of what OCD wants you to do--on purpose!!! This is really a slap in the face of OCD. And it will help you break OCD's control over you.

@Tea and Honey Thank you so much! That makes sense. I am reading a book called breaking the rules of OCD I believe is what it’s called. It’s just so scary to think of bad happening or something uncomfortable I have to deal with. I avoid anxiety at all costs to be honest. I don’t know what to do cause it’s not like I can take back not eating or whatever bad thought I can last night. I hate this!!!!!

@Tea and Honey I really wanna smack OCD in the face hard and turn away forever if I could. I know it is a lifelong disorder though. But living with it and being at peace seems so much better than what I have dealt with most of my life!

@Perfect Imperfectionist I recently had a really big OCD episode a month ago. I had fear emanating through my whole body. I felt like I made a mistake that I couldn't take back, and now my entire life and eternal life was over. However, through all the pain of that, I had to embrace the truth more fully--the truth that I am absolutely safe. And now I am more free and better off than I was before I went through all of that pain. Breaking the OCD rules causes terrible feelings and pain. But with time and practice, you will get more and more free. Think of it like a marathon runner. They do certain workouts that cause their body pain. Maybe they do hill workouts or mile repeats. Maybe they are doing threshold workouts at the track for two hours a day. It breaks their body down, but they come back stronger. And in the same way, we are doing emotional and mental exercises when we break the OCD rules, but we come back stronger than ever. And we come to deeper truths that the OCD gave us an opportunity to embrace. We will understand these things more fully than other people (without OCD) ever will.