Licensed Therapist, MS, LPC
As someone who has jumped from theme to theme pretty rapidly, this reframing helped me: As soon as you make progress, your OCD gets desperate. It wants you to be worried. And when you aren't worried enough, it will search for something else you care about to try and make you worried. It's getting desperate. And that sucks. But that does mean you're making progress. You've proven once that you can fight a theme and habituate. The OCD found something new to worry you with, but you can conquer that too just like you were doing the last theme. I'm sorry you are going through this. But try to view it as an opportunity. Each theme you habituate to is another one it can't use against you and the easier it gets when something new arises. You are not your thoughts!
@Iceberg Climber Thank you. This helps
Shyte brother. The themes always change. I feel like real event ocd is the final boss. If I can overcome this, Ill be good. Ive had the worst themes imo, but once this ones over I think Ill know how to tackle all ocd themes. You just sit with the uncertainty. Simple as it sounds its hard
@slippery_salad Appreciate hearing that. Sitting with uncertainty is what I’m learning to do. Damn it’s not easy though. Makes me sick to my stomach. But I’m trying to do it as painful as it is.
@Knickatknite Just know, someone else out there has it worse than you, yenno. That brings me peace knowing this could be way worse. I saw a guy admit to murder after 16 years of keeping it in. That mustve been 16 years of pure hell.
Ugh, I feel this so much—and you’re right, OCD is insidious. Just when you think you’ve got one theme under control, it shapeshifts into something new. It’s exhausting and unfair, especially after the hard work you’ve already put in. But here’s the thing: you’re not back at square one. You’ve already built tools, resilience, and insight from working through your symmetry stuff—and those don’t disappear just because a new theme shows up. This isn’t a reset, it’s just the next boss battle. And yeah, this one’s tough—but so are you. It’s okay to hate OCD. It’s okay to be frustrated. And it’s also okay to keep going, even when it feels like everything just got harder. You’ve done this before—and you will do it again. 💪💛
@Vamp DeVille Thank you! It feels good hearing that. I hope I’ll look back on this obsession sooner than later with less anxiety. That’s how all the other obsessions have ended up. But just like the obsessive themes before, this one feels like “the worst one ever”. I’m gonna fight this one through though. I look at past OCD episodes that have cost me time, money and relationships and I refuse to let this one do that.
absolutely is the most horrible thing especially when you’re doing so well and starting to feel good about life again. when it hits you it’s like you’re back at the start. i’ve just overcome a year of real event, had the best 5 months of my life and it’s back, feel like i’m at square one again. however you’ve got to remember the times you did overcome it and felt good about things and the times you never thought you would, they will happen again, if you can do it once it’s evidence you can do again. don’t give up you’ve got this.
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