- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 6y
I do too. I recently heard someone on the OCD Stories podcast say that he knew he was really sick with OCD when he got to the point that he wasn’t even trying to hide his rituals. He didn’t care who watched. I think it’s important for us to know that it can get that bad, which is why it is so crucial to work toward recovery. These compulsive behaviors should not control us. We deserve more fulfilled lives than that.
If you don’t mind my asking (I sometimes don’t know if I’m offending someone) what kind of rituals can you do to stop the thoughts. I’ve just never heard of this and it seems like it may help me so if you feel comfortable doing so can you explain yours to me or give an example? Or is there a website or podcast that can explain it
I know! It’s just so hard to not let them control me.
By rituals I mean... the things I do to stop my obsessions..... such as I’m afraid something is going to happen to my brother or sister therefore I have these crazy things I have to do and for some reason my mind wants me to think I rather something happen to my sister than my brother.... which is not true, I love them the same and do not want anything to happen to them, but because my mind makes me feel this way.... something I have to do is.... my feet cannot be pointing towards my brothers room, instead they have to be angled at a picture of my sister.... I know, it’s crazy! Or like when I go to lay down, I have to imagine I am my sister while laying down, by me imagining this it stops my thoughts but I have to do it just right..... I don’t know if these are really rituals I just have always called them that
I totally understand
And you aren’t crazy. I also have worries about terrible things happening to my sisters and brother and then I imagine them hanging off a cliff and I can only save one and what would I do and my ocd tells me I want to save one of them because I hate the other two but it’s not true because I love them all equally and I think mine is a direct result of the fact that the sister my ocd never saves is the one who lives in another continent
I understand how you feel!
My OCD has found new objects that I should be scared or worried about and I have this urge to hide them or throw them away. When I’m trying to watch tv I get really anxious that I’m trying to focus my attention elsewhere other than being in my own head, trying to sort my thoughts out & when I say I don’t want something I feel like I’m in denial. Does anyone else feel like this
I obsess constantly about my hands being dirty and feel like I can actually see the germs and bacteria crawling all over my hands if I can’t wash them as soon as I touch something. It’s really embarrassing since people in my life have noticed this “weird” behavior but it’s a huge problem for me and I don’t know how to make the obsessive thoughts stop.
That's what OCD feels like. Especially the constant questioning and doubt and the more you do it, the more you doubt yourself and it ends up leaving you open for other 'attacks'. I left the house today with my mom to run errands and things were fine, like my intrusive thoughts weren't bothering me that much in the beginning though they're constant in the background. Then when we stopped to get a drink from this store before leaving, I got more anxious because there were lots of kids around (it's afternoon here and i guess school was coming out). Kids were walking around in school uniform and I just told myself to keep looking away because i knew that my intrusive thoughts were going to flare up. Obviously that just made it worse and I just wanted to run away and crawl into a hole or something. Then a few minutes passed and then my brain said what if you were leering at the kids or looking at them inappropriately. And then my brain kept telling me that I wanted to or must have filmed one of them even though it's not something I want to do and know deep down that I didn't do it and don't want to. Ever. I just felt so disgusted with myself, I had to stop myself from crying on the way home. I hate this disease and I hate that its made its home in my head.
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