- Date posted
- 16w
change
anyone else feel like something in your life needs to change, like either your job, your relationship, or where you live but you're afraid to make any decisions in case it's fueled by ocd
anyone else feel like something in your life needs to change, like either your job, your relationship, or where you live but you're afraid to make any decisions in case it's fueled by ocd
I have definitely faced this so many times in life. I can’t say it was directly related to ocd but definitely for fear of being wrong and putting myself and my family in a bad spot. This one job i had was truly killing me but i was afraid to leave and be without a job. That never impacted my dedication though, worked as hard every day. Turned out they let me go anyway after almost 14 years. What that thought me is a couple things. One, some companies could care less about you no matter how hard you work, so know your employer. Two, change happens, and we survive. Some times those changes are precisely what you needed but you’ll never know if you never step forward. Fear sucks, but regret sucks more💯! Go for it
@Someonemaybe Absolutely.
@Someonemaybe I'm glad you're no longer in that job. This brings up something else i struggle with in life, since im so paralyzed by making decisions and going back and fourth in my mind, someone else just happens to make the decision for me some examples: my last job i wasn't happy with how i was being treated either, and then they fired me, then there was this guy who i kept trying to cut off but i suck at boundaries so my boyfriend had to block him from my phone for me, i was friends with a girl for 6 years and she wasn't a great friend and then eventually it was her that dropped me im usually hit with the shock and sadness but then feel relief, i wish i could just make that decision for myself sometimes, its always when it adds up and shit hits the fan It's hard when all i do is doubt my feelings, i just ride everything out
@Pandora_2003 Thank you so much for sharing. I so completely understand that. Try this just for the hell of it if nothing else. Make a decision with something of lesser consequence, that you normally wouldn’t decide for yourself. Afterwards, see how it went, did you make the right choice? If you didn’t, no worries. It’s the resilience that starts that unstoppable momentum. Know that you’re going to get some things right and some things far from it. Celebrate your wins and learn from your mistakes. That’s all we can do. I believe you can but it’s you that has to believe it to truly know its value. You are so worth the effort 💯!
Yes, I feel this way a lot. When I catch myself thinking like this, I try to address the thought and assess whether it’s an obsession, or whether I actually do want a change. You’re right that worrying whether it’s OCD can make it difficult for us to make a decision “in case it’s OCD.”
@Anonymous i do want change but idk feels exhausting to even think about tbh bc it wants me to make the change right here and right now and that's overwhelming and not realistic or safe
@Pandora_2003 You can remind yourself that the change doesn’t need to happen immediately (as hard as that is), and you can also set aside time in your calendar to deal with it. I like doing that because then it’s scheduled and I can stop thinking about it. And if I don’t feel like doing it once it’s scheduled, then I just reschedule it. Totally okay.
@Pandora_2003 Do you keep a journal with “to-do” lists and ideas? I like to write down my thoughts (even though that can be scary, and OCD can make me not want to do it so I don’t have to confront those thoughts), and then look at them and go okay, this is what I’m thinking, I don’t have to deal with it right now, but I can schedule a time to deal with it.
@Anonymous I use my notes app to write my thoughts down. I never thought to schedule a time to think, thank you for sharing that. But the hardest part for me, is that i have an amazing boyfriend, amazing best friend, a well paying chill job, a free place to live, I have absolutely nothing to stress over (my ocd will always find a problem tho) so the thought is still there "something needs to change" but nothing is obviously a problem. Like it would be easy if my relationship or job was toxic, if i didn't have a free place and had to move. Right now, it feels as though im just kinda here. Not knowing what the next step of my life even is
Do you ever feel like you wonder if your ocd would be less if you were with someone else? Or would it be better if you were with someone else? I’m really upset because I used to be able to enjoy myself even with the anxiety and now it’s like i am just analyzing and I don’t have feelings and I’m irritated because there’s things that frustrate me about him that I don’t like and my brain says if I was with someone else I would be able to deal with those things better and that we just aren’t right for each other. And the thoughts that used to make me anxious about breaking up don’t like it’s really me that feels it. I know no relationship is perfect but it’s like my brain keeps saying with someone else I wouldn’t feel like this or I would but I’d be able to handle it better. It feels like I have to just start fresh with someone new cause the ocd got too into this to the point where I don’t feel or even know what’s real. It feels like fear and anxiety and just being so into this has just made me feel not into this anymore but idk if I’m thinking right. It’s also just warped the way I see him like I only see the negatives and my brain keeps saying you don’t feel this cause it’s wrong. And it’s depressing bc of how happy and safe I used to feel. I’m supposed to see him soon and it’s like I want to but also don’t because I feel like things have changed unless that’s just something I made in my head and cause I don’t feel the feelings I used to. But then I think I will just be this way with someone else but then my brain says otherwise and it’s so confusing. People keep telling me not to make decisions because I’m fogged but it feels like I’m not. Like my brain is manipulating me. And also like all the things I used to like I’ve somehow turned into like distaste which is so upsetting. I would like to think this is just ocd taking control and confusing me and distorting my perspective but I’m scared it’s not and that my feelings are gone. Has anyone experienced this but it was still ocd?
i’ve unfortunately fallen into the cycle of trying to figure out my thoughts and find answers as to why i feel so distressed. this still pertains to the situation regarding changing my room for those reading who have seen my multiple posts over the last few days. i’ve been so distressed and in so much panic about it. i’m also panicking over my other room looking so different from when i left it. it’s been making me feel crazy because to me there’s no reason for my anxiety to latch so hard onto something that seems so minuscule. i was thinking i was having anxiety over change, but it’s like symptoms of ocd too that’s making it really hard for me to let go. SO i started thinking maybe it was perfectionism ocd? i’ve realized over time that i do compulsions to where things have to feel “just right”, but i also do that with any environment i’m in. like it HAS to feel cozy to me and provide me comfort in order for me to feel at ease. and this change is causing me to panic because there’s something wrong that i can’t find an answer to. maybe the different colored carpet? but it’s also more than that it feels like. however, now it’s spreading into other areas of my house where i’ve always been fine in and possibly to just any area i’m in at all. hence why it’s making me feel crazy because there’s no reason for me to be THIS distressed over that as i’ve never really had this problem before. and when i did it would last maybe an hour to a couple of days at most, but this has been going for over 2 weeks with my really bad anxiety being this week. i’m doing a little better, but it’s still hard when i can feel that panic waiting for me to acknowledge and just engulf me in the ocd cycle. i’m also analyzing basically any feeling i have so i just feel off in general and like i’m going insane. i’ve been so hyper focused on how i feel and that will send me spiraling too. multiple themes then start coming in like existential ocd and fear of solipsism. not to mention my harm and contamination ocd that just adds on when i’m this vulnerable. then i worry if no one is real, then no one feels the way i do. or just in general that what if no one feels the way i do. honestly, i think being out of college and in my house with nothing to do is causing me too much time with my thoughts. which is why i’m so distressed about everything that pops into my brain.
I wanted to come on here and explain my OCD because I always feel so out of place since my OCD works a little differently than everyone else’s. If someone can relate to this, PLEASE LET ME KNOW! I’ve always felt so alone with not knowing what this feeling is and why it affects me so much. Okay so ever since I was a toddler, Ive had a fear of change I can’t control. when the weather changes I’d have anxiety attacks, and a cloudy day would make me feel like i’m not myself. I don’t recognize my surroundings and I would cry and close my eyes until I’m back to normal. When it was still bright out at 8pm in the summer, as a kid, we’d go to bed at 8:30. But I’d tell my dad that I couldn’t go to bed. Not because of the sun, but because I wasn’t used to it. I vividly remember how different my room would feel when the sun was setting at 9pm. I hated it to the point where it’d make me anxious and scared. As I’ve grown, I’ve understood what causes me to feel so out of place when it’s a rainy day. My routine has always been the same for the most part: I wake up, I run to the store to get a monster, I clean/watch tv/work/hangout with friends, and then at night (which is crucial), I’m in bed around 10pm & I burn incense and watch tv for a bit until i’m ready to sleep. When things get in the way of that schedule, I go in panic mode. It’s almost like derealization when something is off in my normal routine. Like I feel like I’m in a different home, a different timeline, a dream almost. Since i’m older, It takes more for me to feel this way, but when I was younger, just watching a movie in my room would set me off because I’ve never watched a movie as a part of my routine. I know this is all over the place but I always wonder if everyone feels this way, but my OCD just intensifies it. It’s such a big part of my life, this sort of anxiety. And I don’t know how to get rid of it. I want to have my friends stay the night, but I can’t have people overnight in my room because it’ll change the whole “vibe” of the room. Something unfamiliar happening in my room is a nightmare for me. Another thing: I enjoy rearranging my room quite often and I figure that’s because It’s change I can control. But I always dread the night after it’s changed and I have to force myself into getting used to how it feels and being used to the way things are. But it really takes a toll on me; sometimes I end up crying because of it. ALSO! This affects relationships as well. If I’m in a relationship, I have to let in someone who has never been apart of my routine and my schedule before and that’s terrifying and almost impossible to get past. I know if I just let myself get used to the new feeling of having someone APART of my routine/schedule I can get used to it, but it’s harddd. Lastly, going overnight to people’s houses isn’t awful for me, because It doesn’t affect what’s mine. Does that make sense? Since I’m not in my room, my house, my backyard, etc, there’s nothing to change. Only the fact that i’m in a different place which used to be an issue, but my body/mind has accepted that I will go to different places and i’m very optimistic so i’m not one to just live in a bubble for the rest of my life. I would love to travel, but I don’t know how I could when I fear so much change. I leave for college soon and i’m DREADING the change because I know a whole different room is going to have me stressing 😭😭. If anyone understands this feeling even just by a little, I greatly appreciate if you leave a comment or even if u don’t relate, advice would be helpful:) Thank you!
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