- Date posted
- 7y
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 7y
You don't sound stupid at all.. this is a very important topic. Here's a great article on seeking reassurance for OCD. Hopefully some other people can give their input on this too! https://ocdla.com/reassurance-seeking-ocd-anxiety-1952
- Date posted
- 7y
Think about this way: everytime you seek reassurance, you are temporarily reducing your anxiety and making the “OCD beast” grow stronger. So while it may help you feel better in the short term, all you are doing is completing the OCD cycle. Soon enough, another obsession/thought/trigger will occur and you’ll be desperately needing that anxiety-reducing reassurance once again. What if you can’t get reassurance at that time, then what are you going to do? It’s so important to learn how to face fears on your own, deal with the anxiety on your own, and accept the uncertainty/doubt that comes with it. This is how you can really recover and start living life regardless of the OCD being there or not.
- Date posted
- 7y
My psychologists told me to use “self talk” which is a form of self reassurance. I’m confused too!
- Date posted
- 7y
You’re fine dear! Reassurance is a big compulsion of mine and many others. A lot of times the ones like reassurance and rumination don’t seem like compulsions but sadly they are. In a sense a little reassurance can go a long way with ocd, I think the occasional “it’s all okay” while having an anxiety attack is normal and natural, especially if it’s a bad one, but if it’s stuff like “no I love my partner, no I’m not gay” etc. those are what you could call the “bad” ones. If that makes sense
- Date posted
- 7y
Many psychologists who don’t understand OCD make it worse
- Date posted
- 7y
Reassurance can make your ocd grow really severe
Related posts
- Date posted
- 23w
When I reassure myself that I no I would never do that, I don’t believe it & when I’ve been using the same reassurance for a while it doesn’t work the same way as it use to?
- Date posted
- 23w
Hi this is my first time posting on here. I wasn't sure if I should because I want to make sure I'm not seeking reassurance because I heard that makes ocd worse. I don't want to talk about what my ocd problem was, but basically I was really upset about a religious ocd problem that I know isn't true. I'm feeling a lot better about it now, but when it was bad I decided to try and get better on my own. I read about ERP therapy and how you're supposed to make a list of your ocd problems, from least distressing to most. So I wrote them down on two pieces of paper. At first I started with the simple ones, like looking for spiders before leaving the room. I have a tendency to look for spiders before leaving a room but lately I've been trying not to anymore. Then I decided to try and do one of the hard things. It was a religious ocd problem. I decided to start simple, and just write the problem down on a piece of paper. So I went downstairs and got some paper. But then I thought, oh no, my ocd is probably not going to like this. What do I do with the paper once I write it down? If I think what I wrote down is bad and going to upset God and I will go to hell, (even though I know logically it's not), my ocd is probably going to freak out if I throw away the paper. It probably won't calm down unless I erase it. So I just decided to not write it down on a paper, and just type it on my phone instead. So I did, I typed it on my phone. So, even though I didn't write anything down on the paper, now it feels like that peice of paper is bad. I feel like it's connected to the problem I was having, and I was so upset I called my mom crying asking her what to do. Eventually I decided to just put the paper back with the rest of the paper downstairs, but I'm still upset. I feel like I have to throw away all the paper downstairs, the pencil I was going to use to write down the problem, and the eraser I was going to use in case I needed to erase anything. It feels like if I use any of those items I will make God angry and go to hell. I know I shouldn't do this though, so I'm not going to. I don't know what to do with the papers where I wrote down my ocd problems. They are on my desk and I'm too afraid to move them. And if I put them in my desk I'm afraid they will get mixed up with other papers. I guess I can do whatever I want with them. I think I'll put them in a folder or binder and if I make any more ocd papers I can just put them in there. I'm just really confused on how to move forward. Right now, I'm too afraid to use the papers, pencil, or eraser for anything. I feel like I can't write on them, draw on them, or anything. It's even making me feel like I can't make digital art. It's making me feel like I can't do a lot of things. I guess what I have to do is just do whatever I want to, because I know the ocd isn't true and doesn't make sense.
- Date posted
- 20w
I’ve heard it’s not good to seek reassurance or give it because it lowers your tolerance to uncertainty. But how do I avoid seeking reassurance when my thoughts and doubts are so bad, I genuinely just don’t know anymore if I’m a bad person or if it’s just OCD? I know I’m supposed to sit with the uncertainty, but how can I do that when the uncertainty has me unable to trust my own brain? Especially when the OCD is real event and POCD? How can I not seek reassurance when I feel so alone and so abnormal and just don’t wanna feel that way anymore? In turn, I see so many people on here struggling so bad and my heart breaks for them. How can I give advice to towers without giving them reassurance and hurting them in the long run?
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