Hey there, Im recently diagnosed with ocd and working with a therapist. My thing is I get focused on how I’m feeling. If I get a headache it freaks me out, I could be congested from allergies and it can spin me out, like what if it’s something more serious, it could be any body sensation that causes me to ruminate. Health ocd? Somatic ocd? Anyone have this? Any tips? Thanks!
I can relate - it tends to happen to me more often when I have other background anxieties and or less distractions almost as though I look for it sadly . Once I go to the doctor it is like scratching the itch but of course that’s never the solution . Gym and diet helped me considerably and reducing background stress . I am sliding back into this habit as of late due to some life changes which is why I joined the app today . I hope this helps in some form …. You are not alone
hey hey! welcome to the community :) congratulations on starting your journey! i talked to my own therapist about this exact thing. hyper-analyzing bodily sensations is really common for us! something that helps me is to just remind myself that bodies are weird and i don’t *need* to understand every little thing that happens with my body, despite how much i want to. i know it’s hard, but you can do it!! best of luck🙏
@ivyleaftea Thank you!!!!
I think it might be somatic ocd, but at the end of the day, OCD is the same -- you get a thought, or a sensation, or an urge, and it's just some random thing your body or your brain generated, but it gets lodged in your attention because it freaks you out. Yesterday I was afraid my throat was going to close up, and today, I was afraid of the thought "I'm gonna throw up" while eating lunch. And mind you, I have other ocd themes too, but the thing I've noticed with all of them is that there's that thought, the feeling of discomfort with uncertainty, sometimes hyperfocusing on the sensation for me that ranges from a lump in my throat to groinal responses, and the compulsion you do to try and get more certain and/or neutralize it (I couldn't stop swallowing or arguing with my mind yesterday to "prove" my throat isn't closing/closed. Didn't help.). It sucks but the tip I have is try and sit with the discomfort + try to focus on something else. I also recommend Katie D'Ath's videos -- especially if you, like me, sometimes just CAN'T stop focusing on whatever bodily sensation your mind's latched onto, struggle with focus. There's a video of hers with a little exercise to train your focus to reroute to something else while allowing that discomfort of uncertainty and "urgent" sensation. It's been helping me a fair bit. Also, whenever you catch yourself ruminating, try to focus on something else and "pull" your focus from inside your mind to the outside. I also recommend reading NOCD's "5 things to do instead of your compulsions" article.
Forgot to say but ruminating is often times a compulsion too, so yeah. Cheers on you for getting professional help though, you got this!
@pinboing Thank you! I’ll check these out. This is tough to figure out!
Hey there everyone, first I would like to say I am very grateful for every single one of you on this platform and it feels so much better knowing that I can be heard. I’ve been hyperaware of my swallowing for 1-2 month. I feel like I have so much saliva in my mouth and I have to swallow and swallow. I feel the urge to swallow even I don’t NOTHING in my mouth, so I just swallow air. This has been really overwhelming and I feel like I can be so easily latched to other body part of my part. For example, I was conscious about my blinking and breathing for a few days, and now I get so anxious when I heard a weird sound my ears make after each sentence I speak. Is this somatic ocd or health concern ocd? I am so helpless and having a hard time to shift my attention. Does anyone have any suggestions or just words of encouragement would really help me at this moment. I REALLY appreciate your help. 💗🙏 Thank you !
Anyone else struggle with somatic OCD and any pain/feeling slightly different is so noticeable and you feel like you’re just going to collapse or something? Like my ocd always convinces me that any sort of pain is related to some kind of illness that can cause a bad outcome or even death. If so, please share your tips of how to improve with this type of ocd 😭
Hello, I’m new to this app. I’ve always had an anxious brain, and I’ve had coping mechanisms for as long as I can remember. When I was a kid, from as early as I could spell, until I was probably early teens, I would constantly write words in my head along to the beat of music. It’s such a vivid memory because I never stopped doing it. The word had to perfectly match up to the lyric and I loved that it kept my brain busy. I grew out of that, but felt like good context. My anxiety increased drastically around ages 17-19, and I began therapy. I was diagnosed with generalized anxiety and panic disorder, due to having a panic attack nearly every day at that time. I overcame that as well, and now the panic attacks are every now and then, but the anxiety is constant, and some recent symptoms have led me to believe I might have some form of OCD. Maybe not. I’m trying to understand myself and get better so I joined this app to make sense of things. Lately I’ve been having really intense intrusive thoughts. I’m really embarassed and they make me feel like a bad person. Thoughts pop in my head seemingly out of nowhere. It will be an image of me harming myself or someone else in a really bad way. (Trigger warning) for example the other day I couldn’t shake the image of me putting a knife through my own forehead, although it’s not something I want to do. Or I’ll imagine someone killing me. I imagine my loved ones dying often. The thoughts feel so out of my control it’s insane. I hate them. Another persistent issue that isn’t as new is replaying social scenarios. I’m a hairstylist so this one is difficult since I meet a bunch of new people every day. I obsess over how I act and if people like me. I will impulsively say things all the time and they will haunt me for weeks. I question even my closest friends and family who show their love. I find myself so angry and numb and like I have so much built up emotion and a busy mind always. While doing my job I spiral really badly if any little thing goes wrong and it’s embarassing. I know there’s more but I can’t think of it now. I just want to feel better and like I’m not constantly battling my mind.
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