Quote: "You can view OCD recovery as a fight or a battle or a constant struggle, just like you can view your life..." I appreciate the approach, the intend, but it is not a question of how to view OCD, it is how it is.. to experience OCD. It's just that it just is, a constant fight. It just is. And it has nothing to do with every life can be viewed as struggle. Of course everybody has the usual problems with relationships, family, job, education, friends, health... If you have OCD it's a constant battle without pause and in addition to all the above. It's exhausting. Just a different opinion or even fact to the blog post. That's all folks

shishi

Date posted: 6y

Thanks for this. Trying to explain an obsessive rabbit hole to some people and they go “sometimes I worry about things like that too” it’s just proof they think you’re being negative and just not viewing it in the right attitude. Like no it’s not a matter of how I am viewing the situation it’s how deeply I’ve dissected every second of it and how fast it raises my heart beat. you cannot relate looking at the world with sunglasses versus a microscope.

WorriedDriver

Date posted: 6y

I felt a rollercoaster of emotions reading this article but I think Patrick ultimately wrapped it up in a balanced way; “You can view OCD recovery as a fight or a battle or a constant struggle, just like you can view your life in this way. But, in my experience, it’s going to keep you stuck right where you are. Respect yourself, avoid suffering more than you already do, and build the skills you’ll need anyways throughout your life. You don’t have to be a warrior to feel determined about getting better. If that concept really helps you, keep it around. If it’s just making you feel more trapped or more aggressive, ditch it. Keep the things that serve you well; leave the rest behind.” At first, I became extremely defensive while reading this article because I felt that may have unintentionally been invalidating the authentic experiences and feelings of OCD sufferers and labeling the “warrior” mentality as dramatic. I personally use this vocabulary as it has been a cathartic metaphor for me. I do not know other words in which to express the all-consuming and destructive force OCD has played (at times) in my life and that is separate from my healthy self. I think this article may have been better received by me if it had been positioned as “the pros and cons of the ‘OCD Warrior’ mentality.”

jnskrft

Date posted: 6y

This App also is a good start but has to be much much improved. I can't favorite your comment. I can't favorite you as contact. All comments and messages vanish within 7 days. I can't see a comment or response what majority liked this month, day, year. This comment section is pretty much useless other than get instant feedback or whine about my situation in this moment.

WorriedDriver

Date posted: 6y

Pros of the “warrior mentality” ?Narrative therapy which is often used for mental health recovery frequently recommends using externalization of the disease process ?Externalization helps create mental definition between healthy cognition and unhealthy ones (ie distinguishing OCD influenced thought or cognitive distortions) ?By viewing OCD as something external and ourselves as warriors and NOT victims/ sufferers we regain power and autonomy in our recovery ?Warriors recognize that there are intermittent losses but they may be part of a greater scheme of victory- a helpful metaphor for recovery

WorriedDriver

Date posted: 6y

I agree that “fighting” your OCD is a polarizing term but it is healthy when used to mean: ✅Taking healthy actions towards recovery ✅Doing things which feel uncomfortable that our outside our realm of comfort which our compulsions have created ✅Doing self-advocacy or practicing self compassion It is unhelpful if fighting means: ?Thought suppression or experiential avoidance ?Self-criticism ?Over attribution of OCD to causing all types of unhappiness in our lives / development of a negative worldview (as mentioned by Patrick) ?Black and white thinking or use of other cognitive distortions which ultimately inhibit recovery

WorriedDriver

Date posted: 6y

Sorry if this was an excessive response but I think this is a good dialogue starting here ?.

iwanttogetbe...

Date posted: 19w

I want to beat OCD because. .

I want to beat OCD because I have seen and felt the benefits of clearing my brain from unnecessary, pointless, thoughts. OCD is like 0 calorie food. It’s pointless. No nutrition or benefits come from my obsessions or compulsions. I don’t care to have answers to everything anymore. I catch myself just trying to stress myself out so that I have some worry to feed on. But like I said, it’s a 0 calorie food. I get nothing from it but wasted time and energy. My brain feels more spacious when I’m not consumed by OCD. I’m present. My personality has room to be herself without making space for bullshit. I tell myself now that worry is poison. I think Willie Nelson was the person I got that quote from? Anyways, that imagery of worries being poison for the mind has been transformative for me. I’m evolving. 💖 Thanks NOCD community.

Tara Wight

User type: Therapist

Date posted: 16w

What's the hardest part about living with OCD that others don't see?

OCD isn’t just about compulsions—it’s a mental battle that can be completely exhausting. The anxiety, doubt, and pressure to "get it right" can feel unbearable, especially when others don’t understand what’s happening beneath the surface. What’s the hardest part about living with OCD that others don’t see?

flyana

Date posted: 9w

My mom keeps telling me it's not OCD

My mom will sit and listen to me for quite a while, but she interrupts a lot and gets angry/upset. While I appreciate her passion, it's often stressful. Every time I come to her, if I even *mention* OCD, she gets frustrated and says, "Everyone deals with these issues, you know. It doesn't mean it's OCD." And I repeat, "I'm not saying my issues are unique — I'm saying the way I respond to them is a problem." But she just shakes her head and says, "Okay, I need to get back to my day." Full context, I'm an adult, and I live with my boyfriend, but I'm staying at my mom's for the next month. After living away from home for years, I went back to living with her during the pandemic, and I only recently left to live with him. Honestly, I think living with her for so long in my adulthood really messed with me and made me feel like a teenager all over again. I feel like my mental growth is stunted, and that's part of why my OCD is so bad lately. Not blaming, just noticing. She doesn't seem to understand how relieving the OCD diagnosis has been for me, because it explains so so so many things I've struggled with for years, and it's exciting to have more resources that can help me. But I think she sees it as me finding an excuse to *not* work on myself, which is just untrue. I'm not going to let OCD hold me back or use it as an excuse, but I'm also not going to pretend it's not a problem when I know it is — I was even diagnosed through NOCD. The whole point being to fix it, not use it as a crutch. When I have an issue, it's unbearable. Any issue, big or small, feels just the same. I feel a sinking feeling, my mind races, my heart beats out of my chest. I end up running to my support systems, crying, ruminating for days on end. Then, months later, the same exact issue can feel like nothing anymore, because it's no longer an obsession. I'm sure everyone deals with issues in a similar way, but I *know* there is something specific and debilitating going on with me. This is reassurance seeking, but in the face of being told I'm making a big deal out of nothing, can someone diagnosed with OCD tell me if they relate to the specific intensity of these feelings??

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