anxiety

Does anyone else's OCD just randomly flare up for no reason? Sometimes I don't even get an intrusive thought, I just feel this weird angst like something's wrong. And then that feeling latches onto whatever subtype is hitting me hardest right then. And it always involves me being a bad person. Once it grabs on, it sticks for weeks. It eventually calms down, only to come back again during those random moments of angst. Also, if I'm feeling anxious about something specific, like an exam or holidays, that anxiety stops being connected to its actual cause and just latches onto my OCD subtypes instead.

Anonymous

Date posted: Yesterday

Yes, no thoughts sometimes just dread or panic which makes determine a trigger complicated

beaaaeffghjh...

Date posted: Yesterday

@Anonymous i hate it so much

JS55555

Date posted: Yesterday

This is where ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) can be utilized instead or ERP.

beaaaeffghjh...

Date posted: Yesterday

@JS55555 oh I’ve never heard of that before! gonna look it up

JS55555

Date posted: 12h

@beaaaeffghjhhggf Yeah the core principal of ACT is that you basically try your best to go about your life as if you don't have OCD as much as possible, even when it is screaming at you. I like it because identifying the trigger is not as important and I like how it drills into you that content doesn't matter; it is the actual mechanism that is not functioning properly in the brain that causes the disorder. Instead of focusing on specific thoughts, it focuses on reducing time spent doing compulsions. It is emerging but it does need to be used combined with ERP for the best recovery

JS55555

Date posted: Yesterday

Yes definately! All of yesterday was spent anxious for no reason for me. It is because our brains have a panic system that gets stuck on often I always say that my stress during scary/sad situations manifests in ocd. One time I saw a deer get hit on the road. I didn't like to see that because I don't like to watch things get killed, but I was able to move on pretty quickly and continue with my day by kind of suppressing it. A few hours later my ocd came back for the first time in a while. Since then, whenever something like this happens, I warn myself that I am more susceptible to ocd and prepare accordingly. My old therapist said that he thinks that ocd itself can be a form of avoidance from daily life stressors like exams. Not sure what I think of that, as my ocd spikes come with anxiety that is much more extreme than everyday stressors, but I think there might at least be something to what he said

beaaaeffghjh...

Date posted: Yesterday

@JS55555 Omg I'm sorry about the deer incident. My therapist says exactly the same thing. And I feel confused by it too, because as you said, whatever my mind comes up with is way worse than the real thing I'm actually dealing with. But I think I kind of agree with her. I feel like my mind is just trying to escape the anxiety, not really looking for something terrifying on purpose. It's like it reaches for anything to distract itself, and then accidentally stumbles into something way more horrible. I don't think we're trying to create a monster, I think we're just trying not to feel the original discomfort. But somehow the obsessive mind ends up finding something worse without even meaning to.

JS55555

Date posted: 12h

@beaaaeffghjhhggf Thank you and honestly that is a very good way to put that! I could definitely see the brain stumbling upon that accidentally in a way. Another anology I use is the gas in room anology. Some days I just feel like there is a bunch of gas in my head and a little spark that would normally go unnoticed could ignite the whole thing. Also "fun" fact I came up with that anology when I had a huge ocd fear that maybe there was a gas leak in my house and it could catch on fire. It is amazing what OCD does. I have begun to notice that sometimes when I am having a very bad spiral, I will get an itch somewhere. I will itch it, and then another one will pop up and the cycle will repeat. Not sure if it it OCD but it is weird.

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