Specialized therapy is an essential part of managing OCD, and it can be even more effective when paired with other strategiesāfrom mindfulness, to exercise, to spending time with friends. If there's a tip, a habit, a resource, a tool, or something else that's helped you manage your OCD in addition to therapy, share it below!
Intrusive thoughts are not your fault, what matters is your reaction to them
Honestly my best tip is do the opposite of whatever your ocd wants you to do, because each time you manage to sit with the uncertainty you get stronger and you ocd gets weaker.
@HoneyBearMer spiting the ocd works? that's clever
Figure out what your values are. Who do *you* want to be? (Not what your ocd wants you to be) This helps me stay motivated to keep pushing back on my OCD ā and it helps me distinguish between my OCD and myself and then figure out what the real me wants to do in situations.
@Hobbit omg thank you for this
@LouLouDaki18 Yay glad itās helpful!
I dunno about others But I play rough. Tolerating dirt and messy stuff like embracing it expecting the worst than it really is. I find this technique a game changer š
@Coco BanAnA i love being in the dirt so much lol i did a whole field study on soil for one of my classes last year and love digging for cool rocks
When you have OCD, you take every catastrophic thought as if it is true. When you come to realize that a thought is just a thought, that it is one possible circumstance out of a million, it takes some of the fear away. When you realize that God is sovereign over what happens to, and is within You to help you, that also takes the punch out of an OCD thought.
At times you gotta bring OCD for the ride because you have things that need to get done. And disregard it screaming at you while youāre doing the driving.
Not engaging in the compulsions. I went to a group for health anxiety one time and they said that by not engaging with compulsions you can eliminate up to 85% of the obsessions.
Refuse to criticise or berate yourself for thoughts, feelings or for even when you have done a compulsion. You are not your thoughts or feelings and did not choose to have ocd happening to you. This really helped me to accept uncertainty as I was no longer dealing with as much shame, embarrassment or self criticism. I could sit with anxiety.
Find a distraction that works instantly, for me, I click a button (like the top of a pen, the buttons on my AirPods) and I snap back to whatever is going on besides my OCD
Non Engagement Responses!!! šš»š
A mindfulness meditation practice has been a game changer for me. Even just 10-15 mins a day several times a week helps me seperate myself from my thoughts. Itās like building strength so that I can do the erps and non formal exposures more regularly throughout the day.
Act according to your value, not your OCD obsessions. Find your purpose and passion. Strengthening the neurological bond between you and your true purpose and passion, which automatically weakens the bond between you and OCD obsessions.
MY OCD TIPS: - Delay rumination (although this can become a problem on its own because in a way it keeps the habit of delaying a daily thing) - Get to the Core Fears - Stop drinking all caffeine, only do decaf - For anxiety, try magnesium glycinate and vitamin B. This calmed down my nervous system but it didn't stop the OCD - Exercise - Recognize "oh this is probably an OCD thing going on right now." Just knowing that gives perspective, even if the theme is something that he feels he *needs* to do *right now.* Even if something is an issue or dilemma, even if something is super scary, even if something is triggering, there is NO MANDATE that says we have to FREAK OUT about it. We can choose how to response, we can choose to try to calm our nervous system down and "fight or flight" response. You have more control over these things than you realize.
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