My boyfriend of almost two years just broke up with me. I’m hurting a lot and the ocd has skyrocketed because of it, especially since I haven’t been feeling the best already. I also always have a physical reaction to stress, and have been dealing with feeling sick all night. Does anyone have any tips or advice for how to deal with this?

Yes break ups can be so hard to begin with, but for those of us with OCD it can be even more difficult, I am so sorry you're going through this. Rumination is a big issue of mine with OCD and breakups and I play conversations and the break up over again in my head or out loud to be "sure" how things happened. All I can say is, is you do this kind of ruminating too, then try your best to catch yourself and realize what you're doing and say "oh hi OCD! Caught you" and find something else to distract you and get you off of it- for at least a few seconds or minutes. Stay strong!

Break ups can be so hard, and with OCD it makes it harder because of the change in routine. Let yourself feel hurt and scared and anything else you feel, but don’t let it control you. Some tips for stress could be meditation, walking, taking up a new hobby, and drinking chamomile tea. I’ve recently started having a cup of chamomile tea before bed every night and I can actually feel it warm up and calm my body. Try to find the positives in the break up, I know that seems so impossible! But give yourself some time to heal, and then look for positives. The relationship wasn’t working with this guy, but that just brings you one step closer to finding where you truly belong.

Yes— drink water, eat bread. It’s dull enough to not upset your stomach but gives you just enough to keep going. Avoid caffeine and alcohol. And the biggest one for me: yoga. Specifically finding a “yoga with Adrienne” session on YouTube that sounds like it will make me feel better- they always do. The stretching is like a massage on your body in all the places you hold on to the hurt. Feel better ?

The water and bread is more a suggestion if you lost your appetite, which is what I’m dealing with and I’m pretty sure I’m in the pre-realizing you need to break up- phase of my 2 yr relationship. Or it’s ROCD. No clue. But can’t eat.

Im sorry you’re feeling that. I think the true meaning of your feelings usually becomes known at some point- it helped me to think about what I wanted from a relationship, and if my partner was giving me those things or at least was willing to change.