Hi!! Someone has obsessions related to wide open spaces and inmensity?

Like the universe? Cause I get scared of how the universe is so big

I notice things like that too, what is your fear around it?

I like your advices! What is you main ocd right now?

You are being really helpful. I’ve tried to define my obsessions and my triggers and it isn’t so clear.... if you are struggling defining them what would be your advice

Wow I haven’t checked about existential OCD but infinite seems really existential. Thanks for your help. Have you tried medication?

The thing is that I live in Colombia and here therapists aren’t well educated about ERP. But i would love to try that therapy

I’m not seeing a professional, I’ve just gotten a lot of information about it online and do it myself. Ali Greymond talks about it and there are resources on iocdf.org . There are others on YouTube that talk about it too, just look up ERP for OCD recovery

Thank you so much 0823 how old are you? How long have you been struggling with this

I’m 30 and I’ve been struggling with anxiety for 1 year. My therapist told me that I have a tendency to ocd and when I start to read I think she is totally right.

Is just like I’ve read myself. I get stuck hours and hours in google and online forums....

Hi. I know you posted this 2 years ago and you might not even have the app but I’m struggling with this exact thing rn and I’m curious to know if and how you got over it. Thanks

Like being outside and looking to things that are really far away like sky buildings on horizon mountains and stuff like that

Feeling too small. Feeling irrational things like being out of balance and floating

I experience that sometimes! I told my therapist it felt like I was floating and she thought it could be dp/dr but it wasn’t. I think the best thing to do is to just accept that we are a small part of the universe. But ask yourself what difference does that make for you? Why are you afraid of it? This is like talking back to the OCD I think?

I have pocd, contamination, and sometimes religious. Pocd is the main one right now though. Yours?

Mine Is just that.... is like it is everywhere... when I’m driving... when I’m outdoors... when I’m indoors and there is a window :(

ERP could be intentionally standing in front of the window and purposely thinking the thoughts without analyzing them or reacting. ERP really does help and it’s worth it! Remember that your thoughts don’t mean anything, they are just thoughts . We have like 50,000 of them a day!

I think the best thing to do is just not define them. Trying to analyze and define what they are may be feeding your OCD more. The exact them does not matter and there isn’t real meaning behind them, so you don’t have to define them! :) I know my themes but knowing what they are doesn’t matter to my OCD or anything. I hear what scares me and I do exposures and thought acceptance no matter what theme the thought falls into. I hope this helps! Ali Greymond on YouTube talks about OCD recovery and answers questions on her videos. She’s really amazing and can explain things much better than I can! I want you to get all the information and advice you need, so you should look her up! If you need anything else, though, please don’t hesitate to ask!

That being said, they may fall under existential OCD? I’m not sure though!

There is a way to have a direct chat here in nOCD?

Sorry about all these questions. I’m new here

That’s okay! I don’t think there’s direct chat, but I know people have been asking about it so maybe nocd will have it soon. I tried Zoloft for one night but I really didn’t like it, even though I should have stayed on longer because all medications have side effects at first I was scared though. I’ve been recovering fairly well without it though, so I don’t think it’s necessary for everyone. If it seems right for you, you can ask your doctor about them and see if it seems like a good tool for your recovery

I’m 20 and it just started like 4 or 5 months ago. But looking back I can see that I’ve had OCD symptoms for a while that I just always thought was anxiety, it makes so much more sense now. You?

Yeahh I haven’t really been diagnosed but I brought it up with a therapist once but she was just like “I don’t really wanna say you have ocd, that’s a big thing”, I was just like yeah it is, so I need help? I’ve talked to a specialist on the phone once and he was very nice and helpful. I know we can both get through this, though!

Yeah I know that too. I’ve read something and I’ve understand that was seeking for a lot of reassurance and that might trigger even worse ocd... do you have visible compulsions ?

When I feel really anxious I get the urge to google symptoms pretty bad or ruminate and analyze the problem. I seek reassurance from myself and from others stories online, but I have quit googling and watching/reading stories because I realized it was a compulsion. It’s harder to stop ruminating because it’s almost automatic, but anytime I notice myself doing I will do my best pull myself out of it.

You should slowly lessen that until you can completely stop. Sometimes it’s hard but it’s worth it

What is my primary ocd theme seems not to bother you right now. How did you accomplish that?

I heard you having a tough day today. Hope everything is ok

I think it’s just more of a secondary theme for me so it’s not as scary to me personally as my main theme. I haven’t really been dealing with OCD that long, so I don’t know why some themes stay longer than others or are more scary to the individual. And thank you , just so much stuff keeps happening it’s overwhelming. But I’m okay!