- Date posted
- 5y
- Date posted
- 5y
- Date posted
- 5y
Thank you so much Katie. I have never seen my “sub type” of ocd explained since clearly. Nor has any counselor specifically identified it as such. Hard to read, but spot on. Couldn’t be more grateful.
- Date posted
- 5y
@Dutchy You're welcome ?
- Date posted
- 5y
I’ve had this same one, I didn’t think anyone else did too
- Date posted
- 5y
Reassuring to hear that. I too have found that it’s perhaps a bit more uncommon, having said that, ocd is a devious beast and is effective at preying on deep anxieties. Appreciate your comment
- Date posted
- 5y
What strategies helped you overcome the other fears?
- Date posted
- 5y
Good question. A combination of CBT and medication, both of which tailed off around my mid-twenties. Particularly, methods to accept the anxiety/uncertainty and delay compulsions. Reading and delving deep into the research and literature around ocd was also a huge piece of the puzzle. Schwartz’s book “Brain lock” was a particularly powerful tool. Unfortunately it’s as if part of my brain/me now seems to recognize these strategies and finds new ways to entangle my mind. Accepting that it’s a process and there’s no magic date when everything will be “fixed” has also (paradoxically) helped very much indeed.
- Date posted
- 5y
@Dutchy What kind of thoughts are in the entangled knot?
- Date posted
- 5y
@NOCD Advocate - Katie The thoughts in the entangled knot are the ones around me not being the best person I can be. These are triggered by meeting people who I find morally or behaviorally confronting with their actions or behaviors (it could be a parent yelling uncontrollably at their child for example). The sort of things where close friends might say to me, “oh you mean people that give you the creeps or disgust you”. The difference being for me that when I inadvertently think of e.g. that parent in the aforementioned example, or ‘see’ their face in my thoughts, I have an urge to perform compulsions to “prevent” any part of that bad character rubbing off on me. The trigger being “what if, somehow, just by thinking about them you pick up these “bad” behaviors. Then I get entangled for minutes or hours on end
- Date posted
- 5y
@Dutchy May I link you to an article?
- Date posted
- 5y
@NOCD Advocate - Katie Yes please, that would be great!
Related posts
- Date posted
- 17w
Hello, I’m new to this app. I’ve always had an anxious brain, and I’ve had coping mechanisms for as long as I can remember. When I was a kid, from as early as I could spell, until I was probably early teens, I would constantly write words in my head along to the beat of music. It’s such a vivid memory because I never stopped doing it. The word had to perfectly match up to the lyric and I loved that it kept my brain busy. I grew out of that, but felt like good context. My anxiety increased drastically around ages 17-19, and I began therapy. I was diagnosed with generalized anxiety and panic disorder, due to having a panic attack nearly every day at that time. I overcame that as well, and now the panic attacks are every now and then, but the anxiety is constant, and some recent symptoms have led me to believe I might have some form of OCD. Maybe not. I’m trying to understand myself and get better so I joined this app to make sense of things. Lately I’ve been having really intense intrusive thoughts. I’m really embarassed and they make me feel like a bad person. Thoughts pop in my head seemingly out of nowhere. It will be an image of me harming myself or someone else in a really bad way. (Trigger warning) for example the other day I couldn’t shake the image of me putting a knife through my own forehead, although it’s not something I want to do. Or I’ll imagine someone killing me. I imagine my loved ones dying often. The thoughts feel so out of my control it’s insane. I hate them. Another persistent issue that isn’t as new is replaying social scenarios. I’m a hairstylist so this one is difficult since I meet a bunch of new people every day. I obsess over how I act and if people like me. I will impulsively say things all the time and they will haunt me for weeks. I question even my closest friends and family who show their love. I find myself so angry and numb and like I have so much built up emotion and a busy mind always. While doing my job I spiral really badly if any little thing goes wrong and it’s embarassing. I know there’s more but I can’t think of it now. I just want to feel better and like I’m not constantly battling my mind.
- Date posted
- 11w
Hello! I’m new here. Unfortunately I’m not able to afford a therapist but I’ve been doing a lot of research and I think a lot of my symptoms/thoughts align with OCD. I want to share some of what I experience and see if anyone else experiences the same and what resources helped you. I think I mostly experience contamination OCD. I’m constantly worried that something I do/touch is going to make me really sick and/or die. Especially with food, I’m constantly worried that I’ll accidentally have something on my hands when I eat, then I’ll touch the food and get that on the food, eat it and get sick. So I’ll wash my hands every time my hands touch any little tiny thing again and again before I eat, same with any forks/spoons, or I’ll even think I touched cleaner a few hours ago and I’ve washed my hands several times since then and I just washed them again but they still feel dirty so even if impractical I’ll use a fork and if my hands touch the part of the fork that touches the food then I can’t eat the food any longer or use that fork. Also at work I have these thoughts that I know are ridiculous but also give me very real anxiety. Like “if I don’t finish this order before that machine beeps its a sign I’m going to die” and then I have to rush to make sure I finish fast and then I’ll be like ok that’s so stressful I’m not going to think like that any more it’s ridiculous but then the thoughts keep coming back so I have to keep rushing. This is just a little tad bit of what I experience and I would love to hear from others as I haven’t met anyone else like me before. Thank you!
- Date posted
- 11w
Hi everyone, my name is Kendal and I am new here, although I do not believe I am new to OCD in the SLIGHTEST. Im about to leave my 20s behind and begin a new chapter of my life. Everyone says your 30s are suppose to be the best right? I am proud of myself for making a huge step forward, before the beginning of this new chapter. I’ve been experiencing symptoms of OCD for as long as I can remember. These feelings, thoughts, compulsions have been existing with me since middle school. They’ve manifested in many many different ways throughout the years, and continue to evolve as I get older. I’ve experienced emetophobia, obsessive thoughts about passing out or getting sick in front of people, contamination OCD, white coat syndrome and the newest culprit… Harm OCD. In middle school, it was extremely hard to understand WHY I felt the way I felt, and experienced the intense anxieties that I did. Over the years I kind of just put up with these thoughts and feelings of uneasiness.. and thought it was just regular ol’ anxiety. Recently the harm OCD came through, triggered by a traumatic event. Lemme tell ya… if you’ve ever experienced harm OCD… I am terribly sorry. It’s absolutely horrifying. It scared me so badly, to the point of actually seeking professional help. During that extreme anxiety inducing time, I was also terrified to tell a professional what was happening to me. I started with telling my husband first. What a RELIEF! I learned that telling someone made me feel so much better so I thought, man… I wonder what telling a professional would do for me? RELIEF!!!!! She helped me realize that yes this is a very very real thing people experience daily. She’s suggested therapy to pair with medication. I’ve given the medication about a year to do its thanggg and goodness, what a difference. I wish I got help earlier but hindsight is 20/20. This is me, now ready to implement therapy. I’m ready to gain a better understanding, collect coping skills and chat with people who have had similar experiences. Thinking you’re alone in OCD is incredibly isolating and scary. I am happy to finally realize I am not alone.
Be a part of the largest OCD Community
Share your thoughts so the Community can respond