- Date posted
- 5y
- Date posted
- 5y
Reading what specifically?
- Date posted
- 5y
Yes! It’s difficult to even get through a few sentences or sometimes even a sentence without an intrusive thought disrupting my flow of reading. I’m just starting out with therapy so I don’t have any great solutions, but I found that if you try to accept the thought as just a thought, as well as the uncertainty of it, it helps a lot! Good luck! Out of curiosity, what are you reading? Is it for school?
- Date posted
- 5y
I love to read!!! Sometimes I go to read a book but the topic is too similar to my life or relates to something uncomfortable and I usually put it down, and my OCD tells me not to read it or something bad will happen...but I have tried to make a habit of circling back to it and usually by the third time I pick it up i'm able to read it. I was always taught to not do things that make me uncomfortable, so the OCD tries to win and beat me. I'm trying more to sit with the discomfort and tell myself its it's just the ocd....usually it works but not always.... Then I get really proud of myself once I have read something uncomfortable and then its it's not as scary
- Date posted
- 5y
I am so happy you are learning to sit with that discomfort, despite what you were taught. It can be difficult to unlearn things like that, but it definitely sounds like you're doing a great job :) I love reading too!!! I honestly have more of a problem not trusting my own memory, so i tend to overthink when i read and re-read paragraphs and sentences multiple times. It's interesting how OCD can manifest in so many different ways, even if it's around similar things!
- Date posted
- 5y
Reading anything really! Like I find for me I don't trust my memory and have to go back and re-read things... I also find intrusive thoughts will interrupt and I will have to start a sentence all over again, or else I won't like remember it properly or something? it takes me like forever to read. currently I'm trying to read a chemistry chapter for school and it's not going so hot unfortunately... trying not to beat myself up about it! :)
- Date posted
- 5y
Same here! Trying to understand covalent bonds.
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- 5y
You know, I have just bought one thousand and one nights. I remember one time that OCD was really bugging me, and I took it and read a few pages. It always helps to escape to some kind of fantasy world where your problems are nothing.
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- 5y
That's a great idea! Maybe I will switch between reading chemistry and reading that. I'm honestly just not really interested in chemistry which makes it harder I find, but maybe I can trick my brain into being engaged in a book that interests me first, and maybe the flow will carry over! I find the pressure of having to read the chapters or I won't understand the content kind of fuels the OCD behaviours if that makes sense
- Date posted
- 5y
@EMMaaaa It does! And yeah chemistry isn't the best subject. But it depends, is studying chemistry an urgent matter for you? If so, you can check out crash course on youtube. If not, try and buy some nice books! Also I don't know how one thousand and one nights is in English because I'm Egyptian and I read it in Arabic. But you have harry potter, lord of the rings, a lot of novels really.
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- 5y
@HopefullyOptimistic Yes I love Harry Potter! Maybe I will try reading Lord of the Rings, the movies are amazing!! Also crash course is a life saver tbh lol
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- 5y
@EMMaaaa Yeah! I always try and listen to some music, it helps a lot. What's your favorite artist?
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- 5y
@HopefullyOptimistic Whoops! Who's?
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- 5y
@HopefullyOptimistic My favourite artist has got to be Green Day ? I love punk, but I've also been super into Gorillaz lately as well! Who is yours? :)
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- 5y
@Emmaaaahh I love Gorillaz! But my all time favorite has to be the Weeknd. Green day are awesome too! If you're talking about bands then Maroon 5.
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- 5y
@HopefullyOptimistic Omg Maroon 5 is the best I feel like I know all their songs ? the Weeknd is awesome too do you have any songs by them that you recommend? I haven't heard a whole lot by them to be honest but it sounds like you have a great taste in music!!
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- 5y
@Emmaaaahh Aww thank you! If I have to pick, I'll choose Call Out My Name, Starboy, and Earned It. His other songs are great too, especially collabs.
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- 5y
@HopefullyOptimistic Oh and one more song, called Sidewalks. He's with Kendrick Lamar on this one.
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- 5y
I have to read for school a lot right now since I'm having my finals exams and it's really bad when I have to stop every 5 minutes :(
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- 5y
Yeah I feel you :( it's really interfering with my studies right now and I'm scared cuz finals are coming up soon!
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- 5y
@EMMaaaa My finals are ongoing a d I'm here having a bad anxiety attack with my HOCD :(
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- 5y
I agree!!! And as soon as I think i have it all figured out...it shows up somewhere else!!!! Thanks for your post. It's always nice to talk to others that understand OCD;)
Related posts
- Date posted
- 23w
So I am a practicing Catholic, and I've gotten into reading the Bible this year, praying the Rosary, things like that, and while I love to do that, my OCD has been seeming to take over, in ways such as like I have to read the Bible for a certain amount of time before I'm satisfied with the time read, or something along those lines, and it's starting to make the thought of praying and reading the Bible unenjoyable, which is really hurting me inside, because I used to and want to enjoy it so bad, but now this is making it really hard to, because it feels like I don't have control over my own thoughts, and little things trigger the thoughts, it's just so annoying. If there's anything anyone thinks I can do to combat this please let me know.
- Date posted
- 17w
Just stumbled across this app/community. I've been struggling with just right or perfectionist OCD for several years. Im 47 and I've had a pretty successful life, ironically because of some of my OCD traits; attention to detail, organization, perseverance, etc. But about 4-5 years ago, without any specific trigger, I started noticing more... let's call them errors. Errors in just about everything. These errors led to compulsive behaviors to "fix" them. Place the can down again, "right" this time. That piece of trash didn't land "right" in my trash bin, take it out and do it again. But really it started happening because of me physically touching or manipulating things, or really anything that involved fine motor control. Picking things up/placing down, turning switches, knobs on/off, opening/closing doors, cupboards, cabinets, using a mouse, putting on and taking off clothes, brushing teeth/hair, drying my body after a shower, pressing buttons on my phone, buttons on my shirt, pants zippers, etc. I mean, you name it. I've never had the type of classical OCD where I obsessively washed bc I was worried about germs or intrusive thoughts about my family dying. I had anxiety about the compulsing itself, or specifically avoiding certain actions so I wouldn't start compulsing. So I was kind of lost for awhile. Then I'll never forget reading this article about just right OCD and getting tears in my eyes. It was a point of some validation that others had similar symptom clusters or patterns. Not that I'd wish these compulsions on anyone! I've started seeing a therapist and taking an SSRI. Don't really like the therapist and I don't really feel like the medication works. Plus I don't like the side effects. Night sweats and sexual side effects. But, I have had some moderate success with different types of mental tricks. Essentially some self taught ERP. Little mantras I use like "not down, but forward" as in stop slowing down and laser focusing on every step, every detail and move forward, physically and mentally. Remembering that compulsions come with the idea that they provide comfort or a good feeling, when in reality, moving through a chore or task without compulsions or repetitive behavior is f**king amazing. Remember and chase that feeling. Watching the uncomfortable feeling float away or specifically identifing that feeling where my mind wants to stop and restart a motion of or an action and ignoring it to "rewire" my thinking. And distraction. Distraction is a big one too. Those are a couple of things that have worked for me. Im by no means better... I still struggle every day. And it's exhausting. This disease makes me feel so stupid and it's embarrassing and frustrating. But I've had some glimmers of hope lately and i KNOW that i can overcome it. Get back to the ass kicker in life, and with my family, and in the gym, and at work, that i know is inside of me still. Anyway, I think typing some of my journey out has been helpful so thanks for reading.
- Date posted
- 17w
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