grap333
- Date posted
- 5y
JonasJonas
- Date posted
- 5y
Absolutely! I have trauma from being shocked at work (I am an electrical apprentice) and it has activated the worst OCD I’ve had since I was a kid. I cannot accept the lights/outlets I’ve installed are safe) or that equipment I’m working on is de-energized. I check and check again. It’s making me work slower and perform worse. At home I sit and ponder if the work I’ve put in is exploding or causing fires while I’m not there. I am afraid it’s not worth pursuing the career anymore but I’m so close to being licensed and I have done so much school it would be such a waste.
Sunrise22Sunrise22
- Date posted
- 5y
You’d be better off continuing the work and avoiding the checking (both physical and mental) that you’re doing. Let your work become your exposure therapy. The reason I say this is that experts say that the way to recover from OCD is to keep living a life according to your values. For you, that would be continuing what you started and have almost finished. Also, chances are that your OCD would latch onto something else if it weren’t this, so leaving will just make you feel defeated and frustrated.
JonasJonas
- Date posted
- 5y
@Sunrise22 Thank you very much for the insightful advice. You are spot on about OCD latching on to some other aspect of my life. I can think of other obsessions I have that have nothing to do with work and would not be affected by me quitting. I wish I had the knowledge to help with your trauma. If the abuser lives in the same rural area as you that must be very difficult and anxiety inducing thinking you could go to the grocery store and run into them. Would it help if every time you left to go in public you could go over a plan in your head in case you do see this person? Planning exactly what you’ll say or how you’ll react might make it less traumatic? But maybe an expert would say that’s not the best advice and really you should work on not being re-traumatized by the idea of seeing them again. I really hope you can get help at home or through this app!
Sunrise22Sunrise22
- Date posted
- 5y
@rewho Thank you for your kind words! Fortunately I live across the country from my ex, so no worries about running into him ??
Sunrise22Sunrise22
- Date posted
- 5y
YES!!! You’re the first person I’ve seen comment about this. My theme is specifically regarding someone who abused me and fear of being in contact with them again. It makes exposure challenging because scripting involves basically re-traumatizing myself over and over. Because I’m in a rural area, there are limited trauma specialist and no OCD specialists that I’ve found, so unfortunately I’m working towards overcoming this on my own.
grap333grap333
- Date posted
- 5y
i feel you. it's difficult when OCD and trauma intersect. hard to tell where one ends and the other begins. a big theme for me has been keeping myself from experiencing the abuse again. things like, "if i breathe a certain way they won't hurt me" or "i have to have the exact right facial expression and body language or else they're going to abuse me" I've gotten alot better about it though. I live in a pretty big city and it's STILL so difficult to find ERP therapy. ugh
FathomableFathomable
- Date posted
- 5y
Yep, a lot of my themes are linked to traumas or developed after trauma. It's actually pretty debilitating.
Star-LordStar-Lord
- Date posted
- 5y
I used to get bullied and fight a lot as a kid and together with low self esteem, it has effected me a lot.
ThreeLittleBirdsThreeLittleB...
- Date posted
- 5y
Yes
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- Date posted
- 23w
OCD/Trauma/Depression
Hi everyone. I haven't posted on here in quite in some time. I'm hesitant to post but I'm battling some things that are compounding onto each other. I've had ocd since 15 I'm 30 now..I feel it's still there but much better than years ago. Currently though I'm really struggling with depression and trauma too. Atleast I believe it's trauma and my psychiatrist saw some indicators. Long story short I was in a relationship with a narcissist and I'm still recovering. I feel my nervous system is still kinda on fight or flight. I've learned that our bodies very much stores trauma. Alongside this I'm pretty critical of my appearance and my self esteem is not so great. I've been putting myself out there more and socializing but I can't shake this feeling of being stuck in an endless loop. It's hard to tell what to tackle. It's difficult for me..I don't know if ocd treatment is for me or more so trauma based therapy. I think there is some overlap..any advice or feedback would be appreciated. A side note I've done ERP in the past and I've been to treatment centers such as mclean. I feel like I need a community because I feel pretty alone but I'm having trouble putting one foot in front of the other.
Lorrielle
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 13w
How has your trauma shaped your OCD?
I feel like after years of living in survival mode from various back to back traumas, I don’t know how to turn off my brain. It’s always in some sort of overstimulated cycle of overthinking, rumination, self checking, and seeking reassurance. I know there will be more peace after treatment. But just hating like I’m stuck in always feeling like I’m waiting for the next shoe to drop when so many shit things have happened to me early in life. How am I suppose to be excited about what’s next?
Joe87
- Date posted
- 11w
Where did your OCD come from?
So I have been trying to work out over the past 5 years where my OCD come from and have began to realise that ruminating on where it comes from is actually a compulsion in itself. I believe mine come from having a low self esteem and a lot of stress in my life at that time. I then attended talking therapy to try and understand my feelings and intrusive thoughts and all this did was fuel the OCD further because trying to assign meaning to the thoughts is actually the opposite of what we should do. Does anyone else feel like they know what triggered there OCD?
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