Does anyone else suffer with Sensorimotor OCD ? I am dealing with blinking obsession don’t how to accept the thought.

So for all you guys trying to combat this I can give you a tip as my Psychologist gave me when my OCD was at its peak. I too was focusing on blinking and swallowing so I feel your pain when you struggle with OCD that relates to human body functions, it’s very frustrating and annoying. As for looking at your nose because it’s part of your face it’s funny because I also went through that one also. ERP practice would suggest that rather than trying not to look at your nose or trying not to count your breath or focus on your blinking that you would challenge your self to do the exact opposite. In the book OCD anxiety, panic disorder and related depression the Author Adam who had excessive OCD to the point of near suicide explains in the book how at one part of his life when his OCD was bad he could not stop focusing on blinking and swallowing. His Psychologist that was working with him at the time would often call him many times through the day and or text just to make sure that he is absolutely thinking of blinking and swallowing!! I know this sounds like WTF but this is truly ERP 101. You all need to actually habitat your mind to blinking swallowing or staring at the top of your nose because by suppressing the thought or really trying not to focus on it or being frustrated because you’ve been staring at your nose since July will only continue to make you worried that you’ll never stop staring at your nose or blinking. Habitulize your mind and make it board of the thought. Laugh at how silly it is and actually try count your blinking to 1000 blinks if you have to or try stare at your nose for 5 hours. The point is your brain will get board of the thought, and if o know OCD you’ll eventually not care about that though that bugs you but soon find something else that does. That’s the thing about this beast OCD it jumps around. I couldn’t give two shits these days about my blinking, swallowing or my nose but my brain has now found other avenues to drive me nuts. Lol. Oh OCD ??? it truly is funny when you think about how stupid it actually is. Good luck guys Curtis

You know what the funny thing is ADT. I actually beat that bastard of blinking a while back and still from time to time I still catch my self focused on my blinking. My OCD has spiked lately again and focus on blinking is not constant for me but it does come and go through the day. Here is what I try do. Again in the upper post I suggested to try think of it as much as you can. Habitulize the obsession and try resist the compulsion . I know this is what I stated earlier but you can also try humour ! Lately I try and realize-just how fucking stupid my OCD is. When you think about how ridiculous it is to focus on your ever blink you can somewhere deep find some humour in what we do. I know it may not be funny but try dig deep and learn to laugh at yourself . It’s kinda funny because as I write this I’m focusing on my every blink lol. In the story of Adam that I listed above I had never thought of blinking and swallowing till I heard he had it then I developed it severely! Like I said I try really just brush it off and really not let it bother me. Remember Remember Remember!! The reason you can’t stop this is because you hate it so much and you just want it to stop. I hate to be the tough love guy but the the more you try suppress this behaviour-the more frequently will come and the longer it will last. You can also try what my psychologist said to do involving intrusive thoughts and eventually that is what your doing to yourself right now your telling yourself your never going to be able to stop thinking about blinking again !! Take a tape recorder there is a great free app on line and record your self saying I’m never going to stop thinking of blinking. I’m never going to stop thinking of blinking . I’m never going to stop thinking of blinking and say this for 5 min straight!! Listen to your recording 15 min a day every day. See what you’ll be doing is habitulizing the thought and eventually your mind will get board if it. Not to say that this won’t come up from time to time in your life it still does for me too , but like I said I’m really getting good at the blinking thing and it really can only affect me a few minutes at most and my mind goes somewhere else. Hey OCD fucking sucks but it’s not a death sentence which for years I thought it was. Don’t get me wrong this beast tortures me daily but the more I feed into the shit the worst I get. I have good days , and I have horrible-days. You have the power to change your mind. You have the power to change your thoughts. I know we all get so caught up in our head but focus on all the good things in your life. Again try egg on the fear when your not thinking about it because i guarantee there are times if the day your not thinking of blinking and in those times even say it out loud say come on OCD where are you ??? Come get me make me think of blinking till I’m 80 fucking years old and by doing these things often you’ll deflate the fear. You’ll see it for what it is which is nothing at all. Remember laugh at this shit, and you can even try staring in the mirror. Stare for one full hour and just count your blinks , see how long you can count of focus on your blinking because eventually you will get board of it and when it comes back unwanted, just tell it to fuck off and go on about your day. Take your power back because OCD loves to take your power, your head, and your blinks?. Best of luck stay in touch

It's horrifying, and a bit existential as well -- it makes me constantly aware of being "something other than this body" but trapped inside it, looking out, and confined by its limitations.

Thank Curtis I appreciate you commenting your comment was so very helpful to me ! ☺️??? Im going to try to think on my my blinking on purpose as an erp until anxiety lessens

Your very welcome I wish you the best let us know how it goes

You can do it ADT. I had such similar OCD symptoms they were driving me crazy!!!!!!!!!! Like I said now when I think about it or get caught up in it again I immediately almost start to laugh and try embracing the thought or in other words calling it on IE not be afraid or suppress the thought. Engage it ,accept it laugh at it and try do it as much as you can until your mind gets board and habitulizes it. Trust me it works. Don’t plan on it working immediately but practice it and I guarantee within no time at all this will not be an issue for you anymore

Welcome from me too. I find this app incredibly helpful and fun to talk to people. You can get some good laughs and more than anything for at least I get a super sense of relief when I read post that people make that is exactly how I think or feel because as you probably know when you have OCD you truly feel like you must be the worst and that no one in the world thinks this way ... that is until I discovered this great app. Again welcome.

All you have to do for this one is sit and know that the thoughts might get bigger and scarier but it doesn’t make them any more true

I do, I started with that OCD and so few people talk about it I didn’t think I actually had it and now I have ROCD too and my brain is telling me it’s not ROCD because I only had the blinking and breathing obsession and that wasn’t OCD either even though it fully triggered me

But get a therapist! Try to! I know it’s scary but it helps

I do. I can't stop noticing my eye floaters, and seeing my own nose (how you see the tip of it looking out from your own eyes -- as well as my cheeks and lips moving below). I can't get away from them because they're part of my damn face. Ha! I really hate it. Started just a few weeks ago for me.

I will hope is gone soon lol ☺️

Thank you Curtis your words give me so much hope.! I’m keeping positive i know it won’t last long . ☺️? i believe in you ??✌?

You got this !!! Kill it! Keep in touch and let us know how you make out. Fuck you OCD and the horse you rode in on to all of our lives on ! Take your power back ADT and laugh in the face of all these ridiculous thoughts because I’m all honesty when you really sit back it is kinda funny how we all think ! Best of luck

Hi Anna. It is totally silly. Google Chrissy Hogens?? I think that’s her last name. She’s got some great YouTube stuff on OCD plus she has a website where you can source out some great resources and help. She did a podcast on OCD stories which if you google OCD stories and sign up it’s $11 bucks a month and you have access to all kinds of stories of people that have recovered have written plus you have unlimited access to all podcasts and they have new ones every month. It’s pretty good stuff and a lot of what you will hear these people say you will honestly start to see some humour in it all and just how unreal we tend to think with this horrible disorder. I find the more I can laugh at this crap although sometimes it is just not funny but the more you do learn to laugh and really give it not much of a meaning or worry about it the less and less overtime it will bother you.

I am new to this app and I have to tell you it’s really teaching me some things. I also from time to time am oversensitive to my blinking. I find that if I acknowledge it I will just naturally stop thinking about it.

Hey welcome! I am also new to this app. So you are sometimes aware of your blinking as well. :( yea I still am working on accepting this thought myself.

Ok let me try find the correct spelling of her name and I’ll get back to you I’m just at work now but I’ll hop in tonight and have a look

Chrissy Hodges pure O. You tube. She’s got some great stuff

She’s great !!

This OCD is so different from a lot of themes but I think it may just be something people with OCD are kinda prone to doing. Were known to over analyze and focus intensely so the fact that we can focus so intensely on these bodily processes doesn’t shock me. I say this because I suffer from so many themes Sensorimotor Obsessions, Religious Scrupulosity, ROCD, POCD. I think as people with OCD we just over analyze and doubt a lot of aspects of our lives, sometimes even our bodily functions! ?

Thank you so so much Curtis for the message I’m gona reread your words over and over. And do some erp that you suggested for me. I’m starting therapy this coming Friday with a new therapist will see how it goes. I wish you had a Facebook so you can help others struggling with this. their is a page on sensorimotor ocd that I told you about. Their is like 41 members their now

Well maybe it’s time I join social media lol. I’m A stubborn bastard who swore up and down that it would be a cold day in hell that I step into the world of media but in all honesty I have been thinking about it a lot lately. I’m going to try and better myself by doing a challenge in which I ride my pedal bike nearly five hundred miles this summer in hopes to raise a bit of money for towards a foundation of some sort that treats patients with anxiety disorders. In order to be affective I probably need to bite the bullet and do an instagram or Facebook account FML?‍♂️. Anyways when I get the courage to do so I’ll hop on for sure. Also when I do I’ll send you my contact so you can reach out to me in a private message chat and maybe line up a phone call down the road. Keep in touch , and don’t forget to remember to keep blinking those eyes of yours as much as you can. ?

One more thing that just crossed my mind before I forget. By the way glad to hear that you’re going to be starting therapy if there is ever a type of peer support group that you can either sit in or be a part of or try involve yourself around OCD advocates and they are out there. It is super beneficial to surround yourself and listen to the strategies and struggles that other people have had. One thing I find with psychologists and nothing against them for sure but they’ve never walked the road that you and I and so many people have and for that reason I find it hard to trust all of the information that is put out there or the homework that is given. I know these are professionals and deep down I do know that they know their stuff but there is something to be said about surrounding yourself and getting information from people who have actually had or have an anxiety disorder. It makes you realize that you’re not alone and when you can see the progress that others have made in the recovery process that they have worked hard to get then it can make you trust the process more so sometimes knowing that other have come full circle rather than listening to someone who Has a university degree in psychology but has never walked the walk. I also have a psychologist and I do believe in their work but there are two sides to every coin and for me personally I get more out of talking and associating myself with people who have been down the same dark path and come out the other side. Chat soon

Thanks Ana ?

Cool I’ll call you sometime this week for a chat. Let me know what times work. Do you have an iPhone? Reason I ask is because we could do a face time. I live in Kelowna British Columbia ??

Cool I’ll give you a shout

I have been suffering with breathing/tongue/swallowing obsessions for quite a few years. There were times when I was so overwhelmed by it and then times when I have been completely fine. I have definitely found that during times of high stress in my life it has come back quite badly! For example- I did have a breathing obsession a couple of years ago when I was very stressed with not feeling like I had a good job. When I was happy I was fine, no OCD at all. Then recently after breaking up from a 5 year relationship I could see it creeping back in. Now I am feeling that dread I once felt of knowing I will be thinking about my breathing every day once again. Although, because I have been through it before and I know it is something I have previously managed (where I didn't think about it for a year or so) I feel like I trust myself that I will get better again. So for people experiencing it for the first time, I promise you will get better and learn how to manage it!! I have to say after such a big life event I was again searching for words of wisdom to help me get through it. Curtis, your message has helped me so much, knowing that you have been through something so similar to me- I feel hopeful and instantly at ease. Thank you so much ! I have also been trying what you said to laugh at it and call it out and it really has made a difference to me. I hope I can help someone else going through this, as I know it feels like such a draining and overwhelming experience which you don't think you'll ever get rid of! I promise you will get better with some of these exposure techniques!

Same here 😢

I know what you mean

Thank you for replying back to me :) Do you also have this ocd? Yea it’s pretty hard to accept the thought i started obsessing over since july

Yeah you are right it is silly!! Lol! It is just a silly thought my brain just playing tricks on me , I think of it as a glitch. My name is Ana ☺️I put ADT as my initials lol don’t know why

Hey Curtis. Yeah it sure is who would like to think about their blinking . Smh lol. Ohh really I’m gona search her up for sure! Thank you for sharing and helping me out ☺️✌?. Right now I’m following a group in Facebook called sensorimotor OCD, n their is only a few members their that’s how rare this ocd is which is a good thing because I believe it can be cure. I also been seeing mirtica mindfulness in YouTube , it’s a guy call Michael he is very knowledgeable in sensorimotor since he went thru it himself as well. You should join the group in fb ☺️

Wow thanks for the tips. Unfortunately I’m not on FB otherwise I’d say hell ya I’m in. I’m probably one of the few left on planet earth that does not participate in social media, well I guess except apps like this one that we’re using. I’ll look this stuff up because it does interest me and the more information the better. Also FYI I just read a post and this one person bought and is reading a book called brain lock. 4 step to free yourself from OCD. Sounds like it might be a good read , or maybe on audibles for a listen. Anyways keep in touch

Aww really You should !!lol u can always delete fb oh yes I have this book I haven’t finish it completely I’m barely in chpt 1 but I should continue to finish reading it☺️ i heard is a good helpful read. Thank you yes will keep in touch here for sure !

Hey Curtis I tried to google Chrissy Hogens, but couldn’t find her;(

Ok sounds good! Thank you Curtis ☺️

Thank you! Il see a few of her videos tonight . I think u misspelled her last name wrong lol

Maybe that’s why I couldn’t find her

I have sensorimotor ocd to they says is by far the worse it can be very distressing. ;( I agree people with ocd so analyze a lot, lol

Hey Curtis help! I’m still thinking bout my blinking what other erp should I do.

Yah true, I have become friends with so many in the sensorimotor ocd group in fb we can all relate. And we message each other it’s very helpful. Yes that will be so cool if you did I hope you do create one, you don’t always have to be in social media lol if you don’t want to . you have very helpful comments. my name is Ana Díaz ☺️✌? Yea i been doing that a lot as my erp ??thank you

I’ll call you Ana.

I live in San Francisco California ?☺️

I am struggling with this right now. Curtis I am wondering if you are still on this platform?