- Date posted
- 5y
- Date posted
- 5y
Hi Naeun, Sounds rough, know that there is a large community of people who are going through, have been through the same thing (me to). NOCD looks like a good service, I cant access it where I am in NZ, I can really recommend this book https://www.amazon.com/Overcoming-Harm-OCD-Mindfulness-Unwanted-ebook/dp/B07B92CR9D
- Date posted
- 5y
This book is GREAT for Harm OCD, I’ve read it myself & cannot explain how much it helped me. Love love love Jon Hershfield!
- Date posted
- 5y
Have you thought of going back to therapy but with an OCD specialist?
- Date posted
- 5y
Will I ever live a happy life without intrusive thoughts bothering me or what ?
- Date posted
- 5y
I can’t stay w this again like last time I just can’t. Back in 2017 was my darkest fears and I can’t stop
- Date posted
- 5y
It’s hard to go a therapist during corona esp and idk my mind keeps telling me that a therapist will throw me on meds for the easier route
- Date posted
- 5y
Hello!! I think we are sort of in the same situation...isn’t it funny how we all think we’re the only ones in the world we who deals with this when in reality there’s an entire community of people experiencing the same thing! 3 years ago was a really bad OCD spell for me, it went away (also had a really bad therapist though), and 3 years later it came back! This time around I decided to see an OCD Specialist & it is one of the best decisions I’ve made. Sure I get anxious spells with my Harm OCD & other subtypes but they generally go away a looottttt faster. I feel like I can cope with it now- for life. You can live peacefully with OCD, so many people do, you are no different! I promise you that ocd treatment helps. Meds do too, but if that’s not your thing, ERP itself has shown to significantly improve people’s quality of life.
- Date posted
- 5y
@catmom ... has reading this book got rid of ur harm ocd completely?
- Date posted
- 5y
I think you’re misunderstanding the goal of OCD treatment/recovery. It’s not to get rid of the intrusive thoughts completely- that’s impossible bc even people without OCD get intrusive thoughts. Getting better is when you have an intrusive thought but the anxiety it causes it lessened by a tenfold, it doesn’t cause us to ruminate or stress over it or figure it out for hours or days. It sort of just exists in our heard without ruining our day. That’s the goal. And no, the book itself did not, but it has a lot of tips that helped me & it also helps you understand what you’re going through a lot more which is great! I recommend it greatly :)
- Date posted
- 5y
The book helped me to better understand the condition and the tricks that ot plays, it has helped with my tool kit for dealing with OCD. My goal is shifting from getting rid of it to accepting it and giving it space in side me. Underneath all of the bullying its actually just a broken Amigdala trying to warn me of dangers that don't exist. It hasn't been easy but I'm making strong recovery. ERP story writing is now boring for me
Related posts
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 23w
Hi guys! I had really bad harm ocd about 2 years ago and I went through therapy and eventually got really good at handling it when it would pop up. The other day, I was scrolling on TikTok and came across a girl talking about a guy who was presenting a lot of schizophrenic symptoms but no one paid attention and got him help, he was having a lot of delusions, hallucinating, thinking everyone was out to get him, thought he was Jesus and his dad was the president and ended up doing horrific things. The day after that, I was dealing with some work drama and had the thought of “what if all my coworkers are against me and trying to get me fired”. That really stressed me out, cause I don’t normally think about them like that and I went down a rabbit hole of thinking that was the beginning of me developing schizophrenia, ended up googling stuff all night, taking tests, crying and seeking reassurance. I had a thought the other day “your dad is the president”, this one didn’t stress me out as bad as I knew it was just the video I had seen and it was an intrusive thought about it, and I also didn’t believe it. Today I was with some friends and I got a prize at a place we went and it said “lonely” on it. I do have my moments of feeling lonely and this week has been specifically trying so I had a thought like “oh someone’s out to get me cause I got this”. I know this isn’t logical and it wouldn’t make sense to just randomly get it if someone was truly after me and it was just a stupid prize at a random place, anyone could’ve gotten it. Im just struggling a lot with schizophrenic OCD and thinking I’m in the pre stages of it. In my good moments, I don’t think I am at all and it was all just sparked from the video I watched but in my bad moments, these thoughts feel real!! They really stress me out and make me feel like I’m going to lose my mind causing me to lose my job/ end up in a psych hospital/ never live a normal life/ end up alone, never see me my loved ones/ hurt my loved ones. I just want to feel normal and not like I’m about to lose my mind and everything I care about. Please help!!! Anyone else going through something similar and can help me get through this!
- Date posted
- 21w
(Long post warning) Hi, I’ve been struggling with severe OCD for six years now. it started in 2019 with my theme being getting sick/emetophobia. it devastated my life. I almost didn’t graduate high school from it. I remember washing my hands for three hours one day until they were nearly bloody while crying and asking why I could not stop doing it. I remember id have to write and rewrite sentences when I did my English homework and that’s why I nearly failed that class. I remember how I would spend up to thirty minutes to an hour pacing the halls of my apartment while my mom was asleep until I neutralized the thoughts about throwing up and I could finally go to bed. I don’t know when it happened, but my theme switched. Sometimes in late 2020 or early 2021, it switched to POCD. It started with a single thought, and I focused on it and it’s been my theme since then for four years. It has been absolutely destroying me. I feel so disgusted and lost and just tired. My compulsions are severe now. I thought they were bad before, but now they’re ten times worse. I can’t eat, drink, change my clothes, walk, or even do things on my phone normally. I’ve developed so many mental compulsions that it’s so intricate and complicated yet at the same time I’ve done them so much that they’ve become normal. An example I have is if im putting on a shirt and I have a “bad” thought, I have to take it off and put it back on two more times (that’ll make it 3 times I put the shirt back on - odd numbers are my safe number). I have to have a good thought on the third time otherwise I have to take it off and put it on two more times to make it five times I put on that shirt. If not that then I just put on a different shirt because the original is now tainted with my bad thought. I can’t open apps on my phone. It’s with the numbers again. If I open TikTok once while having a bad thought - I have to close it and open it two more times and so on. Sometimes I do it up to 30 times. So I just don’t do things usually. I don’t turn on the TV because I know I’ll redo it. I don’t open a book or grab it off my shelf because I’ll have to repeat the action. I can’t even lay in bed without getting up and redoing it even if im exhausted. I just feel so helpless. I don’t know what to do. I feel disgusting and even now my minds screaming at me that I am dirty and what I think is true. I just wish I was free of this, I wish I could just live my life. I’ve wasted hours and days because of my compulsions. I mask it so well around my friends. I don’t do them in front of anyone or I’ve learned to hide it well. But when im back home alone, it goes haywire. I just want to live again.
- Date posted
- 17w
This is going to sound crazy but I guess I am. For over a year now I’ve suffered from ocd. And I always thought ocd was just I turned the door the wrong way but it’s so much more. I feel as if I’ll never get better. I’m in a relationship, for 8 months now with the most encouraging and supportive boyfriend ever. I tell him all of my thoughts and he understands and accepts because he understands it’s not thoughts I mean to have. I feel so awful being the way I am and being with him. I feel like I can’t be happy because it’s always something going on with me. He has a bigger family all boys, and everyone I hangout with my boyfriend and his brothers I get uncomfortable and weird and convince myself I have feelings for them or I want them. It makes me so disgusted and physically ill every time. The thoughts never go away and it’s not even about them it’s tons of things. I cry constantly because I can’t get the thoughts to go away. I can’t hang out with anybody out of fear I’ll have a thought I don’t want. I feel like I’m so alone. A year ago I felt the same way about my dad which I know is absolutely disgusting and I would never have feelings for my own family and dad, bit thoughts pop into my head. I don’t know if it’s because my brain wants a reason and answer as to why I think those things so I tell myself I like them, but I can’t shake it. I’m trying medicines and hopefully getting into therapy soon. I just don’t know if it ever is going to get better. Some days are better than others and every time I have a bad thought I get heat flashes and and my stomach hurts and I get anxiety and I just want it all to go away. I hate it so much and I feel as if I’ll never be normal again and never be able to live my life freely. I have to constantly worry about what my brain might come up with. These are not thoughts I want to have but somehow my brain has them and I feel so disgusted and I need help so badly. I never know what to do and i feel like an awful human being. I convince myself these things are try when I know they aren’t deep down. I’m losing my charachter and I’m losing myself and the person I know I am which would never have thoughts like these. I want it all to go away. Please tell me it gets better. I don’t recognize myself anymore.
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