greentree
- Date posted
- 5y
Lola_Lola_
- Date posted
- 5y
Set up a really calm environment. When I was finishing school I was really overworked with A levels and EPQ, and my perfectionism OCD was out of control. I would never hit my deadlines because I was working so hard to write and rewrite my essays and even if I got say 96% it didn’t matter. The thing I found useful was setting up a calm environment, for me that was a clean space, with low light and quiet. I’d play classical or ambience music without any lyrics because it made me focus. Then the task I set myself was just write the whole thing in one go, pushing through the OCD and taking deep breaths when I felt really anxious. Then once I had the general essay I would go back and work through my essay paragraph by paragraph correcting or improving what I had written. Then I would take half an hour to an hour to just breathe and relax, to try and bring down my anxiety. Not sure if this helps, but hope it does! x
Fear Strikes OutFear Strikes...
- Date posted
- 5y
As a former college student (quite a few years ago) who experienced the same thing, I recommend placing a limit to the number of times you permit yourself to rewrite/revise the paper. You will never break this compulsion unless you take the risk that there might be a few spelling errors, "better" word choices than what was used, perfect formatting, etc. Then, accept the uncertainty of not knowing what the overall impact will be on your paper's grade. That is how I learned to manage it. All the best!
MM
- Date posted
- 5y
You hit so close to home :)
MM
- Date posted
- 5y
Hey! I have a similar problem with my schoolwork. I want everything to be perfect and so I check and check and check, and I never end up changing anything. Try setting a timer and stopping when it hits 0. You trick your brain into thinking you don't have time to rewrite, rethink, and restart.
ARTnotOCDARTnotOCD
- Date posted
- 5y
I get so worked up that now the hardest thing is even just starting. What sometimes helps is knowing my/my OCD’s level of “perfection” is no where near other people’s. So we don’t have to do as much as we think we do a lot of the time. It is so much better to hand something that’s not perfect in than nothing at all. (I have to use that as a mantra after having so many incompletes that turned into Fs.). Another trick I’ve learned from my artwork. Sometimes it will never feel “done”, but at a point, reworking it makes it worse. Then I stop and call it “finished (for now)”. (The “for now” is just when you need that. It’s so much better to just feel “finished” even if it doesn’t “feel done”, but sometimes I have to pretend in order to trick my ocd.) Hope that makes some sense. Best wishes your way. And when you do turn it in, then my pup sends you puppy magic. (Once I handed something in and had no more control over it, my partner, my mother, and I would joke about it being left up to the universe and the magic of all doggos. 😉😁). Puppy snuggles if you like them. We’re rooting for you!
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Atlas06
- Date posted
- 25w
Who struggles with writing, mainly in college?
I’m a first year Political Science major and music minor at Oregon State University and am currently finishing up my second term (trimester system). As a PoliSci major doing a Bachelor of Arts, about all of the work I do is writing, and if it isn’t its a group project (which also is probably mostly writing), reading, or multiple choice. But my main point is that when I sit down to start writing I think “Am I doing this right? Is this how the professor wants this done?” In a nutshell this is how it goes but I essentially sit there for hours and think like that and more. I failed a class the first term because of this and it shouldn’t have even been that bad. There were 2 writing assignments per week, one of them is writing about what you find on this website or smth along those lines. The other was write about this news article. This sucked because I was thinking “How do I re summarize something that’s already been summarized?” Both of these had to be between 3-500 words long, EASY. I failed this class and almost another one because of thoughts like this the first term and I went into academic warning Now during the second term I’m currently failing my history class because of thinking like this. It was 2 assignments at the beginning of the term that were notes on a book, and a discussion on a movie. 200 points combined. The midterm I didn’t do too bad, but it was messy and under the word count, but the professor liked it and I got 78% so I’m not that upset about it. The only time I really don’t have these thoughts is when I’m writing about myself (like this) or when writing music. I think it’s because of a more personal attachment and I can criticize myself on it when working on it. But anyways, has anyone else experienced something like this? I should say it definitely goes more in depth than this for me, this is just what’s happened most recently.
veinsoul
- Date posted
- 24w
in need of help
I don’t know what I can do. I guess this is more of a depression thing than OCD but who knows. I have been battling this ongoing war within myself for years now and it’s been affecting my academic performance. situation of mine right now: I haven’t done a lot of work for my classes this month and I feel like I’m going to fail the semester again. I don’t know what it is but I can never seem to begin any work. I know I am capable but why can’t I get myself to start? why has this been going on for so long? I don’t understand. I have a history of good grades back in high school before I turned 17. I don’t even know how to describe it. it’s like I’ve been paralyzed and cannot do any work. but I can somehow do offside tasks like pinterest boards or random youtube videos. if I get rid of those, what do I do? I end up sleeping. because I’m tired. I have a low vitamin D deficiency & have been trying to get energy. I’m at a loss. I also bought unnecessary stuff on sunday when I went out with my family. I bought some things for the kids and I ended up buying myself a dress and a few accessories. now I have to work extra to gain that money back doing uber eats because I need it asap. it’s like I don’t want to work, for now. my coworkers who are around my age don’t work as much & I think to myself, “wow, they must be getting in the work done” meanwhile I’m working 3 days a week (which isn’t much) and attending school. I feel like if I change my schedule again, I’ll ruin it for the rest of my driver coworkers. I’m in a lead position at work so having to put on a mask is quite tiring. there’s so much I want to say that I don’t think it will fit in this post. I have booked a mental health session with a school counselor. all I want at the moment is to have my own place and be in a better mental state to take care of my cats. they mean a lot to me but this stupid ass undiagnosed mental issue is getting in the way. sorry for the long rant. I am tired.
moomoo22
- Date posted
- 23w
pls reply if you have help
i am a freshman in college and i have always struggled with depression, anxiety, and OCD. i have never received help for my OCD despite being medicated for my other two issues. i have noticed that what most of my panic stems from is my OCD and more specifically my OCD around school. i haven’t been able to get myself up for class for multiple days and im starting to panic about everything im missing and think about every little thing i have to fix. i am so behind that it makes me want to panic and i feel like i cant fix this. i just want my mind to feel normal but it feels like my whole world is falling apart all because i am feeling stuck in school. please help me i just want to feel okay but i dont know how to. i have tried doing all the assignments i can do to catch up but it isn’t enough i still feel so panicked
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