- Date posted
- 5y
- Date posted
- 5y
One strategy I learned at the iocdf conference is to use "reassurance tickets". Figure out how many times you usually ask for reassurance each day. Then make 10-25% fewer physical tickets or tokens. When you want reassurance, you spend a ticket. You'll need to physically give it to your husband. That buys you one sentence if reassurance in response to a single reassurance question If you want to clarify his reassurance, that takes another ticket. When you're out of tickets, he won't answer any more questions. Over time, decrease the number of tickets you have pet day. You can also motivate yourself by accumulating points towards a special enjoyable activity as a reward. Each ticket you have left over at the end of a day is worth one point.
- Date posted
- 5y
Rosie.....I agree with you. As hard as it is, I find if I can resist the urge to ask, it does eventually subside.....it’s just so hard being in that moment though as it feels like it will never end and you’re never ever going to be able to let it go. For the sake of my marriage, I need to stop. I might have to go cold turkey as it’s gotten to a breaking point. I’m starting with a therapist this weekend and will see if she has any tips. If she does, I will share with you. Let’s both stay strong and we will get past this 🙏❤️
- Date posted
- 5y
Thank you! Any tips would be vertu much appreciated!! I really don't want my relationship to crumble because of this Fing illness. As you say let's both stay strong! Pick our battles and the battles to save our relationships are the most important. We can do this 💪💪 ❤️
- Date posted
- 5y
Hi, I also struggle with seeking reassurance! I have found that tracking when I resist and submit to seeking reassurance has helped me be aware of how much I’m doing it. As time goes on you will likely feel yourself resist more as you do not want to give in to the submit. At first it is very hard to sit with the anxiety when not seeking reassurance when you get that urge. However, I highly recommend that when you feel this urge that you allow yourself to just sit with the anxiety and realize that if you continue to do this, eventually your anxiety will habituate. It is not easy, but you can do it! It’s a process!
- Date posted
- 5y
I can totally relate, especially at the minute with covid. My contamination issues are so bad and I keep questioning my partner 'did you clean this, did you cleab that, did you do it this wsy'. Then she has done alot of things that I'm not happy with as she is so lazy and I'm sooooo angry at her right now, to the pint I can't even look at her. I think she is so careless and reckless when it comes to hygiene in the middle of this pandemic. It tough on her at the minute. But it's tougher on me. If it carries on and I get angrier and angrier I would worry for our relationship too. They say ERP is the way to go but it is making me angry and how can you use ERP against a real threat!!!
- Date posted
- 5y
I do the exact same thing....I question the poor guys hygiene constantly....did u wash after being outside, did u wash wash after going to the washroom... etc....I treat him like a child and he gets so mad 😰 he’s a grown man and practices very good hygiene, I just can’t stop myself from asking him. It’s really creating a strain. How do I stop this before it ends my marriage
- Date posted
- 5y
That's my question too. I treat her like a child. I think the thought then I say to myself 'don't ask her, it's reasurance, it's a compulsion' then before I know it it's put of my mouth!!! I don't know how long she will stand it before sour relationship crumbles. I think all we can do is when that urge to ask comes in recognise it ocd, acknowledge and label it as that and sit with the anxiety of not asking untill it goes away. So much easier said than done but people keep saying this is the way to do it and ERP works so I guess we have to try. I think what I've realised tonight is that I was taking on too many challenges in ERP and have overloaded myself. Baby steps. Maybe talk to you me partner an explain that it is a compulsion you have to ask him these questions and that it's reasuarnace seeking behaviour and you are trying your best but if one day a few questions slip out ask him to be gentle with you and you be gentle with yourself. That's what I'm trying to do. It's hard though as the more stressor in one day or one week and if I haven't slept its harder to resist the compulsions
- Date posted
- 5y
That’s great advice Katie....thank u ❤️
- Date posted
- 5y
I'm the same to . I just can't sit with the anxiety though as I can't get over the fact that the covid19 is a real threat. I feel I'm protecting my family
Related posts
- Date posted
- 22w
Posting here for the first time, please be gentle, not sure if this is applicable! I definitely struggle with reassurance-seeking especially when it comes to real events, but over time have found ways to self regulate and use self-guided therapy apps and worksheets to help fight any challenging thoughts as they come up throughout the day. There are a few times when I’m unable to do the work myself and don’t feel as emotionally strong, which I feel is reasonable considering how exhausting my symptoms can be (for clarification, I am diagnosed with anxiety but not OCD, although I fear all signs lead me here). Only on the extremely difficult days, I’ll ask my partner for reassurance (he is aware of my tendencies and is quite patient) but he has his own baggage, and having a partner asking for reassurance can be triggering for him, as he was accused of several negative things in his last relationship. He quickly gets overwhelmed with me and feels that I don’t trust him. He is convinced that is the motive of my reassurance seeking. Today in particular, I woke up from a nightmare that reminded me of a past event. After struggling with it myself all day I brought it up in the evening to try and get some help, and did bring it up three times after that. I am always soft and gentle when I ask for help, and even asked for a lighthearted “pinky promise”, which actually seemed to bother him. I understand that it’s not his position to emotionally support me whatsoever and that reassurance seeking can become harmful to the both of us, but for the one-off days where I am having a really difficult time, I feel extremely unsupported by him. For context, my partner has broken my trust before. My thoughts took off during that time. It’s been a few months since then, and me openly seeking reassurance from him is not a frequent occurrence, since I’ve started my self-help. I actually feel I’ve come a long way but I do have days like today that set me back. I love and trust him with all my heart, but man does my inner monologue make me work for it. I just don’t know how to get him to understand that it’s me having to work for it, not him. Unfortunately from the way he reacts, I’ve grown to feel unsupported by him, and am now rarely emotionally vulnerable with him. I am curious if there are any suggestions on helping him help me in a sense.. I don’t know how to get him to understand that it has nothing to do with a lack of trust. I have briefly opened up to him about my strong intrusive thoughts and figured it would help him understand a bit better but I don’t know what to do. I want to add: I have tried talking to him about how I felt unsupported. He just tells me he feels accused and would be supporting me at his own expense. He has even told me that I shouldn’t talk to him about these things, even though the thoughts I struggle with are directly related to events in our relationship. I really can’t seem to get through to him.
- Date posted
- 21w
(long read ahead, sorry lol) I’ve struggled with ocd for as far back as I can remember. I find that it gets worse with stress, and recently I’ve really been struggling with the contamination aspect of my ocd. I’m worried about it becoming unmanageable and negatively affecting my relationship with my partner. I’ve been living with my boyfriend since January (got kicked out of my house a week after I turned 18, it’s for the better though my house is toxic as hell) and I love living with him, but him and his family aren’t as concerned with cleaning as I am used to. My boyfriend and I have been together going on 2 years and there’s been many times throughout our relationship that his struggle with depression severely impacted his ability to keep up with cleaning his room. This is something I completely understand because I’ve struggled with it too so i’ve often helped him clean, and since i’ve moved in he’s done so much better at keeping up with cleaning (especially because he knows about my issues with clutter, mess, germs, etc.) He is really good at being accommodating towards my needs (not overly so, i’m aware that recovering includes accepting being uncomfortable), but it’s so hard for me to differentiate between what is the normal standard for cleanliness and hygiene and what’s excessive and unhealthy. I get so stressed out every single day over the thought of how dirty everything is. He has 3 cats that mainly stay in his room (he has a catio attached to his window/side of the house) and dogs which stay on the opposite side of the house and backyard, so there is fur everywhere constantly (i’m also allergic to cats but it’s not severe). I can’t stop thinking about how they are getting germs from their litter box all over everything. They also used to piss under his bed and in his closet when his room used to be a mess and it’s soaked into the floor so no matter what it stinks. It’s so hard to bring myself to walk around the house without slippers because my feet will get visibly dirty and my socks would get covered in hair. I always think about how my boyfriend sometimes walks on the rugs in the bathroom in shoes and all the germs that spreads. There’s so many more things but this is already getting long and I am shaking just thinking about how unclean everything is. I want to deep clean the entire house myself so I can get it to where It’s not like psychological torture everyday and it’s easier to maintain but I have been so busy I don’t have the time. I am worried about my boyfriend thinking I don’t like living with him or that I think that’s he’s dirty but i don’t. We have had several conversations about this and he’s reassured me that he knows none of my obsessive thoughts are personal but I still feel so bad about it. I would like to get therapy to help work through this but currently that is not an option for me. I know things will get better once I get through the main things in my life that are causing a lot of stress and therefore making my ocd flair up, but I need advice on what to do in the mean time. I keep having moments where all I can do is shake and cry and clean and I feel bad for my poor boyfriend who can only sit next to me and try to comfort me or help me clean. I also don’t want to make him worried that nothing he does is enough for me (i’ve also already talked to him about this and told him about how I can never even be clean enough for myself and that I don’t think he’s dirty). There’s been many times where I want to tell him to do things that I think might be my own unhealthy compulsions (ex. not wearing shoes in the house or in our room, not getting into bed with socks on, making sure to completely dry off before getting out the shower, put makeup and jewelry back where they belong right after using them, etc.) but i can’t tell if they’re reasonable or not and i try to not tell him unless it’s something that severely distresses me. I’m aware that everything is going to have germs no matter what and have been using NER’s to help manage my thought spirals/rumination. I know that I shouldn’t keep doing compulsions because it just offers temporary relief and makes the problem worse because nothing will ever be enough. I just feeling so overwhelmed and hopeless and exhausted and want some feedback.
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 20w
Why why WHY do I feel the need to constantly overshare?! It’s making me feel guilty af! If my boyfriend tells me something in confidence but my ocd twists what’s said into some crazy big problem I feel the need to run to my mom for reassurance, it’s getting to the point where he doesn’t trust me not to talk about stuff and I don’t want him to feel like that obviously!! But it’s like I can’t stop! Does anyone else have that? How do you stop it?
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