- Date posted
- 5y
- Date posted
- 5y
I am so sorry. I work at a college too and we are going to have to go in soon as well. I feel your fear and I dont know how to help because I'm also in that situation. I'm hoping a doctor can wrote me a note for mental health purposes.
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- 5y
* UPDATE * Had my first day back at work yesterday. I started having obsessive thoughts about everything being contaminated. I did a lot of cleaning and tbh cried a lot. I wound up leaving early because I felt so physically sick, but I did it. I spent 6 hours at my office so I'm counting it as a "win". I still don't think any colleges should be in-person right now and I still have INTENSE anxiety about going back, but I'm doing everything I can to stay safe and keep my job.
- Date posted
- 5y
๐๐ผ๐๐ผ๐๐ผ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ Seriously, so proud of you! Continuing to send you strength.
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- 5y
@ARTnotOCD Thank you so much, I appreciate it! ๐
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- 5y
@coolghoul44 Also, my puppers is cuddled up asleep in my arm, so naturally Iโm just stuck here. Heโs dreaming real hard to send you extra lovins anytime you need them, especially at work. ๐๐ถ๐งก
- Date posted
- 5y
That's so wonderful! Does your management know that you suffer with this?
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- 5y
No, they don't. I don't have an official diagnosis yet. I've been expressing my severe anxiety about going back to campus for months to HR and my supervisor. I called HR on Friday and explained to them that I experience a lot of the symptoms listed under COVID daily (headaches, GI upset, muscle pain). I said that I've been experiencing it before COVID and how I'm working with my doctors to figure out the underlying cause/problem. Do whatever is safest for you.
- Date posted
- 5y
And they still had you come back? I'm an administrator at a college and they are keeping us at home to keep the staff who NEED to be on campus safe. They need us to go in and pack up for a move but that's all for now. Are you essential on campus?
- Date posted
- 5y
@catattak Yes, I'm considered an essential worker as of last week. I work in sexual violence prevention and we had students return to campus last Friday. But it doesn't make sense because I don't have the space to meet with students in my office and I can't do any in-person programming. I specifically had HR clarify that everything should continue to be on Zoom. For your move, maybe try going at an off-time? Either super early or super late. That way you'll interact with the least amount of people possible.
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- 5y
@coolghoul44 We will be scheduled but I have a biopsy in a few weeks I cant get sick before. So I'm going to try and reason with my ED and say I cant come in before then but will go in on a weekend when no one is there. I'm sorry you're back but I am glad for zoom as opposed to in person meetings. This is probably some amazing ERP as much as you can handle and I think your anxiety will lessen as you are out
- Date posted
- 5y
Going in on the weekend sounds like a great idea! I did that 3 weeks before I returned to work to grab something from my office. It was very helpful because I went on my own terms and I was able to handle the anxiety by myself without people being around! Def ask for that! And yes, I agree with you! It'll be good ERP haha I wish you luck on your biopsy!
- Date posted
- 5y
I wish I had some real suggestions. I donโt know if youโd wanna try any accommodations through ADA. (I usually disclose my OCD as a student, but not as an employee.). Keep doing what you know are the suggested precautions in the meantime. If you like dogs, can I send you some puppy snuggles to ease your anxiety at all? Best wishes!
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- 5y
I don't know if I can get accommodations through the ADA because I don't have an ~official diagnosis yet. I bought cute masks to help me feel better and I have other supplies too. It's the physical anxiety and obsessive thoughts that I'm struggling with. Following the precautions may be the only thing I can do right now to keep my job. I love dogs! I would love to see pictures! ๐ถ
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- 5y
@coolghoul44 Is there a way to share pics here? Iโll describe him: heโs a rescue, so weโre not sure of anything, but he seems like a Jack Russell and Brittany mix. Heโs mostly white with orange spots. The Russell in him makes him have a large rib cage and that full-body wag. It also means he sometimes just walks across the room on only his hind legs or do other circus tricks for no reason. The Brittany in him keeps his hair so soft and his tail very floofy. He has one brown eye and one half-brown, half-blue eye. Heโs also very good for helping me through anxiety and is learning to even respond to help me stop picking or do other compulsions.
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- 5y
@ARTnotOCD He sends snuggles whenever you need them!
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- 5y
@ARTnotOCD HE SOUNDS SO CUTE!! Thank you!! โก
Related posts
- Date posted
- 24w
Hi! Iโm new to the NOCD community, but Iโve been dealing with OCD since I was 12. Iโm almost 29 now, and my biggest issue is health anxiety. Itโs gotten to the point where getting work done is nearly impossible because i canโt stop spiraling. Iโm lucky that i work remotely, but also makes it easier to be in my own headโฆ Asking for advice - how do you all deal with the intense anxiety and are able to make it through a 9-5 work day? Any suggestions on how I can actually be productive? Thank you!
- Date posted
- 24w
Often times I find myself spiraling out in the morning about all sorts of things. When I try and catch myself and figure out what I am obsessing over itโs like it goes away. I havenโt moved. I have been sitting frozen on the floor because I canโt go to work because I am behind on work and I hate being late and I hate being messy but I am frequently late and my room is cluttered and full of stuff. I want to be good and move and go to work but I donโt know what is coming today and I hate my job so I know I will get bored and when I have nothing to keep me busy and engaged I like start thinking and taking an inventory of what is going on and then I will feel a sensation and what is the sensation? How did it happen? And I know that I will pick up the bad emotions in the office and get contaminated, I was really worried about things like this as a kid too I cried because I had to touch dirt in kindergarten. I know I am this way and I have been this way for a while but at the same time I think I might just be normal and like I donโt know why I get stuck in thinking like this. Then I begin to doubt that OCD is real because everyone has a brain with wiring and everyone gets stuck in thought sometimes. I feel disabled from whatever this is because I am stuck. I literally cannot move because I donโt know whatโs wrong and I know I have to go to work even though I feel like every moment I spend there is making everything worse because other people are so stressed and I get it from them. And I donโt feel ready because I just feel off and something is wrong and I just donโt know what to do because if itโs OCD or not OCD everything anyone knows about me is coming from me and I worry that I am often masking all the thinking Iโm doing because thinking all the time is rude and inconsiderate and inconvenient for those around me, but I canโt stop. I just donโt feel right, right now - and I want to know WHY?? Why is everything off all the time? How do I even know that I am not making up the experience of OCD in my head to cover up something really wrong with me and now I am taking on the symptoms of OCD like an actress, because this could be something that I can latch onto as a final hope for explaining why I am stuck. So stuck so deeply and terribly stuck sitting on my floor next to my bed just scrolling to avoid thinking because any time I start thinking I am left with no answers or help or anything just this swirly feeling. I know I am trying, maybe not my best, but as much as I possibly can. I want to be a Special Education Teacher but I have so much so so so much doubt and uncertainty about every decision I make and everything I know that I canโt get there right now. I canโt do anything right now until it feels ok and then I will. It never feels ok. I know I have to be ok not feeling ok about it. I can be unsure and still be ok. I know itโs just my thinking and my body but I just canโt get past this feeling. And then I know that because I can calm myself and be ok even though I spent 2 hours of my life today already feeling stuck and spinning around and around and around in my head - I donโt feel sure about my OCD and I think itโs a bit of a scam made up by people to cultivate pathology around deep human thought because one day I might figure it out and we all think a lot.
- Date posted
- 15w
I've been having a really tough time lately with a recent workplace interaction that occurrd today, and my mind just keeps replaying the events over and over. It feels like an endless loop, and I'm finding it incredibly hard to let go. I'm trying to figure out if this intense replaying is more about my OCD, or if it's a typical reaction to a stressful situation that's being amplified by my OCD tendencies. The specific details of the incident involve a colleague engaging in a racially insensitive discussion that I tried to disengage from. Despite my attempts to steer the conversation away and remove myself, the situation escalated with direct confrontation and accusations. This led to significant emotional distress for me. Later in the day, the same colleague misunderstood another conversation, making baseless accusations and publicly confronting me in a very aggressive way. I kept quiet throughout, just a bit of muttering. The emotional toll of these interactions has been immense. Now, my mind is stuck. I can't seem to stop dwelling on every word, every gesture, and every imagined alternative outcome. Hoping I'm not viewed as the "angry black woman" which is such an affair narrative why can't I state grievances of racism, without this narrative. * how do you manage the relentless replaying of stressful workplace interactions? What are your go-to coping mechanisms when your mind gets "stuck" on these loops? * Have you found any specific strategies helpful for navigating interpersonal conflicts at work when your OCD makes it difficult to process and move past them? * When you're feeling emotionally vulnerable due to work stress, what helps you prevent these situations from turning into prolonged rumination cycles? Any advice or shared experiences would be incredibly helpful. I'll be so grateful for any assistance. I just feel like I'm not good at life.
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