- Date posted
- 4y
- Date posted
- 4y
I love this explanation! Thank you!
- Date posted
- 4y
This helped me so much
- Date posted
- 4y
Really helpful info. Thank you.
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- 4y
"pain should be confronted to be defeated" I like that. I need to hear this today.
- Date posted
- 4y
This is spot-on. If you were an alcoholic, you wouldn't continue to give yourself alcohol (i.e., perform compulsions). Resist and see the change :)
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- 4y
Did you recover from OCD? You seem to have such a accurate perspective on this disorder.
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- 4y
I just started my process. I had OCD most of my life, but was very comfortable with it, the recent world situation and personal issues got my subconscious mind to scare me so much, I had no choice but to change. I did all I could to learn and connect dots from all sources I found. I still keep on connecting the dots. Mind Over Matter. đ¤
- Date posted
- 4y
When you mention a lack of self love, this video popped up in my mind. I do agree that, at least for me, this might have happened due to a lack of self love. But your addiction analysis, having an addictive personality myself, seems to be a very plausible theory on ocd mechanisms. https://youtu.be/Q9yKaI0vLJs
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- 4y
Hi, Lack of sufficient self love, is a common feature and repeating pattern for the great majority of anxiety conditions, which OCD is part of, so we are all here coming from the same place. All humans need to feel good, when it doesnt come naturaly by ourselves, we give this power over us to either a certain external factor, behaviour, or drug, to do it for us. Thats why addiction and OCD are usually cooccuring. They stem from the same root, the need to be loved, to feel good about ourselves.
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- 4y
It does make a lot of sense. I knownit wont happen overnight, but when I do try to be kind and love myself, Im immediately flooded with guilt or intrusive thoughts.
- Date posted
- 4y
@luchalysol Happens to me to, and many others. Thats the subsconscious part of us sabotaging. Thats why we keep at it, until this door is unlocked. I think if we trace to the roots of addictions and OCD, both stem from insufficient self love. Kind of explaining why some peole get easily addicted to drugs and alcohol and others don't. All humans need to feel good, when it doesnt come naturaly by ourselves, we give this power over us to either a certain external factor, behaviour, or drug, to do it for us. Thats why I believe perhaps that OCD is not only about recovery, but rather acquiring a new mindset for a lifetime of correct and healthy self management, practicing everyday self love and relaxation.
- Date posted
- 4y
@DavidS I can see that. Ive always had somewhat of a fear of being a bad person. But it skyrocketed when I had what I now believe was an onset of cleanliness ocd. I was worried about having bad breath, almost suddenly, brushed my teeth multiple times a day. I started avoiding people because of it. I then became so insecure that I developed an aloofness and superiority complex to mask my insecurities which then led to me realizing I was wrong, feeling guilty and horrible. And now I have harm, moral, responsibility ocd, manifesting mostly as pure o.
- Date posted
- 4y
@luchalysol This is where the trap is. Guilt, shame, and thinking we are bad people is exactly where the subconscious mind pulls us towards- the Compulsion. The Reaction (Your part) to the Action (Subconscious mind/Unsolicited/Cravings/Obssessions). Determine you are not playing this game. You do not perform any Reaction thought feeling nor behaviour based on the on the Action of the subcondcious mind. You know way better how to feel happy and relaxed. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.madeofmillions.com/ocd/pure-ocd/amp
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- 4y
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- Date posted
- 4y
Im working on it everyday. I want my life and the old me back. I hear stories from my chikdhood and I just cry cause idk what happened to me. Ive always felt a bit inadequate and unloved by many, but I was always cheerful. Now Im a shell of who I used to be. I dont want to be a bad person, I just want me back.
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- 4y
I am glad this approach makes sense. I find it somehow simplifying the recovery and explaining how both challanges 'addiction' and 'ocd' are more similar than not. As Yoda said: one must unlearn what they have learned đ¤
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- 4y
I donât agree at all. I am sorry but thatâs not what I feel. How can you be so sure? Like you beat OCD comparing it to a drug knowing that thousands of people are still trying to figure out a way out of it and trying to better understand its mechanisms. OCD is such a difficult and multifaceted problem that we need to be open mind. Imagine just for a second your theory doesnât hold up. It means you stuck in a world where you have zero chances to overcome your OCD because the way you see it is wrong. But of course u free to believe whatever u believe itâs true.
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- 4y
Nothing in what I wrote changes the approaches currently offered, but perhaps it will help find new approaches. Have you noticed how drug addicts that went through rehabe tend to mention how many days, weeks, months, years they are drug-free? What they actually say is, yes they do get thoughts, but they don't act upon it. Same here, yes thoughts can come unsolicited but what counts is our response, or actually lack of it.
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- 4y
@DavidS Iâm a recovering addict and totally agree with you
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- 4y
@Kat2244 Prop to you for recovering from an addiction. That must take a lot of strength and dedication.
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- 4y
@Kat2244 Thank you Kat2244 I hope it will help gain new coping skills for recovery, and maybe one day the scientific communities will find new ways to assist.
Related posts
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 23w
Looking back, I realize Iâve had OCD since I was 7. though I wasnât diagnosed until I was 30. As a kid, I was consumed by fears I couldnât explain: "What if God isnât real? What happens when we die? How do I know Iâm real?" These existential thoughts terrified me, and while everyone has them from time to time, I felt like they were consuming my life. By 12, I was having daily panic attacks about death and war, feeling untethered from reality as depersonalization and derealization set in. At 15, I turned to drinking, spending the next 15 years drunk, trying to escape my mind. I hated myself, struggled with my body, and my intrusive thoughts. Sobriety forced me to face it all head-on. In May 2022, I finally learned I had OCD. I remember the exact date: May 10th. Reading about it, I thought, "Oh my God, this is it. This explains everything." My main themes were existential OCD and self-harm intrusive thoughts. The self-harm fears were the hardest: "What if I kill myself? What if I lose control?" These thoughts terrified me because I didnât want to die. ERP changed everything. At first, I thought, "You want me to confront my worst fears? Are you kidding me?" But ERP is gradual and done at your pace. My therapist taught me to lean into uncertainty instead of fighting it. Sheâd say, "Maybe youâll kill yourselfâwho knows?" At first, it felt scary, but for OCD, it was freeing. Slowly, I realized my thoughts were just thoughts. ERP gave me my life back. Iâm working again, Iâm sober, and for the first time, I can imagine a future. If youâre scared to try ERP, I get it. But if youâre already living in fear, why not try a set of tools that can give you hope?
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 20w
Looking back, my introverted nature and struggles to find belonging in high school may have set the stage for how OCD would later impact my relationships. I had my first relationship in high school, but OCD wasnât a major factor then. It wasnât until my longest relationshipâsix years from age 18 to 24âthat OCD really took hold. The relationship itself wasnât the issue; it was what happened after. When it ended, I became obsessed with confessing past mistakes, convinced I had to be completely transparent. Even when my partner was willing to work past them, I couldnât let go of the intrusive thoughts, and that obsession landed me in the hospital. From there, my struggle with ROCD (Relationship OCD) fully emerged. For years, every time I tried to move forward in dating, doubts consumed me. I would start seeing someone and feel fine, but then the questions would creep in: Do I really like her? Do I find her attractive? Is she getting on my nerves? What if Iâm with the wrong person? Iâd break things off, thinking I was following my true feelings. But then Iâd question: Was that really how I felt, or was it just OCD? I tried again and again, each time hoping I could âwithstand it this time,â only to fall back into the same cycle. The back and forth hurt both me and the person I was with. By the time I realized it was ROCD, the damage had been done, and I still hadnât built the tools to manage it. Now, at 28, I know I need to approach dating differently. I recently talked to someone from a dating app, and my OCD still showed upâquestioning my every move, making me doubt my own decisions. I havenât yet done ERP specifically for ROCD, but I know thatâs my next step. Just like Iâve learned tools for managing my other OCD subtypes, I need a set of strategies for when intrusive doubts hit in relationships. My goal this year is to stop letting uncertainty control meâto learn how to sit with doubt instead of trying to âfigure it out.â I want to break the cycle and be able to build something healthy without my OCD sabotaging it. I know Iâm not alone in this, and I know healing is possible. Iâm hopeful that working with a therapist will help me develop exposures and thought loops to practice. I donât expect to eliminate doubt entirelyâafter all, doubt is a part of every relationshipâbut I want to reach a place where it doesnât paralyze me. Where I can move forward without constantly questioning whether I should. And where I can be in a relationship without feeling like OCD is pulling the strings. I would appreciate hearing about your experiences with ROCD. Please share your thoughts or any questions in the comments below. Iâd love to connect and offer my perspective. Thanks!
- Date posted
- 20w
I want to beat OCD because I have seen and felt the benefits of clearing my brain from unnecessary, pointless, thoughts. OCD is like 0 calorie food. Itâs pointless. No nutrition or benefits come from my obsessions or compulsions. I donât care to have answers to everything anymore. I catch myself just trying to stress myself out so that I have some worry to feed on. But like I said, itâs a 0 calorie food. I get nothing from it but wasted time and energy. My brain feels more spacious when Iâm not consumed by OCD. Iâm present. My personality has room to be herself without making space for bullshit. I tell myself now that worry is poison. I think Willie Nelson was the person I got that quote from? Anyways, that imagery of worries being poison for the mind has been transformative for me. Iâm evolving. đ Thanks NOCD community.
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