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- 4y ago
It's pretty common for OCD to include elaborate, rigid routines around waking up, hygiene, eating, and going to bed. As a teen, my bedtime rituals expanded to about three hours long. I had to tap a whole bunch of objects in my room in a specific order, pray perfectly, win three games of solitaire, etc. None of it made much sense, the steps were pretty random. However I felt like if I didn't do them something bad would happen or I would be so anxious I wouldn't sleep at all. The strategy my therapist helped me implement was to cut out one step of the routine at a time
i struggle with the night time ritual as well!!!!
Talk to us, what certain things
I have extreme order and symmetry OCD idont even wear my clothes in my wardrobe because i cant bare the hangers moving about and they have to be aligned perfectly i can take outa dress and spend 10 mins just aligning them then when it doesnt feel right i get huge panic and get hot it goes away when it feels right this is jist one example out of hundreds i deal with every day:( i have to have everything in its place i hate people coming into my home touching things i feel like im crazy i cant cope with it anymore. I feel horrible until ive put back my shoes that ive worn in a neat row not to mention i clean everything before i put it away i dread it it can take hours i hate getting up in the morning now, i wipe things all the time or i feel dirty inside, i cant even explain it and i also count and tap things until it feels right i turn the lock back and forth until its level and feels right i cant live like this anymore i dont know anyone else with it and it gets me down
Anyone have anxiety at nite and cant sleep till a certain time
I do this thing where I clean my bedroom every night and I physically can not clean it until t that time. I cant pick up clothes or make my bed until right before I go to bed. Does anyone experience this as well? How do I get myself to clean whenever I want?
Another night of waking up at 5am with intrusive thoughts & fears. Fears of someone breaking into my house and harming me, fear of house fires and being unable to get my mom & cats out, being overwhelmed with “all the things I need to do” the next day. Obsessing to check the downstairs camera. It’s exhausting and causes me lack of sleep. And then I’m unable to sleep for hours after I wake up sometimes.. and my cat will wake me up in the morning. It’s driving me crazy. 😞😞😞😞 I also need all of my blankets perfectly aligned or I can’t sleep, make my bed every single day bc of it, cannot sleep with pants on or tight clothing. Etc. list goes on…
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