*Recovery Inspiration* Hi everyone, I hope you’re all doing as well as possible during these difficult times. I have decided to share my success story so far. Bare in mind, I’m not fully recovered yet but definitely on the road to it (maybe 75%) recovered. Therefore, I just want to pass on some inspiration and words of advice from my journey of Pure OCD. I found it all started during quarantine maybe because we started to overthink too much when we had too much time and stress on our hands. I felt awful because at the start of this year, I was at my happiest. I literally thought life couldn’t get any better. However, that soon changed when the OCD and anxiety kicked in. This was such a shock to the system because I went from one extreme to the other (My happiest to my saddest). I started doing my research online and learned this is just OCD and that your thoughts are just thoughts no matter how hard it may seem to recognise that. This gave me a great sense courage and massive relief. I learned in order to defeat this monster, I must be hungry for success and I’m sorry to say it but by nature, I am quite blunt, you have to grow a pair of b***s. Don’t get me wrong, I did dwell on my thoughts for many weeks, had breakdowns, do compulsions and ruminate etc. I’ve had urges, sensations, false attractions, guilt, shame, feeling of numbness and being emotionless. Basically all the usual symptoms of OCD trying to scare you. I’ve been going through depersonalisation/derealization too because of OCD but I don’t care anymore because I know this will pass too and is just a protection mechanism sent from my brain. Finally, once I started to stop fighting the thoughts and let them flow without giving them attention, they started to lessen and lessen. At this stage now, I finally understand this is just my OCD talking, NOT me. See OCD is essentially a bully, it will try convince and manipulate you into believing the thoughts it sends you. The bully craves attention and will feed off reactions which is why you must limit your reactions. I have being taken Prozac since June which has been a massive help in reducing my anxiety so it can allow me focus more on doing ERP work. I haven’t had any therapy because unfortunately I couldn’t find any OCD specialist where I live. I’m sure therapy is great and I would advise it if it’s available for you but the more and more I think about it, it’s up to us at the end of the day to make the change, not a therapist. They will provide you all the skills and tips to recover but it’s up to you to implement them. So guys I wish you all the very best in your recovery. I promise things will get better once you take the steps towards getting better and more importantly, you yes YOU deserve to get better. Don’t mind OCD doubting you. It is the doubting disease after all. People with OCD are the total opposite of their thoughts, they are good people. That’s the reason why we worry so much because we’re more sensitive and against our thoughts. Don’t hold off until tomorrow either to make a change. Start today so that you’re one day closer to living your normal life again. Good luck.