Any advice on how to maintain momentum in our journey to recover from OCD? I have been so good at not doing compulsions the last few weeks but this morning I feel emotionally and physically drained and all I want to do is compulsions. 😔 It is just exhausting refusing compulsions after compulsions. Ocd is like an addiction. It takes a lot of self control and determination to break out if its control over our life.

You will never beat your mind. Also your mind is simply releasing chemicals due to the thoughts that don't align with you. So if your mind already malfunctioning in the sense that it picked the wrong stuff to react to then you will realize that you can't out thinking something that is thinking wrong in the first place. So you have to starve the monster by not fearing thoughts or physical feelings. I once got an awesome example. Say you decide that you will slap yourself, your amygdala will still think you're about to be harmed and you will flinch even if you told yourself you're gonna fake hit yourself in the face.

@tracechills So that would mean that your mind is simply just a reaction machine ...reacts to thoughts (not real) or stimuli and creates a fight or flight response.

@tracechills Great reminder. Thank you. I ll remind myself that I will never beat my mind. Why even try?

@Sunflower 1234 Exactly man just accept the thought sit in the fire and observe ...if you debate it's like debating a 5 year old who will just keep asking why why why even with the most rational answers

@tracechills I have children so I totally get your comparing ocd to a five year old who keeps asking why and what if. 😂 It is endless questioning.

@Sunflower 1234 Totally bro so if it helps name the ocd one of your kids names lol to reframe it and realize you're dealing with a child lol I've named mine it helps.

Don't feel too discouraged. Set backs are normal. It doesn't mean all your progress you have made so far are wasted. Try to stop doing compulsions as soon as you can. You are still on the path to recovery. You are still better at resisting compulsions than a month ago.

@Sunflower 1234 Honestly I do feel that all of your progress is wasted when you slip back into compulsions etc. It’s an imbalance and to have to literally ignore the hardwired faulty wiring of your mind is beyond describable

@PoetART There is a difference between doing 1 compulsion and 100 compulsions right? I don't think any of us can quit ALL compulsions at once but we can try to do less and less compulsion each day and eventually we will get to 0 compulsion and are recovered from OCD.

@Sunflower 1234 That’s my fear, I don’t think you can be cured. Or at least I can’t. It’s embedded in my mind. Since I was eleven. I’m a grown adult and nobody can understand, it’s all people know of me to an extent and they are always intrigued when I try and explain it. This is a great site to come to cos I know just how ... ahem, like-minded these people are. For me I feel a connection simply become of the pain shared

@PoetART Wow sorry you had to deal with OCD when you were so young. Have you heard of mark Freeman or Aly greymond? They had severe OCD but have been recovered for 10 years plus now.

@Sunflower 1234 I will check them out, cheers. Yeah it’s... indescribable

You got it man! Just know you aren't trying to beat anything or fix anything you're just accepting it and being comfortable with the fire. It's like running that final mile with your legs on fire wanting to quit

I hope you did get out of bed and have a productive day. I find my OCD always get worse if I am not engaged in any meaningful activities. You can do it. Little by little we can all overcome OCD.

@Sunflower 1234 Thank u guys for the encouragement. I really need it right. I ended up taking a good nap for 2hrs (coz I am feeling so tired not engaging in compulsions) but I got up after because I need to go to work lol

Having OCD is heart breaking. No doubt. It is not easy to break out of it. But it is possible to get better . I am trying my best to hang on to that hope. 🙂