- Date posted
- 4y
- Date posted
- 4y
Evaluating every physical sensation is a form of compulsive checking. I dealt with this when I feared I had fleas. I would feel an itch, and check my body over and over. I wasn't able to stop checking cold turkey, so I would set myself limits until I could stop. You can check only once an hour, then cut back from there, or whatever limit challenges you to an appropriate degree.
- Date posted
- 4y
I am currently dealing with this. I just hope my worst fear doesn’t come true. I hate this.
- Date posted
- 4y
Yes! This is my main theme, although ERP has helped me tremendously. One thing I can say— exposure, exposure, exposure! Try to do one each day if you’re feeling up to it. Since you say that you focus on your bodily sensations, make yourself complete a body scan and passively observe the feelings in each part of your body. Do it over and over again until it becomes so repetitive that it’s annoying! Trust me, you’ll get bored. Also, thoughts are NOT reality. Just remember that.
- Date posted
- 4y
I also sometimes purposely make myself feel uncomfortable and challenge myself to not take the “victim seat” and face my fears head on! For example, sometimes I will purposely watch triggering content, such as young people with cancer, to see how much I can handle. I used to do this repetitively in therapy until it caused me very little distress. It’s all about retraining your brain and disabling the faulty pathways that your OCD has instilled in it.
- Date posted
- 4y
If you have anxiety regarding your heart, wear a heart monitor. Do exercise and get your heart going and watch it. Keep doing it until your anxiety gets to virtually 0.
- Date posted
- 4y
If you aren’t currently able to do formal therapy, please consider reading the book “Overcoming Unwanted Intrusive Thoughts: A CBT-Based Guide to Getting Over Frightening, Obsessive, Or Disturbing Thoughts.” It helped me so much when I was really struggling. It’s available as an e-book too. It does a great job of explaining how much of a liar OCD really is.
- Date posted
- 4y
thank you all so so much. this is honestly the biggest reason for my anxiety cause my anxiety is all physical. i’m gonna try all of these things 💙 wishing you all well!!
Related posts
- Date posted
- 25w
Recently, I’ve been struggling a ton with what I eat/put into my body? I’m a first year college student with a few different health issues (including IBS), and lately it’s been hard for me to find food on campus that doesn’t upset my stomach. I also have pretty severe emetophobia, and feel extremely anxious when I feel sick. The ironic thing is that being anxious makes me feel even worse, so I end up sticking myself in an impossible loophole. My OCD has taken hold of these fears over the past few months, and it’s been such a struggle. Especially since people have been getting food poisoning from various dining halls on my campus lately. My OCD has gotten so bad that sometimes I’m too afraid to eat food other than what I buy myself. I feel so trapped. I don’t want my OCD to affect my physical health or prevent me from eating, bc I love eating!! It’s the fear of getting sick that’s the problem. And it’s even harder when everything is so unfamiliar. Just wondering if anyone could relate. Advice is appreciated!
- Date posted
- 21w
Hi! I’m new to the NOCD community, but I’ve been dealing with OCD since I was 12. I’m almost 29 now, and my biggest issue is health anxiety. It’s gotten to the point where getting work done is nearly impossible because i can’t stop spiraling. I’m lucky that i work remotely, but also makes it easier to be in my own head… 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
- 13w
I have gotten maybe about 8 EKG’s within the lest 2 years? I’ve also gotten an echo done, and I got a heart monitor to track my heart over the course of maybe 2 weeks, back last year. Even though I have been to the emergency room so many times because of panic attacks that I thought were heart attacks, and went with a Cardiologist I still obsess and worry. I always think that I am going to develop some kind of heart problem after getting the tests done. Like if they’re just suddenly going to appear/my heart will suddenly have an issue. I especially get nervous when the pain is in the center of my chest + I get a tight feeling like I have pressure on my chest and can’t breathe completely. Please someone share their experience of how they controlled their health anxiety, especially if it’s related to this.
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