- Date posted
- 6y
- Date posted
- 6y
Yes, the key is allowing the thought to sit there and do nothing about it. Continue with your day whether it’s Cleaning/cooking/watching TV. Although it may seem so hard, with time the thought will pass, and if you keep doing that after a while the thought will bother you less and less. The thoughts I had that scared me months ago, still bother me somewhat, but not nearly as much as they did. The only thing I can’t get passed currently is the past memories that OCD has attached itself too. But I’m working on it. We’re all going to make it eventually, just keep on living and fighting.
- Date posted
- 6y
It's so easy to say, you should just go about your day and not act on your thoughts or ruminate about them. I'm finding this really hard. I have to agree though, the longer you stay with the thought without doing a compulsion the less scary it gets...
- Date posted
- 6y
Thank you for replying. Sometimes when the thoughts are really bed I just want to lay in bed and play on my phone hoping they’ll stop but I try to stay strong and have courage. I find it hard to keep going with my day sometimes I just feel so powerless against them. I believe you and me and all of us can get through this. Keep working on it, OCD is smart and tries to attack all aspects of our lives. But we’re still in control
- Date posted
- 6y
I like the way you guys think I try to do this but its hard but keep positive no matter what
- Date posted
- 6y
I know it can be really hard. I’ve always been the super positive person whenever someone was going through something I’d give super uplifting advice but for some reason it’s harder to take my own advice. I just feel I can’t trust myself or anyone else
- Date posted
- 6y
It's difficult but just remember everyone we will get through this it may not feel like it but we will
- Date posted
- 6y
It does sound so much easier than it actually is. Like recovery and ERP are such simple concepts, you just expose yourself until the anxiety goes down, but it’s just so hard sometimes because the fear feels so real. But yes, we just have to keep fighting and we will definitely get through this!
Related posts
- Date posted
- 22w
I been dealing with OCD my entire life but recently I been finding it really difficult to find the slightest relief. I know it’s not good to do but I been trying not to think of the thoughts but of course they come back even stronger. Does anyone know what I could do in the meanwhile ? Thank you
- Date posted
- 20w
Hi this is my first time posting on here. I wasn't sure if I should because I want to make sure I'm not seeking reassurance because I heard that makes ocd worse. I don't want to talk about what my ocd problem was, but basically I was really upset about a religious ocd problem that I know isn't true. I'm feeling a lot better about it now, but when it was bad I decided to try and get better on my own. I read about ERP therapy and how you're supposed to make a list of your ocd problems, from least distressing to most. So I wrote them down on two pieces of paper. At first I started with the simple ones, like looking for spiders before leaving the room. I have a tendency to look for spiders before leaving a room but lately I've been trying not to anymore. Then I decided to try and do one of the hard things. It was a religious ocd problem. I decided to start simple, and just write the problem down on a piece of paper. So I went downstairs and got some paper. But then I thought, oh no, my ocd is probably not going to like this. What do I do with the paper once I write it down? If I think what I wrote down is bad and going to upset God and I will go to hell, (even though I know logically it's not), my ocd is probably going to freak out if I throw away the paper. It probably won't calm down unless I erase it. So I just decided to not write it down on a paper, and just type it on my phone instead. So I did, I typed it on my phone. So, even though I didn't write anything down on the paper, now it feels like that peice of paper is bad. I feel like it's connected to the problem I was having, and I was so upset I called my mom crying asking her what to do. Eventually I decided to just put the paper back with the rest of the paper downstairs, but I'm still upset. I feel like I have to throw away all the paper downstairs, the pencil I was going to use to write down the problem, and the eraser I was going to use in case I needed to erase anything. It feels like if I use any of those items I will make God angry and go to hell. I know I shouldn't do this though, so I'm not going to. I don't know what to do with the papers where I wrote down my ocd problems. They are on my desk and I'm too afraid to move them. And if I put them in my desk I'm afraid they will get mixed up with other papers. I guess I can do whatever I want with them. I think I'll put them in a folder or binder and if I make any more ocd papers I can just put them in there. I'm just really confused on how to move forward. Right now, I'm too afraid to use the papers, pencil, or eraser for anything. I feel like I can't write on them, draw on them, or anything. It's even making me feel like I can't make digital art. It's making me feel like I can't do a lot of things. I guess what I have to do is just do whatever I want to, because I know the ocd isn't true and doesn't make sense.
- Date posted
- 20w
I’ve been stuck in this cycle for the last month or two and am not sure how to get out of it. Basically, I will work on ignoring the thoughts and not responding or engaging plus limiting/completely eliminating compulsions. After a week or two of constant work, the amount of intrusive thoughts in a day goes down. The anxiety each thought causes also goes down with some, but not all, thoughts passing without notice like they would for a normal person. The thoughts that do stick cause anxiety and make me want to ruminate or do other compulsions but I make sure to limit them. After a bit, I’m in a pretty good head space. This is usually when it goes down hill. I’ll start to question if I even have ocd because some of the thoughts (once again not all) pass without notice. The difficulty resisting compulsions goes down and so does the anxiety, only increasing the questioning. I spend a while questioning if I’ve ever had ocd in the first place and then something sets me off or the questioning itself becomes a trigger and I get stuck back into the same ocd cycle with constant rumination, anxiety, and other compulsions. This lasts for a week or two before I know I need to stop and try and work hard to get back to ignoring the thoughts. And the cycle just restarts over and over again. Does anyone have any tips to stop this from happening? It’s really harming my recovery as every few weeks I dive back into the same negative place I was.
Be a part of the largest OCD Community
Share your thoughts so the Community can respond