- Username
- DreamEvolution
- Date posted
- 3y ago
I'd say just enjoy it! But you can also make a memo for your future outbursts, and say that it will pass and you will feel normal like you feel right now again eventually. Or write down rules to remember, skills to use, things like that, so when you feel bad next time you can trust in something you wrote with a clear mind.
I love this! I will definitely write some inspiring messages for myself to reflect on. Preemptive planning for my future self! Thanks for the suggestion!
I haven’t had any symptoms for awhile. I wish I would’ve started this earlier, but I’m taking a lot of time to work on my relationship with myself instead of focusing on relationships with others. I do yoga every single day, bike for 30 minutes, meditate, take baths if I’m feeling it, and I’ve gotten myself on a strict bedtime of 10 pm on weeknights so that I can get 8 hours. I think sleep has been the most significant help because not having enough sleep makes yoga, meditation, working out, and eating healthy harder. I didn’t realize that doing all of this would be so helpful until I did it. It makes me feel much more at peace with the possibility of symptoms coming back because I remember just to shift my focus to my breath and it helps me remember my thoughts are just thoughts.
I'm so happy to hear you have been free of symptoms for some time! I spend so much time focusing on my relationships with others when I'm in the thick of it (ROCD is one of my main themes) that these methods of self love you're describing don't even cross my mind. I have tried all of these activities to varying success over the past year but haven't stuck with them. Establishing a healthy routine like you are suggesting would help ensure I can stick with my self love even when I feel consumed by ruminations. Thank you so much for the suggestions!
This is very common with many OCD themes. I heard someone compare it to a wash cycle in a washing machine, you’re down for a while and really in the depths of it, and then you fly upwards and it’s like your heads above water and everything’s clear and then BOOM, you’re back down under. These may feel great, but it’s important to remember that you’re not tackling the issue at hand... you’re just letting the cycle perpetuate. Try and get hold of an ERP therapist, or if that’s definitely not an option - trying the self-administer option on this app after doing research on ERP is your gateway to recovery. Sending you my best wishes!
I have heard that analogy as well, it perfectly describes the cycle of OCD. I did 3 sessions with a therapy through NOCD, and on the 3rd session my therapist informed me she would no longer be working with NOCD. I was in-between wash cycles at the time and feeling pretty good about my progress so I chose to take what I had learned from her and proceed without further sessions with a new therapist. I have since been laid off due to COVID and having complications with my unemployment so money is very tight. Once I have income again I plan to start with another therapist and do some exposures. It feels great now to have this clarity and surety of self but I know all too well how temporary it can be. In the meantime I will look into the self administer option through the app. Thank you for your words and keeping me on track!
Best wishes to you as well!
@DreamEvolution I’m sorry you’ve been messed around so much... I really hope the money situation improves! Having to break the bank to escape what’s going on inside your head is definitely... something. If you do enough research on ERP and are aware of the risks that you’re facing, self-administration can be equally as beneficial as working with a therapist, and plus you have had the initial ground-work set. Knowing that your time between ‘wash cycles’ (lol) is finite can be pretty crushing. The wash cycle doesn’t have to be a way of existing, you can escape it with ample amount of ERP, this has been proven by many recoverers. You don’t have to live your life waiting for the next punch in the stomach! Sending you my best, best wishes! I hope you beat this beast soon!
@Ellie (Just realised I said best wishes twice... the more the better I guess lol 🤷🏻♀️)
@Ellie I really appreciate it! My girlfriend is working so we have some stability in income. I did quite a lot of research into ERP before signing up for my first sessions with NOCD. I have also read some of the book Brain Lock as suggested by my therapist and written extensive notes from the parts that I have read so by this stage I'd say I have a solid grasp of OCD, how it works, and what needs to be done to combat it. Yet while all this info is great it does me little good when I'm in the throes of another wash cycle. That's why utilizing this time of clarity for more than just enjoyment seems so important! I love you analogy of waiting for the next punch in the stomach. Thank you again for pointing me towards recovery from this point of understanding I find myself at. It's nice to be aware of the cycles of OCD and how it affects me. It would be even more nice to eventually beat this thing! There can never be too many best wishes! Best, best wishes to you on your journey! And more best wishes to everyone out there struggling who stumbled upon this thread!
Does anyone else feel like they’re OCD turns off for a couple days? Like you go through an intense period of having intrusive thoughts and feeling the need to confess and then you only start to get thoughts here and there? And you try to keep yourself from having the thoughts but you’re not sure if it’s avoidance? Like I have felt sooo much better the last couple of days, especially in the morning, I live for those times of quiet in my head. But I still haven’t been able to accept myself for the things I might have done, like I can’t accept myself still because of my OCD. This probably sounds a little jumbled but I would like to think someone can relate lol
It’s been a week since I’ve been experiencing one of the worst OCD episodes I’ve had since I was 15. I did ERP therapy two years ago. I engaged in so many mental compulsions and rituals this last week. I feel calm and normal and it worries me, what if this time it’s different? How do you navigate back door spikes and give your body permission to rest? It worries me if I get out of this I will become a lesbian or bisexual. It worries that when I come back to my senses. That when I get better I will want to explore? I’m trying to be okay with the possibility, but I don’t want to. I can’t tell what’s real or fake anymore.
This is a little new for me. Each time I figure out or find peace with the OCD to the point where it’s practically nonexistent a flare up happens and suddenly I’m back to feeling “off” and not normal and thinking in my head all day all kind of ocd related thoughts. Endless questions and connections of things that are not at all related. Soo darn annoying. You guys, how do you keep pushing past this!? What tips do you have for this dealing with the feelings after the flare up. The worst part is being able to laugh and smile and just live life again and then just boom feeling soo awful again. Anyone experience feeling off after flare ups??
Share your thoughts so the Community can respond