- Date posted
- 4y
- Date posted
- 4y
Have you been working on eliminating your compulsions? Are you still taking notes? Instead of trying to figure out what happened, maybe focus your attention on stopping your compulsions.
- Date posted
- 4y
Actually no. Even today I took a lot of notes because I got triggered. :(
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 4y
I took notes gor years to feel safe. I now know the issue here is reassurance.......now I fee,l that to almost welcome the uncertainty and learn to live with it without resssurance, is the way to get my old life back. We all live with uncertainty in so many ways, that we really need to get back to that attitude, of living with uncertainty to become strong again.
- Date posted
- 4y
I’m so sorry! That sounds so stressful! It sounds like your OCD really cares about your relationship with your boyfriend. Your brain is really afraid you’re going to accidentally hurt him. I think that shows you are a really kind person. The mechanism of checking yourself and your own actions is going too far, now, and it’s hurting more than helping. I always try to ask my OCD tough questions. “If that was true, what would be the worst that could happen?” At first I want to run from the worst case scenario, but I usually find that if the worst DID happen, I would know what to do to handle it. If you were really losing memory, there are a lot of things you could do. I hope this helped even a little bit. I know that OCD tells lies to make sure you don’t let the “bad thing” ever ever happen, and I know that you are a good loving person who would never do anything to hurt your relationship.
- Date posted
- 4y
thank you so much for your kind words!! What do you mean with „[…] if the worst DID happen, I would know what to do to handle it. If you were really losing memory, there are a lot of things you could do.“?
- Date posted
- 4y
@Jaxiju Sorry I think my other comment got deleted- I just mean that even if the Bad Thing (having memory problems) was true, you have the resources in your life to keep yourself safe. Even if you can’t remember every day of your life, you can trust that you wouldn’t act out against your own character and core beliefs.
- Date posted
- 4y
@booba Thank you!! I literally realized that some days ago after I had another therapy session. I felt so free and the false memories were gone at this time. I was doing so good. Started to trust in my true character and love towards my boyfriend and then we played Trivial Pursuit, I took a photo of the playboard and saw this note from december in my gallery and now I‘m sitting here more anxious than ever!
- Date posted
- 4y
The reason I ask about the notes is that you said you take them to get rid of the anxiety. If you’re doing something to get rid of the anxiety it’s a compulsion. Compulsions feed OCD. You want to starve OCD and not do compulsions.
- Date posted
- 4y
Yes I know. I‘m actually currently working on ending the compulsions, but it‘s very hard. I know that they are the problem. Now with this note I finally realize it.
- Date posted
- 4y
It is very hard! I’m working on eliminating compulsions too. I’ve had a few successes today, but I’m still working on this. I have so many compulsions to eliminate! It’s great that you recognize it! Since you’re so used to doing the note taking, maybe you can start by trying to limit the number of notes you take?
- Date posted
- 4y
I‘m sorry that you‘re also struggling with this! :( and I should definitely start trying to limit the amount of compulsions (notes). What bothers me the most right now is this one note now. OCD took over my logic and for OCD this note is concrete proof that I cheated and it feels like the end for me at the moment. My anxiety is at a peak. Never felt this devastated during my OCD days. I‘m at rock bottom :(
- Date posted
- 4y
@Jaxiju The way that you wrote the note looks like you were doing an exercise in writing out thoughts - “OCD is telling me that...” My therapist told me to write something similar to distance myself from the thought.
- Date posted
- 4y
@Sabrina I have about 20 of those notes on my phone and the intention was always to relieve my anxiety because of an intrusive thought I had in those moments. What bothers me now, is the formulation of this particular note. I wrote „Obsessive thought that this guy was here, but we did nothing.“ Usually I would‘ve written „Obsessive thought that this guy was here. But I know that no one is really here.“ My OCD is focussing on „we did nothing“ like I admitted that he still was with me. OCD is so convincing and I hate it! :‘(
- Date posted
- 4y
@Jaxiju There’s no way you had him there. You love your boyfriend so much you’re worried you could accidentally hurt him without remembering it. I bet the note you wrote was about this same kind of thought. I bet back then you were worrying about a similar, if not the exact same scenario. Even if you had the guy over, you would remember it, because OCD would not let you get away with the guilt.
- Date posted
- 4y
@booba Actually I know that but OCD doesn‘t want me to know :““(
- Date posted
- 4y
@Jaxiju I’m so sorry 🥺 your ocd is really messing with you! Since OCD isn’t going to accept the facts right now, maybe you could redirect your attention? If it feels comfortable, you could explain this intrusive thought to somebody you trust, and then engage in a fun and relaxing activity. I always try to watch something stimulating while I draw or clean, so my thoughts can’t get hijacked by my ocd. I’m sorry you’re struggling tonight, try to be gentle with yourself. ❤️
- Date posted
- 4y
@booba thank you!! Really appreciate that! I would like to explain it to my boyfriend who is sitting next to me right now, but my therapist advised me against making him engaged to my OCD and OCD thoughts.
- Date posted
- 4y
@Jaxiju Hmm she’s right if you start needing him to reassure you, that becomes a compulsion. It might be okay to share with him if you frame it as factual, without any expectation of action from him or any need for his reassurance. Something like, “My OCD is lying to me and trying to make me doubt my own memories even thought I know the truth. I can’t stop thinking about it right now, so I’m going to try to distract myself for a minute.” When the intrusive thought feels less real, and you feel more solid in your truth, then you can maybe discuss what actually happened in more detail. There’s nothing wrong with letting your partner in on your healing.
- Date posted
- 4y
@booba you‘re advices are so helpful. That sounds like a good solution :)
- Date posted
- 4y
@Jaxiju Awww 🥺 that makes me so happy! I’m glad I could help! You seem like such a sweet person! I know you can do it ❤️❤️
- Date posted
- 4y
@booba thank you! ☺️
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 4y
My way is to, lean into the anxiety. Let it scare you, till it almost bores you through repetition.......you cant fear things that kind of bore you and it doesnt mean you are an unkind person, you still wont like the thoughts but the key here....is that they stop scaring you and the anxiety fades, which is what drives the illness.
- Date posted
- 4y
A thought which made me anxious in the past never bored me. I can obsessively think about a thought for months and instead of getting better, It‘s getting worse. :/ but I‘m glad it works for you
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 4y
@Jaxiju I mean viewing the fear, not trying to figure them out and by not reassuring, really trying to let the anxiety scare you without trying to fight it or disprove it, thats when eventually it starts to lose its sting and eventually it becomes insignificant and you see it for what it really is, just irrational fear
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 4y
@Jaxiju Obsessively thinking about a thought will of course keep it going endlessly, but viewing it and taking the anxiety without reassuring is a very differant way to fight it and with time will break it down.....that is what I mean.
- Date posted
- 4y
Taking notes is something I’ve done too. I now realise that it’s just reassurance and a compulsion. The idea was to have reassurance to fall back on in case I should start worrying about that particular fear again. They have now become a problem in themselves. Ocd tries to scare me with thoughts of what if I die and other people get to read them! I want to get rid of them but am scared to and terrified I’ll regret it. Ocd has in effect latched onto the very reassurance the notes were initially intended to provide.l 🤷♀️🙄
- Date posted
- 4y
thanks for sharing! I‘m sorry that you‘re also going through this 😓
Related posts
- Date posted
- 17w
Tmi warning I was being intimate with my bf and I kept getting the name of someone else pop up, but I didn’t feel anxious. Afterwards, as much as I tried to delay confessing, I couldn’t help it. I confessed. My bf was fine he said I probably didn’t feel anxious because I’ve gotten used to the anxiety and it’s okay, it doesn’t define me any more than it would if I was anxious. A few minutes later, he got upset and said that the confession kinda ruined a blissful moment. I’m so upset that my head feels so turbulent I didn’t even notice it was a blissful moment for him and could’ve been for me. I feel so awful. I haven’t slept in a day, I can’t stop crying. My bf is afraid that because this specific name keeps popping up, it might mean something and he feels less than sometimes because of it. I know I shouldn’t have confessed but I felt so safe that it was like a dam broke loose. I feel so awful. What’s worse is that I’m still scared it means something, I’m scared that my boyfriend’s fear is right. He’s very understanding of OCD and how it manifests in me and everything, I think I just kinda messed up a sacred moment and I feel so much guilt and confusion and just horrendous. I’m not even fully anxious. I don’t know what to do. I apologized a lot but I feel like I don’t deserve him and so selfish
- Young adults with OCD
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- Harm OCD
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- Mid-life adults with OCD
- Religion & Spirituality OCD
- Date posted
- 16w
Hello all, I’ve dealt with various OCD themes and compulsions for pretty much as long as I can remember. In some periods of my life the thoughts and compulsions have been particularly severe, but I’ve also had years where I’m able to keep it under control. This has made me worry I don’t actually have OCD, especially because I haven’t been doing consistent therapy and my therapists have gone back and forth on whether I have OCD. In the past few years, I’ve struggled immensely with false memory ocd, and right now I’m going through probably the most severe episode of my life. I love my boyfriend with all my heart. A few times that I’ve gone out drinking I’ve had the thought before “what if I lost control and cheated tonight” and it’s bothered me severely. Two times before, it’s gotten to the point of convincing myself that because I talked to a man that meant I had cheated on my boyfriend and just couldn’t remember. It has never turned out to be true. About a month ago, I went out with friends and had too much to drink. I was really ashamed of myself the next morning, particularly because I always try to drink cautiously now that I know it can trigger my anxiety. I am ashamed to admit I do not remember the very end of the night getting in my uber and going home. I woke up anxious and extremely worried and immediately started off by worrying if I could have tried to kiss my friend and not remembered. I called him and was immediately reassured nothing had happened, I simply drank too much and went home at the end of the night. I started feeling better, but then remembered a moment I had been in the bathroom. I remembered chatting with people in line about how long the line was, and then being in the bathroom on my phone. I then felt like I remembered people knocking and saying to myself “that wasn’t that long” and leaving. There is nothing concrete that I remember that in any way indicates I cheated, and in fact I have texts with my boyfriend from the whole night telling him I loved him. My friend told me that the only time I was ever apart from him was about 5 minutes and that when he came back I was in the same exact spot he left me in. However, when I remembered being in the bathroom, I thought to myself “what if you cheated on him in the bathroom”/ “oh my god did you cheat on him in the bathroom” and then a series of images of me performing sexual acts popped into my head. I’ve poured over my memory and truly do not remember meeting anyone, talking to anyone, or even finding anyone attractive that night, but the fact that I was drinking makes me worried I’m just forgetting and these images could be real. I’ve been constantly ruminating on these fears for the past month, to the point that the only relief I feel is when I’m able to fall asleep. I’m a law student and it’s becoming extremely difficult to keep up with my classes. I’ve been google searching, asked chat gpt for advice, confessed my fears to my boyfriend, asked for reassurance from pretty much everyone in my life, and even emailed the bar asking for security footage (which I know all sounds insane). I’m a naturally guilty person and feel bad about small things, so I really don’t think I would be capable of cheating and then nonchalantly texting my boyfriend, but these images feel so real that it’s terrifying. I’ve also seen a lot about how I would “just know” and that begins to scare me because then I think “you do just know, you did it” even though I really don’t think I did. I know these posts are not supposed to be for reassurance seeking, I’m just so exhausted and feeling really depressed. I’m wondering if anyone has experienced something similar and has any advice. I’m also wondering if images can feel more real the more you ruminate on them or if it’s a sign of memory. Thank you so much for listening.
- Date posted
- 15w
So i had really bad pure ocd but recently it’s been sooo much better but i’m in a relationship and me and my bf dated before about 2 years ago then we broke up and now we are back together but i’m having an issue where i will try to go back years and find something i did wrong and i really do not want to find anything to feel wrong about or guilty specifically something i may have done wrong to my boyfriend but the thing is i’m a good girlfriend and i’m very loyal so i don’t want to ruin something for me because of my past if that makes sense like i can’t remember doing anything wrong but my brain keeps going are u sure let’s look at all your interactions with people and it’s so annoying i just wanna live my life in the present does anyone have any tips
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