How do you know the difference between GAD and OCD? Had one of my assessment-appointments yesterday. And its driving me nuts. Have been lying awake for hours figuring it out. The OCD-specialist talked as if my mental compulsions is rumination which he meant was only for GAD. And I suppose I got GAD too, worrying about the small stuff. But I've had enough therapy that doesn't bother me that much. But what is torturing me is the intrusive thoughts about everything that is not "right". And the constant mental checking and figuring out. Did I say something wrong? My eyes are feeling strange, something is wrong with it. Constantly checking my body for sensations and feelings and checking for "wrongs". And I feel like I'm going crazy. I can't handle not getting proper help. ERP has been the only thing that has helped which makes me defo think its OCD. And now I have to wait 2 weeks for my next appointment. And all this makes me think I want to die and like I have to figure it out. And ofc I don't want to die. I want to live. But it's the normal end to the figuring out, it ends up with the suicidal intrusive thoughts. But one thing I read was the difference between GAD and OCD was that OCD was ONE (maybe two or three) themes, while GAD was more all over. And my thoughts seems more all over. But they have something in common and it is "wrong/right" whether that be money, boyfriend, feelings, body sensations etc. I'm going crazy!

Thank you for explaining! Have you had any treatment for it that worked?

I'm so sure I have OCD. At the same time doubting it so hard.

Do you feel like time disappears when you do this? It is so terrible. And you get so stuck and don't trust that its OCD and it makes you even more loopy. Remembering that its OCD makes it possible to do things to stop the spiral. Thank you for the support! 🤗

Well I realise that. But I'm going crazy over the feeling that I said something wrong. And he said something wrong. And then I'm mentally reviewing all the wrong things and I'm going completely nuts. And I would do anything to make this stop.

@asdfghj Yeah that’s pretty typical

@Justmesadly But is it typical OCD or GAD? I feel like I have to stay up all night just so I can call the office and tell them its VERY important I talk to him just to tell him he's wrong. My head just wont shut up.

@asdfghj GAD i did the same thing for about 23 years

@Justmesadly You did what? I don't think its GAD. It feels obsessive. It never stops. Every day something is wrong. And it's not every day stuff or real life events it's completely irrational and ridiculous.

@Justmesadly What I don't understand is if cognitive therapy is the treatment for GAD, why is ERP the only thing that works for me. Makes me think its OCD.

@asdfghj Girl you’re describing anxiety. Anxiety disorder is constantly annoying. It’s random stuff. I can hardly have a conversation with someone bc for the next week I’ll freak out and lose sleep about what I said, what I was wearing, etc. GAD isn’t a one day one time thing that’s why it’s a disorder and not just normal anxiety that every person had

@Justmesadly But my problem isn't worrying about what I'm wearing or stuff like that. I'm over that. Ive had a lot of therapy and I can handle generalised anxiety quite ok. I get hang ups and then I move on when I see what I'm doing. But I'm obsessing about things that are wrong or right. As in a theme. An obsession. That's why I think its OCD and not GAD. Because it comes back all the time. Everything has to be right. And whenever something is wrong or may be wrong or I have a thought it is wrong then I die. So I avoid everything because I can't get anything right.

Thanks for the tip. I'll make sure to be honest with the specialist. It's not that I want the OCD-diagnosis. And btw I already got it. It's that I've had the GAD diagnosis for 7 years already and with a lot of therapy and cognitive techniques it still is bothering me. And lately after doing exposures and response prevention, the treatment for OCD things are starting to get better. So I really just want to get the proper help and not be "condemned" to GAD treatment again which doesn't help anymore.

Haha, and btw you misinforming about for instance perfectionistic OCD and just right obsessions really helped. It made me realise I do know this and me spinning around with it is just a compulsion. Made me snap out of it for a bit. So I'm gonna go do the things that's good for me instead of making people take part in my compulsions. Take care!

@asdfghj Oh okay all of your post made it seem like you were upset you didn’t get diagnosed with ocd. And yeah treating anxiety for years doesn’t mean it will go away. Mine has gotten worse if anything. But here we are 24 years later it’s just something that I have to live with. It doesn’t sound like you’re condemned to GAD if you just said you have been doing ERP and have been diagnosed with OCD? You’re contradicting yourself a ton here

@asdfghj No worries I spoke with a doctor about that last night !

@Justmesadly People not telling the story like a storybook is not contradiction. Remember we only see a tiny glimpse of them from the posts here. I've had a therapist for 7 years. Getting treatment for GAD. Has worked on some things and not others. Recently started with a OCD-specialist. He gave the diagnoses (OCD) on the first appointment. But the treatment doesn't start before en excessive assessment. But this last appointment he was assessing GAD. And when I had a lot of the symptoms he said somethings about the similarity etc. and we had to take the rest of the assessment next time. So the uncertainty of it had me in a loop. 👍 probably makes more sense now!

@asdfghj Lol no saying one thing then saying another and contradictory things is what’s contradicting! I’m so glad you had therapy for 7 years that’s so great. That doesn’t seem to make sense. When I got assessed with the OCD specialist they assessed all mental illnesses at once and since they are an OCD specialist they work on that first and then if you want to stay longer or pay more however you chose to see it then they will work on the other things that any other therapist could cover!

@asdfghj They are for sure extremely similar and the therapist last night told me that’s why people often diagnosis themselves with OCD when really it’s not ya know

@Justmesadly And yeah the ERP is on my own and with my last therapist, when he finally realized what we had been doing for the last years didn't work that well. 24 years that's a long time! Have you done ERP for long? I just cannot believe that we are supposed to live with all consuming anxiety forever. Exposures and habituation should work.

@asdfghj Oh yikes that’s dangerous ! Don’t recommend doing that! Yeah it is, it doesn’t get easier just accept that’s your life unless you take meds then it goes away for the most part. No I just now decided to work on the ocd aspect of my mental health

@Justmesadly Yeah it probably works different in different countries. First he went through OCD assessment and then all the illnesses in the next appointments. But we didn't get through it all. I'm sorry if I've been saying different things. I really can't see it myself. You could probably tell me accurately what you think is contradictory, to sort it out, but that seems like a waste of time for both of us.

@Justmesadly Yeah, besides the compulsions though. And some people even have them both!

@asdfghj Yikes I would be so annoyed. Yes I have GAD, OCD, Panic disorder and depression

@Justmesadly What is dangerous? Self guided ERP? Of course it's not dangerous. It will stress you out, and an increase in anxiety, but a lot of people has to do it that way when they can't afford proper help. Things that feels dangerous isn't necessarily dangerous. There are books out there that guides you, I would recommend "Freedom from obsessive compulsive disorder" by Jonathan Grayson. The dangerous thing is being so sick of tired of being mentally ill people don't want to live any more. And good luck with the ERP and tackling your OCD. Maybe you'll find out you wont have to live with anxiety for the rest of your life! 🤞

@asdfghj No I would never do ERP on my own. And I have found hundreds of websites and online therapist that say you should never do ERP on your own as you could mess things up even more or cause yourself way more anxiety and distress. And no unfortunately GAD and OCD don’t go away so I will live with these things forever

@Justmesadly Some specialists even suggest GAD is a milder version of OCD. And that exposures and preventing safetyseeking behavior is the only thing that works for either of the. A lot of cognitive therapy just puts more focus on the thoughts and can become compulsive! That's a big trap.

@asdfghj CBT doesn’t focus on the thoughts... it takes away from them... and doing ERP for GAD would never work... you’d do ERP every day of your life for everything that happens and that’s just not logical. Nor is ERP used to treat GAD

@Justmesadly Well, most therapists I've read about, even leading ones on ERP and OCD say you can do it on your own. Even this app says you can. What is messing your OCD up is spending years in talk therapy and all safety-seeking behaviour. For instance figuring out how to avoid anxiety etc. And You're right your brain will always be the same, OCD will always be there, but it's possible to manage it in a way that doesn't stop us from living a free and happy life. I was inaccurate in saying "you wont have to live with it" but its definitely possible to be free and not have it be worse and worse. Stressful life situations will always make it flare but ERP will make us handle it better. I truly do reccomend reading some of the books on OCD that they suggest on here.

@asdfghj I don’t have any safety seeking behaviors or avoiding anxiety. It’s impossible to avoid it’s just part of who I am. Yeah I know I can manage it it’s just not possible to make it go away or live free of GAD or OCD. It’s a constant fight every single day. Yeah don’t worry I’ve done therapy for a while and I’ve read tons of books and websites and doctors on youtube

@Justmesadly As I said SOME specialists thinks ERP should be used on GAD. Exposures are what we call generalizing. It's a mindset and doesn't have to be tailored to every worry. It's a way to meeting actions like worry and ruminations. Don't you think responsepreventing worry as if a compulsion would make your life better? Is it the thoughts that make you feel bad or the time you spend ruminating on your thoughts? And btw of course we'd have to do exposures and responsepreventing for the rest of our lives. And what do you mean by CBT takes away from thoughts?

@Justmesadly Maybe I misunderstood, but so you don't have OCD? If you don't have safety seeking behaviour or avoidance you don't have OCD. Compulsions are safety-seeking behaviours? Oh, do you have any good books to recommend on OCD? At the top of your head?

@asdfghj Well If a doctor with a degree tells me to do that then I’ll do what they ask to help me. The thoughts and the time equally make me feel bad. The whole point of CBT is to not pay attention to thoughts

@Justmesadly It's so funny that you claim you have no safety-seeking behaviour when in your other post you mention several. Figuring how NOT to message people at night, having to have your phone besides you at night, using it when you wake up. All safety seeking behaviour. I understand you went all defensive above here because you were called out on not understanding OCD. I get it. I wish you all the best, and good luck with ERP. Hope you give it your all, life can be so much better! Thanks for helping me out tonight.

@asdfghj You didn’t call me out lmao. I fully understand stand OCD , thanks though. As I stated we were talking about GAD. I hope you learn how to not be so defensive and attacking of people and trolling on an app made for people that are all struggling. It would probably help you feel better about yourself too

@Justmesadly Well we both disagree as to who is defensive and condescending. I've spoken in a respectful manner all through even when disagreeing. While you have been using a lot of dominating techniques like "lol" and insinuating I don't feel good about myself. I know I am a good support for a lot of people. I understand you can't see that as I disagreed with you and its hard to tackle being called out on a blouf and how you are not always doing the best for your diagnosis. But we all struggle to see ourselves and the way we sabotage our recovery. I use it as a good rule of thumb not to exaggerate ("hundreds of therapists") and dominate to push the other to silence, maybe something to think about. Hyperbole is a way of lying and devaluate the other persons arguments. I wont take your gaslighting to heart. In the end I know that the one hurting from your rude and defensive behaviour is yourself. Again, I truly recommend reading some good books on OCD. The one by Jonathan Grayson is recommended by a lot of OCD therapists. Educate yourself and your suffering will be lessened. + you wont feel the need to put people down for disagreeing. Passive-agressiveness is not cute.

@asdfghj Lol you just typed a whole paragraph about me that really says more about you than me bc none of those horrible things you said about me are true and thank God I am not suicidal this week. I hope you heal bc I couldn’t imagine talking to someone like that. I have read tons of ocd books as I have said. So thank you. Have a great life

@Justmesadly Well, I tried to reflect the way you affect people with your passive-agressiveness. But I see you're not responsive to critique right now. Maybe when you calm down you'll see your blatant aggressiveness. And the responsibility disclaimer where you insinuate I could be responsible for your suicidal thoughts is both harmful to yourself and ridiculous as an outsider. But I'll let you know it doesn't affect me as I know what is my responsibility an what is yours. If you had read tons of books on OCD you should've read some good ones, and you had none to suggest. It says everything. I really feel for you. And I'm sorry you are hurting. I know you'll read this as false but I hope it can give you some relief if you ever circle back to this disagreement.