- Date posted
- 4y ago
- Date posted
- 4y ago
I was just thinking about you. What if you look at going to your phone as just another compulsion? Ive been thinking about this lately, I dont know that using your phone IS a compulsion, but it acts the same way, to reduce anxiety. And it feels like I just cant stop. And ive been thinking about what it would feel like to responsprevent using it, and truly I think my life would be better. So whether or not it is a compulsion I think I would be better off treating it as one. So try go without the phone 2 minutes, 3, 5, 10 minutes, 1 hour. When I have more energy Ill do this... things have been rough lately Im just surviving these last weeks. But hey, I was thinking we should become friends and visit each other in each others countries, and have barbeques and laugh at OCD together. 😅
- Date posted
- 4y ago
Yay!! Its so great to hear from you! About 2 months ago I put a status up saying 'has anyone seen my friend asfghj?? Plz tell her I'm looking for her" Lol! And then I supposed you had deleted the app and I thought you were probably recovered and didn't need this old life 😂me and my imagination.. Thank you sooo much for your comment. As always, you help me so much! Yes that's pretty much how I feel, that it may just a compulsion to try elievate the distress I'm expreriencing But I feel like instead of coping with it in a healthier way, I try to shut the door on the situation and distract myself. This is temporarily fine, but long term, nothing has changed in helping me cope with discomfort.. And i want to get better at sitting with discomfort, to sit with uncertainties. Thank you so much for the helpful idea of 2min,5min,10min!! I'm going to try that. For this week, until next Thursday,when I am anxious to sit it out for 2 mins without looking at my phone! 😊📱 I'm sorry to hear these weeks have been awful... You've got thru each day! Each day when you thought you couldn't ❤️❤️. How is therapy going? Can't wait for our bbq, 😁😁 we can eat and sit out outside and enjoy a sunset of pink skies!
- Date posted
- 4y ago
@ButterflyStar Haha, aww, thats so cute. Never knew you had looked for me🙃 and woah, not recovered at all. And its been a worse period lately. The public health system in my country is very good in some ways, but it others not so much. So even if I have come in contact with OCDspecialist and theyve given me the diagnosis, the actual treatment is far ahead. And the last days Ive been thinking that I cant wait any longer. I need to get better, I dont wanna lose anymore of my life. So even if ERP is better with professionals Im gonna start doing more on my own because I cant miss out on more of my life! I just dont want any more days where I feel like im stuck in a loop 18 hours a day. 😔 The distraction isnt that part of the avoidance compulsion? These last weeks thats been so hard, Ive been so many hours on my phone and it truly is in the way of vitality and a happy life. Which makes me think its compulsive. I mean cant every type of distraction be compulsive if youre doing it to avoid anxiety/life? Maybe sitting with the uncertainty AND doing whatever. Not as a distraction but a LIVING. Do you have therapy with an OCD specialist?
- Date posted
- 4y ago
I've heard meditation and learning mindfulness is effective with that. There are many book on learning how to be more mindful and staying in the moment.
- Date posted
- 4y ago
I only go on my phone if I’m in public. Otherwise I read or do a hobby or watch a show or listen to music or go out
- Date posted
- 4y ago
Using my phone to alleviate discomfort became a compulsion for me. I’ve found mindfulness techniques helped immediate relief. I use the 5-4-3-2-1 exercise. Identify five things you see, four things you hear, three things you feel, two things you smell, and visualize your #1 place of comfort. Mindfulness has to be practiced to achieve the full effect. It’s helped calm a panic attack for me too. My old therapist also taught me a breathing technique that’s helped me. Deep breathing used to never work for me until I tried this method. You inhale counting to 4 and exhale counting to 8, as you’re doing it you feel where your feet are and affirm you’re grounded. Paying attention to how anxiety manifests in your body can help disenegage you from the thoughts causing the discomfort to begin with. I also like to set alarms throughout the day to help remind me to do basic tasks like eating lunch or taking a shower. Being on a schedule helps you feel structured and gives you a task to focus on instead of your anxiety. I’m sorry you’re experiencing discomfort right now, I hope this could be of some help.
- Date posted
- 4y ago
Thank you so much!! 💜
Related posts
- Date posted
- 20w ago
hi. so one big factor of my OCD is rumination. i met a guy who i have a crush on the idea of (idea bc there are red flags). my biggest fear is not finding true love, my ex told me no one else would deal with what i have (my ocd, specifically reassurance seeking and getting overstimulated after intimacy). a few weeks ago, my friends and family all gathered and tried to give me advice that sounded like “you’re shy and you’ll never find someone.” after that, i’ve felt off. i’ve been using an unhealthy coping skill, daydreaming, and i’ve just felt unbalanced. my ocd makes everything feel different sometimes, i can’t explain it. life, myself, almost like being in a dissociated state. has anyone else experienced that? i don’t know how to remain balanced during my off times and i know pms exasperates it all. i take ashwaghanda and omega 3s in a multi vitamin daily. i take them all together in the evening but i’ve missed three days recently and also messed with my rocky sleep schedule because of fun times with friends. i hope these supplements work, because i don’t know if i’d be brave enough for medication. i had a bad reaction on prozac and often am forgetful. i just have been battling my OCD consciously for almost ten years now and unconsciously for longer. i am so tired, as my mental health extends beyond my OCD. i’m in talk therapy with some cbt aspects but i only see her twice a month. i’ve broken down so many times and promised myself id get on track or that certain things would work, but it’s like i am stuck in a circle that gets smaller when i’m able to help myself. i just want to be normal. i want to be able to mess up my sleep schedule to enjoy good times and not suffer horrible consequences or fear that i will be entirely thrown off balance. i don’t want to worry or doubt or feel so dissociative that i squint my eyes for a moment and wonder why i feel so unreal. i will never understand why god has allowed me to go through this. i cannot let it be for nothing but i don’t know how much more to bend and contort my body and brain to get somewhere stable but how lovely it would be if i could. i don’t have much of a schedule right now, i get apathetic and give in with things from time to time. one thing can trigger me and i am back to square one wether in a week or month. any advice, any and all is so helpful. your stories, your thoughts. maybe feeling less alone and knowing what has helped you is exactly what i need right now. thank you 💗
- Date posted
- 15w ago
whats up guys what are some tips dealing with ocd and what to do when a thought makes u anxious ??
- User type
- Therapist
- Date posted
- 7w ago
Here is what I say to people: I wish I could make it stop. I really do. I also wish I could stop tinnitus. What is tinnitus, you may ask? Well, have you ever gone to a loud concert and after it had a ringing in your ears. Or, in movies when a loud explosion hears, first it is often muffled, and then there is a very loud ringing sound. Well, I have hear that sound for over 30 years. Turns out the medications I took as a kid for allergies and all the antibiotics I was on for Strep had a side effect for some people - tinnitus - that sound that I have heard every decade, year, month, day, hour, and second, for the past 30 years. I have learned to live with it. As I type this, it is REALLY loud, because I am paying attention to it. But, in a few minutes it will fade into the background, and, while I will hear it, I will not pay much attention to it, and therefore I will go on with my night. I will listen to music, practice my story for the MOTH radio hour, and work out. I will clean up the kitchen and load the dishwasher, and I will eventually get ready for bed. I will go to bed hearing that sound, and fall asleep for a few hours until tomorrow morning when I start the day all over again. I cannot make the sound stop. There is nothing to do for it - no surgery or medication. Just learning to live with it, and that is what I have done. It is the thing that I hate the most in my life, and, if granted three wishes, it would be the first thing to change. For now, as I have for 30 years, I will live with it, and I will ask you to live with your noises in your head - the thoughts, the images, and the urges, and we will practice together accepting that things are not always as we want them, but we can handle that. We got this.
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