BEAT THE BITCH (OCD) - Lets b realistic, ocd is hardwired, its connected with the brain, its physical not psychological. - that means we cannot cure it (u r not going for brain surgery) - we hv to manage it so that our quality of life improves & we hv a sense of control back in life. ---------------------------- Lets know it : -ocd will throw at u a thought fueled with anxiety and doubt. -the thought wont go away. -the anxiety wont go away - the anxiety will increase if u try to push it out. - u cannot shut the thought with reasoning & logic, u r just wasting ur time (bcos the hardware/brain is malfunctioned). - pills & psychologist wont work. - u r in hell & no one knows it. -ur family & friends cannot understand it. - its a curse. ----------------------------- How to Manage ? - identification : as the thought pops up, identify it as ocd, if u hv doubt that it is ocd or not then it is definitely ocd. - acceptance : since we hv accepted that ocd cannot b cured therefore do not b afraid of the thought,let the thought stay. - the anxiety : know that the thought will start to generate greater & greater anxiety, may b u will get headaches, stress etc.. - divergence : now start to focus on breath, when u breathe in say 1 (in ur mind) & when u breathe out say 2 (in ur mind), breathe normaly. - focus : focus on breathing for as long as u can, 5 mins,10 mins, 15 mins..ur mind will wander off in seconds but soon u will remember u had to focus on breathing then bring thr mind back to breathing. - the technique : this is meditation technique, we are not pushing the thought away & we do not want the thought to leave but we are just focusing elsewhere. So we are not fighting ourselves. - the result : meditation clears up the mind & it will help u out surely. & meditation can help in physical & mental ailments. -the challange : everyone has some challanges in life, everyone suffers in there own ways...which are unkown to others. This is your challange. ----------------------------- try this & comment ur experience. (m battling ocd since 2001) peace.

Looking back, I realize I’ve had OCD since I was 7. though I wasn’t diagnosed until I was 30. As a kid, I was consumed by fears I couldn’t explain: "What if God isn’t real? What happens when we die? How do I know I’m real?" These existential thoughts terrified me, and while everyone has them from time to time, I felt like they were consuming my life. By 12, I was having daily panic attacks about death and war, feeling untethered from reality as depersonalization and derealization set in. At 15, I turned to drinking, spending the next 15 years drunk, trying to escape my mind. I hated myself, struggled with my body, and my intrusive thoughts. Sobriety forced me to face it all head-on. In May 2022, I finally learned I had OCD. I remember the exact date: May 10th. Reading about it, I thought, "Oh my God, this is it. This explains everything." My main themes were existential OCD and self-harm intrusive thoughts. The self-harm fears were the hardest: "What if I kill myself? What if I lose control?" These thoughts terrified me because I didn’t want to die. ERP changed everything. At first, I thought, "You want me to confront my worst fears? Are you kidding me?" But ERP is gradual and done at your pace. My therapist taught me to lean into uncertainty instead of fighting it. She’d say, "Maybe you’ll kill yourself—who knows?" At first, it felt scary, but for OCD, it was freeing. Slowly, I realized my thoughts were just thoughts. ERP gave me my life back. I’m working again, I’m sober, and for the first time, I can imagine a future. If you’re scared to try ERP, I get it. But if you’re already living in fear, why not try a set of tools that can give you hope?

I want to beat OCD because I have seen and felt the benefits of clearing my brain from unnecessary, pointless, thoughts. OCD is like 0 calorie food. It’s pointless. No nutrition or benefits come from my obsessions or compulsions. I don’t care to have answers to everything anymore. I catch myself just trying to stress myself out so that I have some worry to feed on. But like I said, it’s a 0 calorie food. I get nothing from it but wasted time and energy. My brain feels more spacious when I’m not consumed by OCD. I’m present. My personality has room to be herself without making space for bullshit. I tell myself now that worry is poison. I think Willie Nelson was the person I got that quote from? Anyways, that imagery of worries being poison for the mind has been transformative for me. I’m evolving. 💖 Thanks NOCD community.

So after my ocd has become more prominent, it gets harder to fight through these compulsion’s everyday. I don’t go to therapy or take any medications and to be honest I am very lost in my journey on how to navigate life with ocd. I don’t want it to take over my life. I want to be able to feel like I can live without a weight on my chest and to finally feel like I can breathe. Any suggestions or words of advice is more than welcome.