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?

My earliest memory of OCD was at five years old. Even short trips away from home made me physically sick with fear. I couldn’t stop thinking, What if something bad happens when I’m not with my mom? In class, I’d get so nervous I’d feel like throwing up. By the time I was ten, my school teacher talked openly about her illnesses, and suddenly I was terrified of cancer and diseases I didn’t even understand. I thought, What if this happens to me? As I got older, my fears shifted, but the cycle stayed the same. I couldn’t stop ruminating about my thoughts: What if I get sick? What if something terrible happens when I’m not home? Then came sexually intrusive thoughts that made me feel ashamed, like something was deeply wrong with me. I would replay scenarios, imagine every “what if,” and subtly ask friends or family for reassurance without ever saying what was really going on. I was drowning in fear and exhaustion. At 13, I was officially diagnosed with OCD. Therapy back then wasn’t what it is now. I only had access to talk therapy and I was able to vent, but I wasn’t given tools. By the time I found out about ERP in 2020, I thought, There’s no way this will work for me. My thoughts are too bad, too different. What if the therapist thinks I’m awful for having them? But my therapist didn’t judge me. She taught me that OCD thoughts aren’t important—they’re just noise. I won’t lie, ERP was terrifying at first. I had to sit with thoughts like, did I ever say or do something in the past that hurt or upset someone? I didn’t want to face my fears, but I knew OCD wasn’t going away on its own. My therapist taught me to sit with uncertainty and let those thoughts pass without reacting. It wasn’t easy—ERP felt like going to the gym for your brain—but slowly, I felt the weight of my thoughts dissipate. Today, I still have intrusive thoughts because OCD isn’t curable—but they don’t control me anymore. ERP wasn’t easy. Facing the fears I’d avoided for years felt impossible at first, but I realized that avoiding them only gave OCD more power. Slowly, I learned to sit with the discomfort and see my thoughts for what they are: just thoughts.

Looking for inspiration