- Date posted
- 4y
- Date posted
- 4y
Take it a day at a time :) and I also second the opinion above; be very careful about reading self help guides. They force you to think about perfection. Self esteem is built through time, and it is not a linear process. Finding things you truly love to do, accepting things about yourself, and just doing your best each day (whatever your best looks like for you) is how I've personally grown. These things in life aren't meant to be so intense. In Western culture, we are constantly having these perfectionist ideals being shoved down our throats. But in reality, we're meant to take our time and fall a few times. Have a great day and keep going! :)
- Date posted
- 4y
Thank you so much!!
- Date posted
- 4y
Yea, I suggest the book the happiness trap. It would be really helpful.
- Date posted
- 4y
Thank you
- Date posted
- 4y
Or maybe not read books about it. If it is obsessive-compulsive treat it like any other obsessions and compulsions. If this is obsessive-compulsive reading books about it would only play into the compulsion of figuring it out, finding the "right" self esteem. Building self esteem is about doing esteemable things, getting good at something, claiming your opinions and doing good for others. Its not about reading yet another self help book (no matter how great it is).
- Date posted
- 4y
Ah thank you
- Date posted
- 4y
@bodhisattava Im not saying reading books is wrong, it can be very helpful. But it can also be compulsive. Been there, done that. I read so many of them, and did it all, I ended up in a locked psych ward. Not saying it was the books fault. But it made the OCD worse and worse and worse, because it was compulsive. I had an obsession about something about me being wrong and bettering it. I even took nice baths because "it would make me better".
- Date posted
- 4y
@asdfghj Haha yeah it’s kind of like I need to be perfect and have a perfect life
- Date posted
- 4y
@bodhisattava Yes, and reading about having a happy life plays into that! I wish I could go back five years and realise this. But I'm just grateful im finally getting help from an ocd specialist. Hope you are too!
Related posts
- Date posted
- 17w
I have been really battling with my SO OCD, and I’ve recently started to have a ton of wins!!! I’m really excited about it, but as I’ve noticed myself not engaging as much… different things have popped up. Now im obsessed with people’s perception on me, and them looking at me and thinking by how I walk, how I talk, what I wear, how I move… that I am gay? And am so convinced everyone thinks that and “knows something that I don’t”. Is that typical with OCD? If so, any ERP advice on how to overcome these thoughts?
- Date posted
- 14w
I apologize I post here a lot lol. I have a few questions/I want to vent about this. My therapist and I have identified one of the triggers I’ve been trying to work on, which is my fear of never being good enough; for myself, my family, my friends, for my romantic relationships, and just in general. Honestly, I hate myself so much. Not for any reason in particular, but I overanalyze everything I do and let it consume me. I know this is normal for most people, and everyone goes through bouts of self depreciation and lack of self love. I’m trying to give my love to myself that I’ve always given to other people and it’s so difficult. It’s really funny, I need male validation even though I feel like I can never trust a man ever again. I was broken up with at the beginning of April, and so you can imagine how my self worth really has been feeling. I’m aware my self worth isn’t based on other people’s perception of me, but I just want to be loved consistently through my ocd and adhd. It feels like it’s too much for people, while I simultaneously feel like I’m making this a massive deal. I don’t want to get into another relationship ever again, I just think I’m too weird for most men or they’ll take advantage of me for something again. I think if a man is nice to me, it means there’s an ulterior motive or a catch. There’s genuinely no way someone even cares as much about me as I do them, it’s always one sided. I love my friends, I’m taking about relationships wise. Not to mention, I hate the way I look and act. When I think I’m somewhat decent looking, there’s always a post to pop up with this stunningly beautiful girl. I can never catch up with modern beauty standards. I hate this so so so much. I hate feeling this way, how do I make this all stop?
- Date posted
- 14w
Lately I have been engaging is a very vicious mental cycle of not being as productive as I wanted to at work, worrying my boss with notice and get mad at me or fire me, and then feeling like I have to “figure out” how to “fix myself” and be more productive. I come up with detailed elaborate plans and lists for everything I need to do and fix to be a good person. I have a lot of negative thoughts that are very distressing to me and basically I am a horrible person if I don’t “fix myself” via making these plans. For me, oddly, it’s not about doing the things, it’s about making the list. I do research on how to be more productive and have this need to make the perfect plan that will solve my problems. And then once I make the list I feel better (temporarily, of course). All of the mental energy put into the researching and planning is so draining that it begins to negatively impact my work… and the cycle continues!!! I feel like this is not a “normal” obsession or intrusive thought that people with OCD have, so I guess I am trying to figure out if it could be OCD? This is a very consistent thing I have been experiencing since probably around 8th grade?? So 5+ years now. It’s always the never feeling like I’m good enough and then the compulsory planning until I felt like I had a good enough plan to fix myself. Thanks in advance!! Disclaimer: I have not been diagnosed with OCD but I suspect I have OCD/Pure O or OCPD and many people in my life agree. Obviously this is not my only reason for thinking I have OCD lol
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