- Date posted
- 4y
- Date posted
- 4y
I'm so sorry. I am in a a deep dark hole right now it seems. It's so scary. You're not alone right now. It seems hopeless. But you're not alone. I can barely function because I question every thought feeling and action.
- Date posted
- 4y
It seems like we are all very alone but this is very reassuring
- Date posted
- 4y
I am just about at an all time low right now. I've never paid much attention to the post but I decided to look and I saw yours. I might be in a deep dark hole, but at least I'm not in there alone because I saw your post! I just started with the NOCD therapist and basically, I'm too anxious to complete the therapy. I'm always in fight or flight mode- it's been months. And have had several of these OCD flares over my lifetime. I'm 28. I moved back with my parents. Been to 3 different psychiatrist offices and after trying several different antidepressants at the highest doses, they ultimately recommend a very low dose antipsychotic med. I tried 2 different ones and bad side effects. So when I started up with the newest psychiatrist (3rd one) and she recommended the antipsychotic right off the bat I said no. Been avoiding it for months. Just too the first dose of Risperdal. I feel defeated and afraid of how it will effect me. But I'm pretty much choosing between trying it or going to some kind of mental health facility (which is not an option because I have to work and I can't afford it anyway). I best myself up and say: you're broken, you'll never be normal or live a normal life, you're mentally ill, you're unfixable you're problem is too severe, no one will ever love you- you're too messed up, you are nothing, you're worthless, you're a burden . But I have a choice whether to listen to that or not, and so do you. Even though I have bad religious fears/OCD, I am going to pray right now that you are enveloped in peace and that no harm will come to you. There is hope, for us both.
- Date posted
- 4y
I have tried one antiphyosic so far and it gave me very bad effects I'm hoping to try some more. Anything to help relieve these thoughts! I have the smad thoughts as you thay I will never be normal and I am to severe. I have family members that believe I am making all this up! I'm 23 and have had issues for as long as I can remember! I am starting group counseling this week and all I can think of is no one will understand what I'm going through, I firmly believe that it won't help as no one in the group will know or they will just judge me. I hope you can make it through this we are in it together
- Date posted
- 4y
Experience the same thing pretty much, it’s hard to move past feelings and the urges to ruminate but hang in there
- Date posted
- 4y
All I do is ruminate. I'm not sure i know how to think without ruminating. The therapist said I am extremely "cerebral." Hopefully the new med will tone that down a little at least, so that I can untangle my brain.
- Date posted
- 4y
Is it group therapy for OCD? I've also been in years of therapy and have not been "fixed" yet. But... what if someone DOES understand. What if its a great group and you're glad you went? What if you discover a bond with someone who shares your same struggles? I met my absolute best friend when I lived in MN as a child years ago. We have lived in different states from each other for 15+ years, but our relationship is still strong. She and I had the same OCD symptoms as kids together. I JUST found out that she has some continued symptoms of OCD as an adult too. She just now realized that's what it is. She struggles with disturbing intrusive thoughts. Hers is not as severe as mine, but does cause a great deal of distress for her. We have to take it one day at a time. Or one second at a time. Don't believe the lies about yourself that float around in your head. Challenge them. My family didn't know what was wrong with me. They try to be supportive and understanding, except my Dad - not so much. He just mentioned something about me "heading towards schizophrenia" since I am starting a med that was primarily made to treat schizophrenia. I felt like he kicked me in the gut. I cried all the way to the pharmacy. Everyone puts on a "normal" mask and goes about their day. It will surprise you to hear of the severe struggles those "perfect" people are actually going through behind closed doors. Guess what... the people that are going to that group you're gonna go to are probably thinking the exact same thing as you- nobody will understand me, why am I here at this group, etc.
- Date posted
- 4y
It is just group therapy not specifically for ocd. I know that I have to give this group a try and I have just always had to hid my ocd as no one in my life understands or been very supportive. I have been told many times to just suck it up and just ignore it. It's truly different when the people you hope understand think you are making it up. As a kid it used to take me hours in the shoe store to pick a pair of shoes all because of how they felt, I still remember being told to just deal with it. I'm hoping this group goes better then I'm thinking but I'm also anxious to tell people my problems. I am also diagnosed with cluster b borderline personality disorder so I'm always very unsure of what is real and what is not. I am honestly just truly afraid I am alone.
- Date posted
- 4y
I'm so sorry that the people that you ran to for support weren't any help. It's hard for people to understand. I struggle with the label of my diagnosis. The more you focus on it the more it defines you. You are more than that. You are a person with talents and so much to give to the world and people around you. Trust me I am terrified right now too. I feel so alone. But this support page shows we aren't alone. The feeling of being alone and afraid and anxious may not go away. But that's OK. You'll get through it. But if the feelings are still there - it's ok - feelings are a part of everyone's life but dont always reflect reality. Something that I find comforting is something I heard once "the truth/reality is the truth no matter what you believe or feel". So when we feel alone and terrified and like we are about to die or the world is about to crash down on us, we can ask "is that really true." Even though I have OCD, I am going to try to not just wallow in it (which I do most of the time). I am going to actually try to start practicing somethings I've learned, because I have come to the realization I have a severely negative thought process...about everything. I'm gonna try to challenge the negative lies I tell myself. I hope you do too. Easier said than done! You are absolutely NOT alone in this, even though your feelings tell you you are. You are seeking the support of a group which is a brave great step!!
- Date posted
- 4y
Thank you!
Related posts
- Date posted
- 21w
Hello everybody I just am looking for someone to talk to about my harm ocd / false memory/ sexual intrusiveness. Anyone who has healed or found ways to deal with the illness. Feels like I’m losing hope more and more everyday. I want to be okay but it’s hard living with uncertainty and unwanted urges of doing something terrible. Thanks god bless.
- Date posted
- 20w
(Long post warning) Hi, I’ve been struggling with severe OCD for six years now. it started in 2019 with my theme being getting sick/emetophobia. it devastated my life. I almost didn’t graduate high school from it. I remember washing my hands for three hours one day until they were nearly bloody while crying and asking why I could not stop doing it. I remember id have to write and rewrite sentences when I did my English homework and that’s why I nearly failed that class. I remember how I would spend up to thirty minutes to an hour pacing the halls of my apartment while my mom was asleep until I neutralized the thoughts about throwing up and I could finally go to bed. I don’t know when it happened, but my theme switched. Sometimes in late 2020 or early 2021, it switched to POCD. It started with a single thought, and I focused on it and it’s been my theme since then for four years. It has been absolutely destroying me. I feel so disgusted and lost and just tired. My compulsions are severe now. I thought they were bad before, but now they’re ten times worse. I can’t eat, drink, change my clothes, walk, or even do things on my phone normally. I’ve developed so many mental compulsions that it’s so intricate and complicated yet at the same time I’ve done them so much that they’ve become normal. An example I have is if im putting on a shirt and I have a “bad” thought, I have to take it off and put it back on two more times (that’ll make it 3 times I put the shirt back on - odd numbers are my safe number). I have to have a good thought on the third time otherwise I have to take it off and put it on two more times to make it five times I put on that shirt. If not that then I just put on a different shirt because the original is now tainted with my bad thought. I can’t open apps on my phone. It’s with the numbers again. If I open TikTok once while having a bad thought - I have to close it and open it two more times and so on. Sometimes I do it up to 30 times. So I just don’t do things usually. I don’t turn on the TV because I know I’ll redo it. I don’t open a book or grab it off my shelf because I’ll have to repeat the action. I can’t even lay in bed without getting up and redoing it even if im exhausted. I just feel so helpless. I don’t know what to do. I feel disgusting and even now my minds screaming at me that I am dirty and what I think is true. I just wish I was free of this, I wish I could just live my life. I’ve wasted hours and days because of my compulsions. I mask it so well around my friends. I don’t do them in front of anyone or I’ve learned to hide it well. But when im back home alone, it goes haywire. I just want to live again.
- Date posted
- 17w
This is gonna be a long one: So a little over a month and a half ago, my OCD started to spiral again. I’ve had ups and downs with it in the past, my main themes often changing. When I was younger it as afraid I’d run away, in middle school it was germs. But as I got older I started having intrusive thoughts of the meaning of life, suicide, and dying, with those fears being my common themes now I’ve gotten a lot better since it started back up, but lately have been panicking because I’ve had intrusive thoughts that my methods of trying to heal are wrong. I’m 21, and for the last 3 years have lacked ambition and haven’t pursued my dreams or things I want to do. I just sleep, work, eat junk food, and play games or watch YouTube on my time off. Things I still love, but after years of living this way, I’ve hit a breaking point and want to start doing more with my life and the people in it Yet, almost EVERY new thing I’ve been trying to do or start, I’ve been having thoughts that they’re wrong or won’t help. Here’s some examples: I’ve started trying to eat a bit healthier, and my brain is telling me it’s not gonna fix me and I’m just avoiding food I like (junk I know makes me tired and sad). Then the moment I indulge in even one unhealthy food item, it tells me I’m failing at taking better care of myself and that junk food just numbs the feelings Same with video games. I tell myself it’s okay to play them as long as it’s not to avoid anything or they don’t take up my life like they have been. The second I do I feel guilty, say it’s cheap dopamine and hindering me from being productive and that I’m numbing my feelings again Same story for everything. Trying to walk and go outside more. Head tells me I’m avoiding being home because it makes me anxious. Then when I stay home it tells me I’m wasting time I could be spending outside or with people I love I’ll wanna spend time with my family or friends because I’ve been a hermit for years and miss spending time with them. When I try to, head tells me I can’t because then I’m avoiding the issues I have and seeking reassurance, and that I need to learn to tolerate this alone. But then when I stay home too long, I get anxious and sad because it does make me happy being around them even if I’m not seeking reassurance, and they genuinely do help me feel better (for example I saw my grandparents last night and talked about my feelings and desire to actually go out and live life, and they helped me understand uncertainty is part of life and I should do things I want anyways and even helped come up with things I may like to try doing. Now my brain tells me it’s bad to get help or open up about my pain) I’ll have racing thoughts in my head and I’ll be arguing with myself over rather it’s better to face them head on, ignore them, or let them run their course. It feels like no matter what I do, I’m feeling guilty and shame for it. As if any attempt at feeling pleasure or doing something that makes me happy is “avoiding the problem”, like I HAVE to focus on my intrusive thoughts, anxiety, and sadness 24/7 otherwise I’m “avoiding/burying it again” I know not to avoid these things and it’s best to confront them (if they’re real problems I have like relationship issues and insecurities and loneliness) and learn to tolerate the anxiety and uncertainty of life and OCD, but my attempts at “helping myself” are quite literally what I feel is currently keeping me so miserable. They’re sucking whatever joy I have in life out, telling me it’s bad, and that I have to feel this way all the time so I can “learn to tolerate it” I’m just so scared of doing all of this wrong, and I think my OCD I knows that and is currently using that to toy with me. I want to be healthier and happier, but then I feel guilt and fear for not being healthy 24/7 and indulging in not healthy things like video games and the occasional junk food. Anybody else ever felt this way?
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