- Username
- ewaedb
- Date posted
- 3y ago
Very true, I went our drinking last night with friends and today has been horrible because of it. It just sucks because here in the uk drinking is such apart of our “going out” culture and I have fun when we go out! But the next day I have sooo much anxiety and fear
Exactly!!!! I just started uni so obviously a lot is going on with that kind of stuff and I basically decided to just stop because I in general felt like being healthier. Turns out a lot of my OCD has been worse because of countless hangovers and I'm already feeling better.
@ewaedb That’s so good to hear!! Yeah uni culture can be a nightmare for alcohol consumption, I’m just about to finish my degree and there’s been too many times I’ve woken up the next day with so much anxiety because of it! I was lucky tho as my ocd died down considerably during my first and second year of uni, third year it’s back in full force tho haha
Hangxiety is the wooooorst.
I got sober a little over a year ago specifically because I was so terrified of getting drunk and telling someone about my intrusive thoughts. Also, I get really bad derealization and I started noticing it getting horrible when I was drunk. And after I smoked, my intrusive thoughts would get so vivid and graphic. So I also stay 100% away from alcohol and drugs of any kind. It’s kind of a great side effect to have though 😂 Being sober makes you so much healthier
it depends, i became dependent on cannabis because it provided me major relief from my OCD. in fact, you can get a medical marijuana prescription for OCD. obviously abuse can exasperate symptoms of OCD, but now that I have control over my cannabis use I find it actually helps be break from my obsessive thought patterns and enjoy the world non-obsessively - that is, in the present. be weary of casting a generalized condemnation of all drugs, as some can actually benefit those with OCD. additional research is being done with psychedelic drugs (LSD, Psilocybin) to alleviate OCD, and the results are also promising. the only drugs i’d be weary about taking with OCD are stimulants. caffeine alone has caused me to have panic attacks, albeit an amount of caffeine that supersedes an average dose. one or two cups should be fine, but even then if i’m not working out or engaging myself i find they make me anxious. adderal/vyvance always makes my obsessive thoughts / compulsions worse. lastly, alcohol, although not a depressant, is generally a very terrible drug. i tend to drink socially, one every two months, and i don’t have problems. i also don’t get plastered. there is a certain level of nuance required when discussing drug use in relation to any mental health issue, and casting a demonizing generalization against all drugs can actually hurt those suffering more than help.
Yeah I mean when I smoked weed in the moment I felt better, but it's the hangover I'm talking about. The hangover made the OCD so much worse. Also I ended up smoking everytime my OCD acted up which is the wrong way to deal with it, because I obviously can't do that forever and I need to learn how to deal with it without any drugs.
I see where you’re coming from. I, personally, used to drink very heavily, smoke a ton of pot, and also take non prescribed adderall. And I used to love it all, but when my OCD symptoms started getting really prevalent, any mind altering substance made it horrible. I find that especially with existential OCD and fearing whether or not your surroundings are real, a sober mind really helps you to navigate those fears. I know some other people who have mental health issues that have had “bad trips” and it triggered them so horribly. But I also know some people who do benefit from tripping or who microdose. It depends on the person. I just do better when I’m sober.
@Ald21 it’s drug ABUSE that’s the issue. it’s all about the relationship you have with the drug. it’s a complex subject. I’ve had “bad trips” that have made my OCD worse (because I couldn’t accept the fear an uncertainty that was aroused by the psychedelics), and i’ve had amazing trips that practically cured my OCD for weeks afterwards. if you have a healthy, respectable relationship with drugs they can be an enhancement to life. HOWEVER, if you have a history of drug abuse (like i do, heavily abused of weed and nicotine), it is most definitely the best route to refrain from drugs for an extended period of time or deal with the issues that causes you to abuse in the first place. but i agree, a sober mind does allow you to navigate your thoughts easier, in most contexts. however, just because you abused in the past doesn’t mean you can’t have a healthy relationship in the future. just as an unrighteous man can change his wicked ways, so can you change your unrighteous relationship with drugs. remember, drugs have been used since the dawn of man to enduce states of spirituality and transcendence. abusing that relationship will certainly lead to turmoil.
@jake Yeah I agree it does depend on the person I guess. For me I've not had a single bad trip and on all my trips I felt amazing, basically only 5% of my OCD was left. But the days after it would be wayyyyyy worse. For me the drugs tend to help while I'm still in the high but the hangover or days after it's just worse.
@ewaedb that’s interesting, actually. my last acid trip i felt relief during and weeks afterwards. i feel like a huge part of the psychedelic experience that’s missing from street/recreational use is the lack of a professional helping you understand and integrate the experience afterwards. i’m really excited to see how the oregon psilocybin therapy centers do once they are established.
Alcohol and OCD: A cruel mistress! Hi all. I wanted to share my thoughts and potentially start a discussion about the role of alcohol in OCD. Certainly in my case I think it is a fundamental contributor to my suffering, and I'm not surprised about the statistics related to how many OCD sufferers also suffer from problematic drinking. My current obsessive themes are Real Event/guilt OCD and are often related to situations and events where I was incredibly drunk with fuzzy and missing memories, or my drunkenness contributed to certain actions that I now obsessively regret. Whilst this was in the past, alcohol is still contributing to my suffering, and I'm starting to wonder whether I would be much happier without it. I find that after sometimes months of feeling fine, most if not all of my major relapses have occurred directly after a night of heavy drinking, and that spark has sent me spiralling for days and sometimes weeks. I then became obsessed about limiting my drinking in certain situations, I had a fear that if I was drunk I would end up committing some horrible crime or cheating on my partner. Now though I'm finding that I'm drinking moderate amounts of alcohol on a very regular basis, just to take my mind off my obsessions, which is very unhealthy. When I have a drink, even just one, it feels like my thoughts just almost vanish in importance, it's like a beautiful break from all the suffering. This feeling scares me a little and I now worry that I might be verging on some form of dependency on alcohol. I'm not looking for any reassurance here, just wanted to share my experience and chat with others who might also be struggling in this way.
Does anyone with OCD abstain from alcohol or anything that alters your present state for fear their thoughts will manifest? Anyone avoid being vulnerable for that reason as well
I haven't been going through this ocd journey very long, maybe 3 months or so that it has actually impacted my life negatively. Since this started, I cut out caffeine and alcohol completely. I wasn't a big alcohol drinker before but I did enjoy a drink from time to time and I love coffee. I'm curious to know what you guys think about how either one affects your ocd. And also, if I keep avoiding them completely, would that be considered avoidance?
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