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.

I am in your exact situation. I just came back from a bachelorette party this weekend. I obviously had a little too much to drink on one of the nights out. Then bam! The next morning I asked for reassurance all damn day. I feel terrible for constantly asking. Alcohol is so evil!! I truly believe alcohol is a major, if not the main contributor in some themes. If you want to talk I am here.

It’s completely understandable why you drink in response to the OCD; alcohol is a relaxant, so it’s no surprise that the OCD retreats after a drink or two (or more)! As you mentioned towards the beginning, substance abuse is not uncommon for those of us struggling with OCD. What’s good is that you’re cognisant enough to recognise that you’re straying in an unhealthy direction, not everybody has that level of insight, so be grateful of that. And it’s also extremely understandable why OCD can latch onto drunk behaviour, because you’re not human if you haven’t embarrassed yourself while drunk, I definitely have (multiple times). You can look back on moments, and at least for me, it’s almost overpowering the shame, guilt & embarrassment linked to weird or wrong behaviour I’ve done while drunk. My advice with the drinking is to look at it logically. Ask yourself this, where do you wanna be in 5 years? If you continued drinking all the time to bury away the OCD, will you be in your ideal spot? I’m assuming your answer will be no, and I think that’s probably a good first step to take. But please don’t worry about whether you’re an ‘alcoholic’ or not, I don’t think you’re an alcoholic, but the harsh reality is that this could go wrong given time, so be cognisant and responsible, and start trying to get it under control. Read some books maybe, TALK TO A THERAPIST (OCD specialist) if that’s an option for you! Whatever route feels best, do it. You’re okay, and you’re gonna be okay. You sound to me like a responsible person, and I have no doubt that you can overcome the problems your facing. And for for the OCD, ERP, no compulsions! It’s worth it ❤️

I'm in a similar situation. I always worry I said something terrible after I drink or did something terrible. I just had a bad dream that I did something terrible after drinking and now I feel like crap. It always brings back memories or false memories. :( I can also relate to that vanishing feeling after drinking a bit. I usually feel like, "hey! Everything is going to be okay!" and of course that only lasts while a shirt while. An escape! I'm here if you ever want to talk. We have each other!

I too overdrink and then OCD comes in and tells me I’m guilty for various things even though I can’t remember such things. I’m sober enough to remember what happened if I’m in a group but then afterwards OCD thoughts make me fearful I did something bad.