- Date posted
- 3y ago
- User type
- NOCD Alumni
- Date posted
- 3y ago
You can't "stop" ruminating but you can stop participating in it. When you catch yourself off in thought playing it out, trying to figure it out... acknowledge that... like ahh this is ocd I'm going to let these thoughts be here but I'm not participating. Then return to whatever activity it is that you're doing. The thoughts will play, the anxiety will come, let it. Eventually the thoughts will become quiter, anxiety will lessen and you will catch yourself participating more quickly. Also learn how to meditate. Meditation is soo good and helpful and will teach you how to do exactly what I said above. Because you essentially do the same thing when mediating. You focus on your breathing but when you notice yourself paying attention to your thoughts you again focus on your breathing.
- Date posted
- 3y ago
Thanks Jess. I see what you’re saying on the rumination. I’ll try that acknowledgment. But I get so damned scared of my inability to stop the ruminating, I’ve turned it all into a battle. As I said above, I really struggle with meditation. That’s when my OCD is at its loudest and when my anxiety is at its highest. It’s become a “thing” in itself. I’ll keep plugging away.
- Date posted
- 3y ago
B would be the more ideal solution in this situation. At times I tend to overthink and realize that I’m overthinking and the more I try to ignore the ruminating the stronger it comes on to me. Just accept and continue to go on with your day and without even noticing it, the ruminating will fade on its own. The only tricky thing is once you realize it faded usually it will latch back on, but just continue to accept it and focus on doing more important things. Even watching a show or talking to a friend or family member tends to help and take off some of the tension you may be feeling. Hope this helps, if you have any more questions feel free to ask.
- Date posted
- 3y ago
Thank you. It’s constantly trying to lure me in - when I’ve gone for a period of time, usually a minute or so, without noticing it then it comes back with a vengeance. I usually can’t even concentrate on TV or other people as it’s a constant loud presence. Learning to fight it - by not fighting it - is the greatest challenge of my life.
- Date posted
- 3y ago
I’ve read several books on Buddhism which I’d recommend doing for anyone that faces any sort of anxiety or distress. Basically what it says is most of us spend most of our time in the past or the future while the present slips right by you. Consistency is definitely the biggest key, the little steps you take everyday really do build up and make the biggest difference. Rather than trying to spend most of your time in your mind, try to find strength in vulnerability by accepting the fact at the moment your not at your best and just strive for little improvement day by day. It really helps me to meditate and just focus on something really beautiful and forget that everything else around you exists for a period of time. Another exercise that helped with my thoughts, was commentating every little action I’m doing as I do it. Even though your still talking in your head it drifts away the attention from your thoughts and focuses on properly commentating the actions your performing.
- Date posted
- 3y ago
B is the best and smartest option.
- Date posted
- 3y ago
My other compulsion - buying books on Buddhism! Seriously! I have over 60. I find that whenever I try to meditate or be in the present moment or usefully distract myself in any way that is when the OCD is at its loudest and it’s most invasive. I know why - it’s because I *try* when I should be letting go. I guess that’s my ultimate problem. I don’t know how to let things go.
Related posts
- Date posted
- 20w ago
I have a lot of thoughts about the universe, and they’re overwhelming—like being caught in a rip current, except it’s all inside my head. Most of the time, they’re about how small we are, how there really isn’t a “we” because our bodies aren’t truly ours—we’re just bacteria, cells, and microbes. The thoughts spiral, deeper and deeper, smaller and smaller, coiling until suddenly, I’m pulled under, drowning in a whirlpool. I’ve never felt like this before, and I’m convinced I’ve been faking it somehow. For the past few weeks, my OCD has been worse than it’s ever been in my 20 years of life. Or maybe I’m just more aware of it now. Has anyone else had their OCD suddenly get really bad? Does it ever end—if it even can? I’ve convinced myself that my intrusive thoughts aren’t actually intrusive, that my OCD is a choice, and that everything I do is intentional. As for compulsions, I don’t have the typical “If I don’t do ____ then ____ will happen” kind of thoughts. Instead, my brain simply commands, “Do ____,” and I always give in. It’s so loud in my head, and I can’t shake the feeling that I’m an imposter. Like I don’t belong here—like my presence on this app is an intrusion, invalidating everyone else’s struggles just by downloading it and daring to post. If anyone feels that way, if you think I’m intruding, I’m sorry. I only came here because I have no one to share my diagnosis with. Pouring my thoughts out, hoping someone might understand, feels less suffocating than journaling. Journaling is like letting a wound fester—each word burying the thoughts deeper, leaving them to decay in silence, for nobody to ever read but myself.
- Date posted
- 13w ago
So, I know my capacity to get fixated on things. And it's normally something that's relatively remote but, my latest issue is really getting to me and I was wondering if people have any advice. I'm avoiding getting too into specifics, as I don't want this to get reassurance-y but, in essence.. I came to the realisation recently that people who I'd been "friends" (feels like the wrong term now) when I was younger were not very nice people, and normalized a lot of very unpleasant behaviour towards other members of the group. They really normalized it, sold themselves as figures of authority, as older and more responsible and grown-up than others, and looking back, they acted horribly. And coming to this realisation, that I'd been manipulated into just accepting their behaviour has just... broken me. My OCD has latched onto it and I can't stop feeling irreversibly tainted by it. I've talked to others about it, and they've reassured me, told me it's not a big deal and that I hold myself to too high a standard, but none of that sticks. I feel better for a bit, then think 'Maybe when you told them you were skewing it to make yourself look better' or 'Did you leave out a crucial detail'. I keep ruminating over and over, trying to remember exactly how everything played out, trying to figure out if I fed into the behaviour, if I did something bad myself (because y'know, I feel like I was accepting of it at the time, so what does it say about my own values?). I know I need to stop doing all this if I want to improve, but then some part of me keeps saying 'So, you're just going to let yourself off the hook then?' Normally, I can rationalize my own fears to some degree, assure myself something won't happen, but the realness of the situation, and the fact I only came to understand the reality of it because the thought had been bothering me means it feels so much more all-encompassing. I know confessing in itself is a compulsion, but I keep feeling that if I'm not I'm somehow concealing what I 'really am' from others around me, and any positive interactions are me deceiving them in some way. I feel like I can't enjoy anything in life right now, and a good part of me feels I should not enjoy it ever again. If anybody has any advice on it, I'm all ears. Or even hearing if you relate to these feelings, I might appreciate the solidarity at least.
- Date posted
- 12w ago
I started dealing with OCD when I became fixated on health issues, particularly the fear of contracting a life-threatening disease. If I experienced any kind of medical symptom, no matter how small, that even remotely hinted at something potentially fatal, it would drive me crazy, and I couldn’t stop obsessing over it. Then one day, I started having intrusive thoughts about accidentally hitting someone with my car, and I would end up driving in circles to check if I had. Eventually, I found myself overwhelmed by a flood of new obsessive thoughts and compulsions. One day, while I was at the park, a squirrel came near me, and for some reason, I felt like it attacked me. I Googled it and learned that squirrels could carry rabies, which spiraled me into a deep fear of rabies. I became consumed with the thought I received a bite from a squirrel, raccoon, or bat any time I’m in areas that trigger me. It started off only being inside then transferred to even being in my own home. This made me obsess over every physical sensation in my body, compulsively checking to make sure nothing was wrong. One compulsion that I hated the most would to be putting rubbing alcohol on me to make sure that I had no open wounds. Every day feels like I’m walking around in a fog of anxiety, constantly worrying that I won’t even make it to old age. Sometimes, it gets so overwhelming that I just want it all to end. It stresses me so bad at times to where my brain feels like I’ve been studying all day.
Be a part of the largest OCD Community
Share your thoughts so the Community can respond