mtksy
- Date posted
- 3y
BugsyBugsy
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 3y
That's the real sinister part of what we deal with - OCD can develop into something that takes your greatest fears and insecurities and amplifies them to the point that you worry all the time. I don't want to contribute to the reassuring mechanism that a good many of us on this site have been going through; I do want to stress to you that OCD is a very real condition, a thinking disorder. It's not your fault, it's not a character issue. Though it feels permanent, it is manageable and it is NOT the truth of who you are, merely something you're having to deal with. I can vouge for ERP. The more you don't give in to the compulsions, the more you'll be able to see these disturbing thoughts as passing clouds.
AnonymousAnonymous
- Date posted
- 3y
All the time!
BugsyBugsy
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 3y
That's the very nature of our condition. The reassurance seeking is the compulsion part of the OCD and it only strengthens it. I went through this for several months straight between last year and this year and it became an almost daily thing. Medication and the ERP I'm getting through NOCD has helped tremendously! There is a way out; until then, be patient with yourself. It took a long time to get to the point you're at and it's going to take some work to get out of it, but you will get through it.
mtksymtksy
- Date posted
- 3y
Thanks! I appreciate your reply
AJDCTX12AJDCTX12
- Date posted
- 3y
Absolutely, yesterday i spent over an hour just watching videos on severe OCD to try to reassure myself that its what i deal with and the videos showed people getting divorced cus of it and all that and i literally paniced and cried but couldnt stop watchinf them
mtksymtksy
- Date posted
- 3y
Ahhh I know that feeling!
Rachael URachael U
- Date posted
- 3y
Yeah, that's one reason why it's discouraged. It doesn't actually help.
AnonymousAnonymous
- Date posted
- 3y
Isnt reassurance ok sometimes? I mean, the whole idea of not having reassurance can sound unbelievably isolating to someone. The reality is that every human could use some reassurance every so often. OCD or not. Reassurance is nothing new. Isnt the whole concept of labeling our condition as OCD, reassurance in and of itself?
AJDCTX12AJDCTX12
- Date posted
- 3y
It depends on the type of reassurance. For us, its generally not a good idea if its meant to quell our sense of uncertainty regarding ocd themes. Now if its stuff like asking your college professor if you're doing well in the class cus they havent updated grades, then of course thats fine
Related posts
eggees!!
- Date posted
- 17w
handling seeking reassurance in relationship ocd?
hi! i often fear im going to lose my job because i made a “mistake” (not really) that my manager caught and is waiting to tell me about or i fear im going to be kicked off the roster of a team im on for small mistakes that everyone makes. this often compels me to ask those people if i did good or not and gauge their reactions to see if theyre going to remove me and i fall into a cycle of asking and asking. how do you guys deal with these feelings / compulsions? when im flaring i often just spend as much time around these people as possible to gather “evidence” of their opinion on me, but then i get nervous that they hate me for being clingy. i also abandon other duties / tasks so i can spend time with these people to make sure they like me. what do you guys do? anyone else experience the sentiment?
rhyanmich
- Date posted
- 16w
My compulsions don’t bring me relief
Does anyone else find that their compulsions actually make their OCD/obsession worse? I don’t mean in the obvious way, like that it strengthens the OCD cycle, I mean in the way that when I perform my compulsions, they make my anxiety so much worse in the moment. My main compulsions are ruminating, arguing with my thoughts, and memory reviewing, but they all just end up giving me more intrusive thoughts/questions, making my anxiety more intense, and making me think my intrusive thoughts are real. I’ve always read that you perform compulsions because they bring you relief, and I suppose for me, they more make me feel like I’m working towards “solving the issue” or “answering my question”, so then is that my version of “relief”? In reality, it just makes my anxiety worse because the more I ruminate/memory review, the more jumbled together and foggy my thoughts/memories become, which in turn makes me think that if I ruminate/memory review just a little more, I’ll be able to “push through that fog” and find my answer, which then also causes me anxiety because my brain feels foggy and hence makes completing my compulsions/figuring out my obsession impossible (which I guess is good because I’m not supposed to complete my compulsions). All of this is making me believe that I don’t have OCD and that my intrusive thoughts are true and that’s why I can’t shake them and that’s why I feel the need to figure them out and why I feel so foggy… Or is this just meta OCD playing it’s devious tricks on me? Has anyone else experienced this or is this not OCD and I should be concerned that my obsession is true?
OneDayAtATimee
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 15w
How to stop reassurance?
I thankfully conquered harm ocd but I’m going through a flare up with relationship OCD, which I never got over. I know how bad reassurance seeking is but I can’t seem to quit. I ask my mom the same question countless times and it never helps. I feel bad because she tries to help and prevent me from seeking reassurance but I drive her crazy because I keep asking anyways. And if I don’t ask her, I reassure myself in my head. How are we supposed to resist these compulsions fully if we’re so scared? It feels as if I’ll never be confident enough to trust my own beliefs, even when I recover in the future with ERP
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