- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 4y
Yes this is the story of my life, everyday. Do the things you need to do today. You can obsess about this later. Do not ask your family about it. It’s going to make it worse. You need to decide that your life is not over. You need to decide that this does not matter to you and that you don’t want to be defined by it. It’s a choice.
Okay do you have any ERP recommendations or tips?
@Anyonomous .You need to explore “why does it matter” and “what does it mean about me.” You need to decide for yourself that it doesn’t matter, and that if it does matter you don’t care. And decide that it doesn’t mean anything about you or thay if it does mean something about you, you don’t care. Because you don’t want to live this way. Because you don’t want your life to end every single time a tiny little thing happens. Because you want to live with understanding and forgiveness and flexibility. No matter what, do not act on the thought.
@Anonymous Okay. Makes sense. What do you mean by figure out the "why does it matter?"
@Anyonomous For example, let’s say you said something mean fo someone. You would ask yourself why does it matter? Like we all say mean things. And even if everyone doesn’t say mean things do you want to live your life feeling guilty for one thing you said? Do you want to live a life where you aren’t allowed to move on from things that you don’t like that you said or did? Do you want to have to live by arbitrary rules? Make sense?
Yeah this happens, for sure!! Some days I can just shrug it off and feel like it wasn't THAT bad, and two days later it's 🆘 again! I keep going back and forth. Suddenly new memories pop up and I'll have to take those into consideration as well. Real event ocd is so much work 😞
For sure 😞 other themes feel hard but at least I can usually say they are irrational but real event doesn't always seem that way! Do you have any tips or ERP recommendations?
@Anyonomous Well... you're asking on a bad day.. I just made a post about wanting to call a friend up to discuss an event from 7 years ago... 😩 But in theory I think ERP for this is to write down the worst possible outcomes to your obsession ("I'm going to lose all my friends and everyone will hate me." etc. and read it over and over until the fear starts going away and you start "accepting" the uncertainty of it. :)
@washie That makes sense!! So sorry you're struggling with this too though :( Mine is a real event from a few years ago and one from yesterday 😞 which is very fresh in my mind. I hope you can feel some peace today
@Anyonomous Thanks, you too! <3 Time will heal us, I'm sure. I've had a few ocd types, but this has been the worst one 💩.
I'm at my college and don't feel like being here. I didn't even want to come here. I woke up with anxiety bc i feel like i need to solve this. I had a bad stomach ache when i arrived to school and still havent even eaten breakfast yet bc i feel like i have to solve this. Im just so worried bc i have harm thoughts daily. If i could i would remove this! I dont want to think anymore. Its just, how do I know i dont have real urges when I'm feeling a negative emotion like anger or disappointment or annoyance? Im worried EVERY time i feel a negative emotion. Yesterday I was playing video games with my neice (we are close in age range) and she made us lose. She started blaming me and I guess i felt a little annoyed, it really wasnt my fault (dumb mini argument it was more playful since we started laughing but it was a bit annoying). Anyway i got a harm thought while feeling annoyed of me getting off the couch and lunging at her to attack. I immediately look at my bodily reaction and I tense up to stay as still as possible. My stomach was hurting and i wanted to leave as fast as possible. I stood up and turned off the game and said i was tired while making sure to stay back from her (and i had my hands away and stiff) but i felt so uneasy. I laid I bed and felt sad and heavy. And i kept getting thoughts that said "íts only a matter of time before you can't take it anymore". I started to reassurance seek using ai to ask if i was about to or if they are real urges or thoughts i mean until i eventually fell asleep in the middle of the compulsion. Im just so worried, what if I act out impulsevly one day? I dont want to! But what if when feeling a negative emotion, i suddenly dont care and do something? I really dont want to! I dont even want to feel negative emotions anymore since they trigger the thoughts and I dont want to think about any of that. As a result i tend to avoid my family as much as possible bc they are annoying sometimes. I just wish i was all alone sometimes so i wont get any more thoughts and so everyone can be safe. I usually just stay in bed under my blankets all day long to avoid my family and pets. I am constantly uncomfortable. I miss when i would never think any of this. Living life has become very scary for me now. 😞
Hey everyone, I just wanted to share something I’ve been struggling with, especially around making decisions. It’s really hard for me to feel confident in the choices I make, even when I know what the right thing is. I constantly find myself needing validation from others—whether it’s about something small or something really important. For example, at my job, I might know exactly what I’m doing and have done it right a bunch of times, but I still feel the need to double-check with someone or ask if it’s okay. It’s like this fear kicks in, and I start imagining worst-case scenarios—like what if I mess up and someone gets hurt, and then I get blamed or even end up in jail or prison. I know that sounds extreme, but these thoughts just come automatically, and they feel so real in the moment. This has been going on for maybe a year or two now. Even outside of work, the same thing happens. Like recently, I’ve been trying to figure out a gym schedule—my girlfriend wants to go with me, and I’m trying to plan the times and make it all work. But instead of just choosing what works best for me, I overthink it. I go back and forth in my head, and I ask other people what they think, even though deep down I know this is something I should be deciding for myself. It’s my life, but I still need that reassurance from others, and I don’t really know why. It’s exhausting to always doubt myself and to feel like one wrong choice could lead to something terrible. I’m trying to work through it, but I just wanted to put it out there and see if anyone else deals with this or has advice. Thanks for reading.
I'm in college and about an hour ago i had class. I like to sit alone bc I get a bunch of stupid intrusive harm thoughts. Anyway I couldn't focus AT ALL today. This girl decided to sit next to me and I wanted to ESCAPE. Like i desperately wanted to get up and leave to the bathroom and wait till class was over. I took a deep breath and stayed anyways and tried to focus on lecture but i kept getting so many thoughts and I kept hyperfocusing on my right hand (which was next to her) and my hand felt so weird! Like tingly?? I was like "omg why is my hand feel so weird?? Does that mean i want to do something?!" And it kept imagining me grabbing at her or grabbing my drink and throwing it on her while i was trying to take a sip. I tried eating my breakfast to distract myself but i was holding a fork and got another thought. I realized i was tensing my hands (as a compulsion... i try to keep them as still as possible and as close to me as possible bc the thoughts feel so distressing and the "what if i act out " is playing in my head) And I was internally panicking and now im at the library feeling sad and i feel like I need to solve this. I spent the past hour just mentally reviewing the whole class time rn. The whole class time I was at the edge of the table trying to stay as far as i could and i would get relieved whenever she would stand up to leave the class for something. I managed to make it through the whole class without leaving though but the question in my mind is bothering me so much, "how do I know that these thoughts aren't genuine or are thoughts I want to carry out and why was my hand feeling so weird?" I feel stressed at the library and i want to figure this out 😞
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