- Date posted
- 6y
- Date posted
- 6y
Yes, I have harm ocd and get this when I am going through an episode. It’s almost like I’m hyper aware of every emotion. Any negative emotion means I must be losing my mind or going crazy. I know it’s easier said than done but just try and let go. Let the thoughts and crazy conclusions flow in and just don’t give them a reaction. Try to resist the urge to get to the bottom of everything. That’s what worked best for me
- Date posted
- 6y
The more you are able to practice this technique; the more it will just become the natural way you handle the thoughts, and the intensity of the intrusive thoughts should lessen. Think of it as retraining your brain. Right now the fear and constant doubt towards the thoughts has trained your brain that there is a reason to fear them! This means your brain will throw more and more of these thoughts at you because you’re always ringing the alarm bells! The more you are able to let the thoughts pass without reacting, the faster your brain will learn to that they are no threat, and you will start getting them less and less, until they disappear completely
- Date posted
- 6y
Thank you Francis
- Date posted
- 6y
Do I have to practice this everyday ? And does it feel weird
- Date posted
- 6y
Also Francis do you have thoughts that make you feel like you are just a body or just a floating spirit or that you were barely put on this earth ?
- Date posted
- 6y
If you don’t already, I would highly recommend seeing a therapist trained in ERP to help you with this process. It is totally possible to do it alone, but sometimes therapists can give you the initial courage/structure to start fighting back. It’s just a bully that’s all.
- Date posted
- 6y
Wow I really related to this. About being hyperaware - I myself am a musician and I feel like recently being so hyperaware about my creativity has actually hindered it. Thinking "you must write like this" or " you've forgotten how to make this kind of song" and overthinking every thing I think!!
- Date posted
- 6y
To your second question, I have not personally had thoughts exactly like those, but I know many people in the ocd community that have had similar thoughts. Living in a dream, not sure if they really exist, etc.
Related posts
- Date posted
- 10w
Hey fellow OCD warriors! Wanted to ask if anyone else’s OCD tends to latch onto change and catastrophize with all kinds of worst-case scenarios. There’s a lot going on in my life, and even though they are all exciting things that I truly want and am happy about, I’ve had moments of deep fear at so much change happening and even a sadness that I can only think is a kind of grief of entering a new stage of life/a new me and leaving the old one behind. I am in my mid-20s and a lot of this centers around nostalgia and fear and intrusive thoughts of changes like my parents getting older, myself aging, friendships growing apart leading to loneliness, etc. I know I need to treat it as any other OCD flare-up and do ERP, but it also feels different than other OCD themes because I feel blue and like existentially sad. Even as a young kid, I always hated change and the thought of growing up (even if exciting things were happening) - like I cried when I turned 10 because I was leaving the single digits behind forever! 🤦♀️ I feel like I’m preemptively mourning things like losing my parents or my health even though I am healthy and my parents are too. I don’t want to waste the time I have ruminating about the future. I haven’t heard this kind of theme mentioned a lot so just wanted to see if any others could relate.
- Date posted
- 9w
Not necessarily asking for reassurance and I know I’ve mentioned this here before but my OCD has been affecting my cognition seemingly. I’ll forget small things or put things in odd places sometimes, or mix up words - things like that. Obviously this triggers me to be like “Alzheimers/dementia.” Can anyone relate? And if you recovered what did you do for it?
- Date posted
- 8w
I’ve never been diagnosed with OCD, but I relate so much to what people here are going through. I used to think it was just anxiety, and I felt like I could handle that. But lately I’ve been spiraling—constantly afraid that what I’m feeling is something worse, like psychosis or losing control of my mind. I feel so detached and scared, and I just want peace again. I have anxiety doing the smallest things, like the thought of waking up everyday and even eating give me straight up panic. I am afraid all the time, it’s paralyzing. And a lot of people say someone with psychosis wouldn’t worry that they’re in it, but then I convince myself I’ve been in it this whole time, and haven’t known, and that maybe I’ve been doing weird stuff. Idk. I also get really scared of labels. Even the idea of OCD makes me feel like I’ll never get better or like I’ll be stuck like this forever. I just want to be okay. If anyone has felt this way—confused, overwhelmed, or scared of what’s happening in their mind—I’d really appreciate any support or encouragement.
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