- Date posted
- 4y
- Date posted
- 4y
It honestly made not difference for me as by the time I was diagnosed I already knew I had it so instead of googling and researching all at once it was kind of a gradual over time thing. It’s definitely not fun to google stuff and feel worse I feel your pain. I just avoid googling now as I see it more of a compulsion
- Date posted
- 4y
So my story is a little different. I started experiencing intrusive thoughts when I was 8. But OCD was never even on my radar until last month. I never told anyone about what I was experiencing wasn't normal. I thought everyone struggled the way I did. Once I knew what to look for, I saw many different things at various time thorought my life. Once I started to suspect I had OCD, I knew this was something I needed professional help with. I had lingering doubts that I really had OCD. I went into my 90 minute assessment fully expecting to be told that I did not have OCD. I was really caught off guard when my counselor told me I DO meet the criteria for OCD and gave me an official diagnosis. Once I had that, I had a lot of mixed emotions. I felt sad, relieved, and disappointed. I got diagnosed at 45 years old. I jumped into treatment with both feet. I have done 3 sessions of ERP so far. My last exposure was absolutely brutal and it was only a mid level exposure. The thought of doing a high level exposure terrifies me. There is a part of me that thinks I'm not strong enough to finish treatment and should just quit and accept that this is as good as its going to get. I have noticed a major difference. But I really want to reach recovery. I don't know what to do at this point.
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 4y
I think I freaked out more because I was then giving in heavily to my googling compulsion because I just had to know everything about what was wrong with me. I also though used to have a fear of not wanting anything to be wrong with me mentally even though I’ve known for a while something was fishy lol So for someone to finally say yeah it’s OCD you’re not crazy, was a big relief but also a big stressor since my OCD was like no it’s not OCD you are crazy. It was a big back and forth for a while, but I’ve learned to accept the diagnosis more. I still have good days sometimes where I’m like, “Do I really have OCD, if I did would I feel happy like this right now?” and then my OCD comes in full force with a, “How dare you forget me!” and then I’m like yeah I have OCD lol
- Date posted
- 4y
Honestly kind of. I feel like it got worse for me too but I was more relieved when I found out that’s what it was
- Date posted
- 4y
I feel like the stigma around ocd seems scary and that it won’t get better, which is discouraging. Have you done ERP?
- Date posted
- 4y
@camerongrace Oh I totally understand. The stigma behind ocd is so frustrating. I have done ERP a little bit but I’ve been a little discouraged because ERP can be rough but I do believe that it is the most effective way to help with ocd
- Date posted
- 4y
@Just Breathe ❤️ How many sessions have you done?
- Date posted
- 4y
@camerongrace I honestly don’t remember. I started back in April and got into the stay better phase but now I’m in the process of getting another therapist so
- Date posted
- 4y
I was pretty relieved when I got the diagnosis because I had just discovered that that was probably what was going on and things started making sense to me. But I did the same thing, googled every single thing about it and all the different subtypes. And I think it either enlightened me to all the OCD things I did, and/or made me overly cautious that I would do other compulsions that I wasn’t doing before. Like reading about them would make them happen to me. So in that case it got worse. It did end up getting a bit better when that initial googling phase ended though. So don’t give up, there’s hope!
- Date posted
- 4y
Yeah I’ve been googling a lot & got worried about developing other subtypes, which made me freak out all the more. So when you stopped googling and such that helped the anxiety subside?
- Date posted
- 4y
@camerongrace Yes, because googling is a compulsion. If you sit with the anxiety, without doing any type of compulsion, it will surge, peak, and decline. This is how you do ERP and it will give you long lasting relief. Giving into a compulsion will give you relief too, but its very short lived. Every time you do a compulsion, you strengthen the intrusive thought and make your OCD worse.
- Date posted
- 4y
@camerongrace It did! Eventually it felt like I read as much as I could, so my brain just switched its focus. Sometimes I do go back to it. Like when I discovered this community, it honestly made OCD a focus again. But now I know that it will get better
Related posts
- Date posted
- 15w
Hi, I just had a recent diagnosis of OCD. It’s crazy because I never considered it or thought that I had it. There have been some thoughts I look back on that make me wonder if it was OCD the whole time. It came to full fruition recently when I made a bad decision that cascaded into me worrying, and then led me to having these intense intrusive thoughts that I never thought I had. Can OCD magically manifest this intensely for some? I notice a lot of the stories here that people experience all the intrusive thoughts when they were younger. I keep looking back on previous times, making me think I had those same thoughts then. I can’t remember if they were genuine thoughts like I believed them, or if I knew they were bad thoughts and I just got over them. I feel like I am lying to myself every time I have the thoughts and that I’m a bad person because of it. I’m trying to not accept it. I have a few sessions in with my therapist introducing ERP but I wish I could get through this quicker. I feel disgusted with these thoughts and that I might be a bad person. Please help me understand and how to best handle this. Anyone have advice on how to be patient with yourself through this process?
- Date posted
- 12w
I am newly diagnosed with OCD as a 33 year old female I was fat oses with bipolar at 15 and never really identified with it much and totally relate to ocd. I wish i would have known long ago so I could have gotten treatment earlier. Now that I know and am aware and can see what’s off and what are compulsions and my insatiable need for reassurance it’s so overwhelming- it feels like my mind is a prison and attacks me with a new pure o quest as soon as I wake up I’m optimistic I’ll be able to get better but it just feels like it’s time sucking and joy stealing disorder I know I’m not alone here I feel like a crazy person replaying and replaying things I want to know if you can relate or if you have been at this for a while and actually feel like you are breaking free from this Thanks for the read
- Date posted
- 11w
Hi! I have just recently been diagnosed with OCD and it’s come as kind of a shocker to me. My friends aren’t that surprised (most of them are psych majors lol) but my parents/family are very skeptical and have been telling me that it’s just anxiety. I was diagnosed with general anxiety disorder and severe depression when I was 14. I’ve had hydroxyzine NPR since then and I’ve tried lexapro and propanalyl (both made me feel like i was going crazy) and then was misdiagnosed as having bipolar 1 (hypomania). I finally have found a therapist that specializes in OCD and we did the assessment and concluded that my anxiety/depression has stemmed from it. Most likely I have experienced my OCD symptoms since I was 11 (when my anxiety first appeared) and I am now 21. I mostly have obsessions, but I do have a few compulsions. Most of them relate to my personal space or social settings. I have a good amount of driving anxiety as well and I have a set route for every single place that I drive to regularly. I have a set morning routine that I am only comfortable with being disturbed when I have had ample time to prepare myself for a change. This new diagnosis and learning what it is and what the different types are has kind of uprooted my social life and drastically decreased my mental health. I guess I’m here to try to find some balance and some people who actually understand what it’s like to feel like there’s something wrong with your brain and no way to “fix” it. I’ve tried talking to my friends/bf/family and none of them truly understand or could even begin to imagine what it’s like inside my head. I’m just trying to find my bearings and feel the ground under my feet, but I don’t exactly know where to start.
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