- Date posted
- 3y ago
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 3y ago
Nothing specific really. Just whatever is going on in your life at the moment. Just being in the present.
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 3y ago
Carrying on with your life essentially
- Date posted
- 3y ago
I don’t really have anything to do, if I do something that makes my anxiety lessen like playing a video game is that a compulsion?
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 3y ago
@PinkLotus I can’t really say for sure. It really depends how you’re using it. If you’re doing it because it’s just something enjoyable that you’d like to do, then I think you’re in the clear. But if you’re using it as a way to avoid feeling anxiety or push it away by means of distraction you will find that it doesn’t really work and that can make the anxiety worse. In that case it very well could be a compulsion. If your focus is on “I’m gonna focus on playing some games while feeling anxious” rather than “I’m gonna play so I don’t feel anxious anymore” that’s probably the balance you want to find
- Date posted
- 3y ago
@PinkLotus They say to sit with it and allow yourself to feel it so that your brain gets bored.
- Date posted
- 3y ago
@cheyras I’m gonna clean my drawer then I’m going to play and try to “stay anxious” , I’d want to play even if I wasn’t anxious because the game dropped a huge update and I paid for the dlc so I think I’m okay. Thank you both for helping me out
- Date posted
- 3y ago
ive been reading about mindfulness and ocd. mindfulness taught me to learn how to sit with feelings and how they manifest physically in my body. when i give these uncomfortable their space by Recognizing, Allowing, Investigating, and Nuturing, i find that its a much more easy going process than if i were to ignore them or ruminate on them. took me a good year or so to get a grasp on it, but tara brach has a bunch of free lectures on the process of RAIN and mindfulness on youtube and spotify that i feel are really relevant to anxiety and ocd. practicing mindfulness has helped me learn how to deal with the discomfort in a healthy and effective way
- Date posted
- 3y ago
Thank you so much! I’m definitely gonna check this out
- Date posted
- 3y ago
Do something you enjoy that’s distracting. Try self-care.
- Date posted
- 3y ago
Go about your daily routine.
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 3y ago
Hi PinkLotus! I completely understand that sitting in the discomfort is, well, uncomfortable! I sometimes experience anxiety before I do an exposure. The key is, sit with the discomfort alone. That is the ticket to ERP. Sit with that discomfort and allow your brain to go through its natural response of calming down. Sit in a quiet room, do your exposure, and go on with your normal routine. Try not to distract your brain, as this interrupts the ERP process. You can do this; stay strong!
Related posts
- Date posted
- 23w ago
My mind keeps telling me “something is wrong with you. the weird feeling you are feeling or the weird tingling you are feeling or there is a weird mark on your body. Those are actually a severe symptom and by ignoring it you could die!” Or especially the constant, “go to the emergency room because this impending doom you are feeling, yeah that’s because your gonna die shortly” It doesn’t help whenever people say “well if something was wrong your body would tell you” because my mind keeps telling me that what I’m feeling is proof something is wrong and I need to get it checked out. That I actually am severely sick and that I need to get it checked out as soon as possible, that if I get one more test than I’ll be okay because it will prove nothing is wrong. How do I tell my mind that it’s just anxiety whenever my mind keeps telling me “well if you keep saying that you could be ignoring something more serious.” Or “the doctors are just brushing you off..something is wrong with you” It’s hard to live with my thoughts whenever they are constantly coming up with ways to challenge me and challenge logic. New reasons on why I need to get this checked out because “I’m just being ignored” or “no one is listening to me so I’ll just end up dying” My symptoms range from weak and shaking legs and body to dizzy and unbalanced and dissociated. Recently I’ve been getting this tingling feeling inside my head and on the back of my neck. And my temples have pressure on them. My body keeps coming up with new symptoms I need to worry about, whenever most of them are probably caused by severe and constant anxiety. So severe I can’t even leave the house because I constantly worry about whether this is severe and something will happen if I leave the house. I need immediate ways to start fixing this because it’s especially horrible whenever my period comes around and my anxiety/depression is already higher than usual. I’ve even started considering taking medication (Zoloft, 25mg) which is another trigger for me, I worry about the symptoms I might get from taking it. That’s how you know it’s gotten pretty bad whenever I’ve come to taking something that I’ve been actively avoiding. What are your thoughts? Do I take the medication? What are ways I can deal with my symptoms that seem so severe in the moment but pass by once I’m not anxious? What are ways my thoughts can ease and I stop taking every symptom as something serious, because at the end of the day my anxiety is most likely the reason I have these horrible symptoms. I’ve always been extremely healthy and everytime I go to the doctors they express how healthy I am with all the tests I’ve had.
- Date posted
- 17w ago
Hi everyone. I'm feeling kinda scared because I have to wait a whole month to start ERP therapy, but I feel like I need to start doing exposures now because the longer I wait, the more anxiety I get. It just feels like the OCD monster is getting worse. One thing that helps me is asking one person about an obsession I have...asking a person that I trust, and then doing an exposure after I get the "ok" to do it. I feel like I do need 1 reassurance and then I can go ahead and do it. I know i'm not supposed to ask for reassurance at all, but i dont think you're supposed to do ERP on your own right? Does anyone have any suggestions for what to do while waiting for therapy? PS-the reason there is a wait is bc she's on vacation. After she's back we will meet regularly.
- Date posted
- 8w ago
I keep getting these groinal responses when I think about kids or see one and it's really distressing, I only just learned that OCD can make you feel that and it's not actually attraction but it's so hard to remember that and I've seen people talking about accepting uncertainty but I'm so scared to think "maybe it's attraction maybe it's not" instead of "no it's not attraction that's disgusting" and idk what to do
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