- Date posted
- 3y
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 3y
Yes, not doing compulsions is the correct course of action and will lead to success; but, just as we're not either blissfully happy or devastatingly down all the time, simply not doing compulsions isn't always going to make you feel like the problem is gone. It's going to take practice but you're off to a good start, so keep it going! Think of it this way: It took a lot of time getting to the point where OCD became a near-dabilitating factor in our lives and much like gaining weight over time is going to take time to lose, managing OCD is also going to take time. I spent most of last year and the first part of this year barely able to function. But the help I'm getting here has calmed things down considerably. However, there are times where it still feels like something's not right. It is definitely normal. Simply be with where you are and go easy on yourself. All is well.
- User type
- NOCD Alumni
- Date posted
- 3y
Great advice and glad to hear things have calmed down a great deal for you recently. Stay strong and keep up your positivity and determination. Take care.
- Date posted
- 3y
I’m gonna need an answer to this too :/
- User type
- NOCD Alumni
- Date posted
- 3y
Hi Halgal88*, sounds like the OCD bully is trying to ratchet up your anxiety levels because you aren’t letting your intrusive thoughts get to make you do your compulsions. First of all, congrats on doing ERP and being able to sit with your thoughts and not react to them. As Anonymous said, not giving into your compulsions is definitely key to making progress and it will take some time. And I wholeheartedly agree that you should be easy on yourself as you progress, especially if/when a slip up occurs as well as celebrate and be proud of every step you take towards taking your time and your life back from the OCD bully. Your feelings are perfectly normal and just means you are progressing, and depending on outside stressors or the particular compulsion you are trying to not give in to, that feeling of something not being right or off may be greater or lesser. Either way it means you are taking the food away from the OCD bully and that is a good thing and another reason to be proud of yourself. Keep up the good work, stay strong and best wishes.
Related posts
- Date posted
- 22w
So I’ve noticed that my OCD has calmed down, I’m getting less intrusive thoughts but I feel more uncertain than ever. Is this normal for recovery?
- Date posted
- 17w
Resisting compulsions feels so wrong and dangerous, I’m trying my best but the anxiety of doing so is immense. Especially because my brain is still not allowing myself to believe that my obsession is OCD, it wants me to believe it is a threat, so even calling my compulsions “compulsions” is making me anxious because that is me calling this whole thing OCD and not real if that makes sense?
- Date posted
- 17w
So I've been working to address my OCD for about a month now. So far, I haven't been working on it with a therapist and have instead been trying to create my own exposure exercises. The primary obsession I'm working on is the fear that I'm somehow flawed or invalid on a fundamental level. The best way I can describe it it is that its similar to the feeling you get when you have germ OCD and you feel contaminated, except my whole existence and being feels contaminated, so to speak. I've identified a list of triggers, and a list of compulsions (pretty much all mental) that I've noticed myself performing. I started out by doing imaginal exposures and scripts where I'd write out triggering fictional scenarios and read them over and over, combined with mindfulness techniques to focus on my breath and bring myself back to the present when I noticed myself performing compulsions mentally. At first it worked to some extent, but eventually I started to feel like the stories I was writing about this obsession weren't triggering any anxiety anymore or a very low level. So I stopped reading them and focused solely on improving my ability to stay present and identifying compulsions as I perform them, and disengaging. Now, I'm at the point where it seems like my general anxiety levels throughout the day are lower, and the triggers I've identified are producing noticeably less anxiety. But that makes me wonder if somehow I'm just secretly doing mental compulsions without knowing it? Is only a month of rather disorganized and unstructured ERP enough to produce this much improvement? To avoid giving me re-assurance, I'd appreciate if you guys don't directly answer those questions, maybe just provide some possibilities or your own experiences so I can get a better idea of where I'm at. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks!
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