Hey guys! How long did it take for you to see positive results with ERP? I suffer from existential / spiritual OCD, obsessing over my own ego and spiritual enlightenment… I’ve been doing ERP for 2 months now and have not been seeing a big improvement.
I’ve been trying to ignore my OCD in many ways but as much as I try to ignore it my intrusive thoughts start looking for another theme how can I make it stop
Just when u think you’ve got over an ocd thought or that it cant possibly go a step further, it does. My fears be so deep & complex i can barely explain them or comprehend them sometime & when i can its just…i cant. I dont know what to do. Im on medication for 2 years i’ve been thru 2 therapists & a psychiatrist, on a nocd therapist now 8 sessions or so in, & i dont feel better. If anything i feel worse except for my intitial breakdown 2 years ago. idk what to do.
Hi, Im 23 and suffer from ocd since I can remember. Like most of people that suffer from ocd I experience moments in life that are harder. I had a tough time 2 years ago and now its starting to pitch again. I got my first pet, a puppy. The crazy part is, im terrified of leaving him alone. What if something happens to him? Im having obsessive thoughts and its driving me insane. Tips anyone?
Does anyone else feel the compulsion to write out exactly what you’re feeling? Like when I get overwhelmed, my mind starts going into some type of creative frenzy where I start to piece together lines that I HAVE to write down or I can’t think of anything else. I now have miles of poetry and prose in my notes app and journal that I could not go to sleep or finish my homework until I had written it down. I feel like it has to do with my need to have a product of my anxieties, to somehow bring them from the imagined to the physical, all in an attempt to validate them as real and tangible. Maybe I’m trying to bring them to a magnitude that proves my anxieties were overwhelming enough that not only did they spur my thoughts and emotions, but they drove me to action and production as well? Or maybe I just have a superiority complex that manifests as the need to prove I can be productive even under the weight of all the pain I’ve been through. Honestly and truly, I wish I could just turn off my brain for a bit.
It’s honestly been way too long since I’ve done exposure therapy. My medication helps my anxiety a lot so I’ve been pushing the thoughts out and not actually thinking about it for over a year. I forgot how to actually expose myself to them and put myself out before panic sets in. Can you please tell me what your steps are for exposure so I can start practicing again
Does anyone ever feel worried about something but the feeling freaks you out so much that you start panicking because you can’t pinpoint a specific thought?
Hi!! Hope everyone has a good day today. I’ve noticed my ocd comes and goes, some times comes worse and sometimes I don’t feel it as much. I’ve had to rough weeks but I am feeling better. I am currently on viibryd 10mg and have been on it for almost 2 years. I feel my depression is better but my ocd sometimes is bad, she suggested to change to Prozac? Any comments about it??? Any side effects? Does it help? Thanks!
I honestly wish I didn't have to live this life each day I battle with the same stuff as yesterday I'm always lonely even when I have everything I could dream of, I feel as if I will never find peace or love, my life feels better as if i could disappear and all the memories flood away as I drift into another reality of hope and dreams, I feel the emptyness of life as I sit back and watch my life fade away from reality, not sad just hurt from all the troubles life has threw at me,I feel as if I'm no one in another persons game...... Not depression the solitude of sadness
Like can’t we ever just go on auto pilot 😩 it’s so tiring.. coz my rumination has been so bad and I’m always trying my ‘Idk’ maybe maybe not’ and it’s working but wow my brain is tired :( it’s almost like I can feel the new path ways being made and it’s tiring!! Brain exercise!!
Not really having intrusive thoughts, but I’ve had an uncomfortable anxious feeling in my chest for hours and it’s really annoying.
Anyone have luck with antipsychotics for OCD? If so, which ones ?
Does anyone get really obsessed about coincidences that go around a narrative or theme in your head? Like it feels like you get insane coincidences all the time they confirm what you’re thinking ?
Because you CANT STOP RUMINATING. I’m really trying the non engagement responses but my head physically hurts :( feels like my brain is just looping !!
How do I deal with chronic stress? I feel it literally everyday of my life
Yesterday after my doctors appointment I had a over the top panic attack about never getting better and it was really scary. I was level 10 but then I did some erp and after awhile I came down to about a 5 and a half. It felt horrible though. I’m extremely scared of becoming depressed again so I’m like Hyper aware of everything I’m feeling lately and it’s driving me nuts. I didn’t let the fear of depression eat at me the whole night. I came home took a shower made some dinner and then did some house work so I didn’t feel stuffed in the house in filth. Then I did some clerical testing on my laptop and watched tv with my boyfriend until we fell asleep. My stress levels went down and I felt okay again. However after the panic attack I feel like I’m almost walking on egg shells around myself. Im trying to think of good exposures for the fear of depression. During the panic attack I just sobbed and sobbed and repeated my fears “I don’t want to lose him, I just want to get better” It’s like deep down I know I love my boyfriend despite what ocd says. And it’s so painful to even doubt it. I know I love my life and it’s so terrifying to have this fear of never getting better because I don’t want to die. It’s a lot. It’s been a rough week. I’m hoping it calms down and I’m gonna continue to do my erp and live by my values. Just a stressful time and I’m feeling a little all over the place.
Hey. I struggle with Existential OCD. I'm looking for an affordable therapist who specializes in OCD. Is there any way I can get a specialist under 50$ per session?
Does anyone ever have random demonic like mental images / thoughts like from the movies?! I get so scared all the time randomly if I see something or someone and seems demonic to me and I get a scary image in my head. Most recent example is I saw someone bent down on the street with their hands hanging down to their feet and it immediately scared me and reminded me of possession / got a scary imagine in my head that they’re a demon is this normal or is this schizophrenia :(?
ERP is not easy, but it has given me my life back! After years of talk therapy (where I now realize I was simply paying someone to here me confess self harm intrusive thoughts-or just ruminating out load) I have found this action based therapy to be the key to so much relief. Are things perfect? No. But I am working and traveling again, thank you!!!
I'm a student who sufferers from severe Existential OCD. I'm looking for OCD specialist but I'm on budget. Any idea where I can find OCD specialist?
I feel like my themes are switching so rapidly everyday- does this mean I’m getting better? Or worse? One day is existentialism, another is harm and today is religious. I’m just not sure of what’s going on and I feel like every-time I learn to resist a compulsion or accept an intrusive thought, another theme comes up. It’s getting exhausting
Like my brain just keep looping on the same topic, it’s soooo frustrating :( I don’t have to do erp to help with it
How do I know if I’m doing it right ? What if I should be doing extensive research, what if I’m wrong ??? What if ????
how do i disregard intrusive thoughts that are constant and all day after paying attention and taking them serious for 2 weeks? thought they weren’t “ocd thoughts” and actually real. now i realize they aren’t…. thanks
I wish everyone here a good day soon
Heya!! So I’ve been holding off on getting a therapist for many self doubting reasons but one real reason is: do I need to be diagnosed before I get a therapist on here?? I already went to a diagnostician, but I only got diagnosed with GAD (among a couple others) my anxiety is so strong and fits OCD way more and I really do want the help. If anyone can give me an answer that would be great! :)
any tips on coping with massive massive life changes? about to graduate highschool and i think i may be falling into a depression. im so intensely scared of the future and im about to lose all my friends and school life. nearly my whole life i’ve enjoyed going to school, i love it so much and getting good grades makes me feel amazing and it makes me be social im a shy person which doesn’t help me being an extrovert, im just crippled with anxiety and struggle making new friends if anyone has any tips i would love it so much. im also going through a heartbreak literallt 1 month before graduation. i won’t even see or speak to him after 18 november. please please please some advice about this, whether it be for ocd or sadness im just struggling in all aspects
tbh wished i would’ve just let my religious intrusive thoughts be there without getting on NOCD and watching OCD recovery type videos bc every single other theme i had after that was from listening to other people/somewhere on the internet. i would’ve been just fine with the religious OCD. there was zero reason to even engage in even being diagnosed w OCD. bc no one is OCD. it’s a behavior that we’ve trained our brains to do. a disorder at most. in the process of getting help for myself it made it all worse and haven’t even been helped 💀 i just miss the person i was before all of this. i still remember the day my brain broke. miss HER well anyway i’m down in a hole & it progressively worse. i feel dead on the inside
Hi!! Wondering how those of you who have ‘pure o’ handle your checking compulsions? I just do it immediately and then see that I did it and get sad. I don’t know what to do :/ Love everyone here!<3
this person acted exactly like their zodiac. basically our zodiacs are really incompatible but the way he acted and was toward me was just like a gemini. he had all the bad traits of one and was very noticeable. i feel so creeped out and i’m scared i don’t want to start living life by my nebula app because things just get predicted anyone relate??
Suicidal ocd had to be one of the worst themes omg 😭 my thoughts make me want to throw up or like I already did it which makes me sad idk why I feel guilty or sad about something I haven’t done I swear I was doing good for A couple weeks but if always pops up and every time feels just as distressing
I finally got a therapist my insurance takes, but she wasn't sure we'd be a good fit based on the fact that she didn't have extensive knowledge with OCD. My psychiatrist is on vacation and they just advised me to take three 25mg of Vistaril instead of just 2. I've been in this spike for 2 weeks and while it's lessened I don't feel better yet. I can't see the end of the spike like I usually can.
man I’m really feeling the anxiety with the what if I’m always up and down thoughts. What if I’m the exception. What if I never get better. I have felt better in the last few months for sure. I know that I will be okay because the anxiety doesn’t always last. But I’m also afraid of constantly having to up my meds and what that might do to me. Constantly needing erp for the rest of my life ( I guess so be it) feeling like an imposter in my own body. Im allowing myself to feel this anxiety and sit with it but it does feel melancholic at the moment. Blue. I love my life I love my family. Im just afraid. I won’t give up. Sometimes I just get sad and feel like a fraud. But then other times I feel amazing and like I don’t even need therapy or meds anymore. But then the hard days come back and I’m like ah, right, this is a life style not a life hack. I’m going to stay strong. I’m scared but I’m okay 👌🏻
what to do when everything triggers me. every where i look there’s a word or something i see that triggers me i mean sure i can try and avoid social media but words literally exist everywhere and so do images. sometimes i feel like i want to lock my room and not escape but then if i’m not distracted with my phone i’m ruminating or overthinking i feel like i’m going mad because literally nothing i ever do helps the thoughts. accepting the thoughts is hard enough but having the thoughts is just so exhausting i’m sick of feeling like this i just wish i had a normal life instead of all these others with no mental health conditions
does anyone believe or at least know about zodiac signs?? i have this app nebula and it predicts the future a lot and i get scared to look at it because it’s so accurate. i also think i predict the future a lot and it’s messing with my head because i generally have really strong gut instincts. i’ve just been so obsessed with many things i feel absolutely defeated and hopeless
Prior to having OCD I never felt “uncertain” or “uncomfortable” with where my life is going. In other words I feel very uncomfortable. I feel just lost. Is this what having OCD is like? Is this a symptom? Like yeah my OCD sucks but why can’t I enjoy the moments outside my obsessions (and sometimes compulsions)? I just want to go back to normal…
Should I go back to continuing my spec screenplays? I’ve been doing OCD therapy since summer break. I’m aware that ERP takes time in order to get positive results but I don’t know. Maybe I should wait until I’m mentally well enough or something?
Increased my dose of Prozac to 20 mgs a few days ago and my anxiety/ocd is through the roof. I wish this would end. I'm so tired of being stuck in this cycle of ocd and panic. I just want my life back. I'll probably decrease the Prozac dose for now. New thoughts popping up. Seems like most of mine these days are based around derealization/depersonalization. I feel like I'm trapped in my body. I'm frustrated that I can only look out into the world but can't look at myself (without a mirror), if that makes sense lol. I feel very unreal, like I'm just a pair of eyes with no body floating through the world. I also have intense anxiety over hyperawareness. My movements feel strange and mechanical. Anyway, just looking for some comfort or advice. Anyone played medication roulette? Anyone deal with intense DP/DR? Hyperawareness? Let's talk :)
OCD is hard. Plain and simple. On mornings like this where my ocd comes at me with a vengeance after having a really good amount of time without a certain theme, I have to remind myself that any thing urgent, scary, painful, with a need to get certainty, is probably ocd just trying to suck me back into its loop. Lately I’ve been obsessing over becoming ANXIOUS to the point of that DEEP depression again. My ROCD has not really been affecting me, however it came at me this Morning with the same old scary thoughts. This frightens me because I DONT want to feel deep depression again. Before my panic attack in June regarding my life and my relationship, ocd had always taken on the form of magical thinking, contamination, and things of those sort. OCD Coming at my relationship and my life that I’ve worked so hard to create and value so much is painful. I won’t let OCD beat me down. I’m just afraid of becoming depressed again. Im afraid that my medication will stop working. I’m afraid that I will have to get a higher dose and then become a zombie. As I’m typing this I realize a lot of these sticky fears are OCD’s intrusive thoughts. OCD likes to make me feel weak, like I’m better off alone, avoidance behavior to the point when I’m depressed the only thing that will stop the anxiety is complete isolation. The ocd thoughts are scary. This morning on the drive to work it was like a sucker punch of intrusive thoughts. “Do you know what love is” “Do you really love him” “Do you really want this life” “Are you really happy?” “What if you’re wasting your time?” “What if he leaves you?” “What if you leave him?” “What if this is your truth?” “What if you can’t handle this anxiety for the rest of your life?” “What if you kill yourself because the depression comes back?” “What if you ruin your relationship because your OCD won’t go away?” “What if depression comes back and you can’t handle the depression and you take your own life, you don’t want to die, but what if?” “What if all these thoughts are real?” “What if the things you love aren’t really things you love?” “You don’t know what love is do you?” “If you were in love would you even question if you really knew what love is?” This is how the morning has gone. I’m working through it. It’s hard. OCD is OCD is OCD. I will be okay. This is just a hard morning.
So, I have a spike about every 2 years. 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020 and I had one in April of 2022. I bumped from 150mg Zoloft to 200mg. About 12 days ago I had a panic attack when making a quiz for my students. My OCD went back to it's usual themes over the week (we are out on fall break) but usually by Day 12 I'm feeling better (I've tracked my spikes via forum posts) and I still feel pretty off. I'm worried 200mg of Zoloft isn't working and why I can't break out of it this time. I have therapy with a new therapist tomorrow, so I'm hoping it helps, but it's hanging on is really upsetting me.
Suffering with feeling like everything around me isn’t real/seems fake . Kind of like dissociating, any tips?
Hey all! I was told by my therapist that my OCD is a trauma manifestation - which makes sense because a lot of my themes connect to childhood trauma. Does anyone else relate?
hi I feel like im going crazy lol, my ocd is about thoughts and being ‘mindful’ and constant trying to figure out what is/how to do it. lots of checking and compulsions and i feel hopeless. just thought id ask for support on here even though this makes me feel pathetic lol. I miss my life without ocd so much.
Hello,I'm so on the fence about starting medications or not. I know its a personal choice but what benefits have you all experianced? I also practice ERP with my therapist so I know that should be helpful with my OCD journey. But what made you decide to start or not start? I've been on Zoloft before but not long enough to feel the effects since I got freaked out about reading about withdrawl symptoms so my OCD messed that up for me.
If you are in recovery for OCD, whether you are a veteran compulsion slayer, a very confused newbie, or anywhere in between… You are an absolute warrior. The strength it takes to make steps towards recovery is immeasurable and the grit it takes to choose it every day is astounding. So, if you’re feeling good today, or if you’re in a dark place, remember this. This disorder that we have is nasty but we are all capable and gritty.
I’ve been feeling like I’m dreaming while “living life”. It just feels like something is wrong. I feel extremely detached
This is an odd question, but does anybody have a hard time getting adjusting to being happy. It’s almost like it causes new anxieties. Like what do I do now that I’m not worrying? Am I going to grow lazy? Do I deserve it? What can I do to deserve to accept it? .. or is it just me 😕
I would consider myself more spiritual than religious but I do believe in God but I feel like o have been going through a crisis of faith where I don’t know what to believe and have been feeling more lost or empty but my ocd loves to use this as an opportunity to make me question everything and my life, if any other people can relate to this or have experienced something like this I’d love to hear about it
So my wedding is next weekend and I’m very excited but the impending daily schedule change for the wedding itself and the honeymoon is already intensifying my symptoms. I’m going to try to consistently journal my feelings because that always helps, and try to keep key parts of my schedule intact, but any other suggestions are welcome. What do y’all do?
Everything looks and feels so weird for the past few days. My home, outside and everything. It’s so annoying cuz it’s triggering my OCD more… I know all this is OCD. It’s making everything feel “off” I guess you could say. It makes me anxious and I hate it… I guess it’s just I’ve been doing a lot more lately than ever did before or maybe just the change in the season I have no idea. *sigh*
I see all the time people have contamination or POCD. I have a set of fears that I have never heard from any one else here or in general whenever I look about OCD. I have thoughts and fears about things humans can’t comprehend (like infinity or complex math concepts), and I ruminate about these things and this caused my OCD. I don’t even know which category this would go under? I would guess Existential OCD, but I’m not sure? I’m also commenting to see if someone else has this, because I’ve never heard of anyone else with these.
New here. Came to NOCD because I noticed my death anxiety OCD becoming too strong the past year. Related to fear of death of a loved one making my OCD so strong it’s been really exhausting lately. Was wondering if anyone else suffers from it? And if you’ve done therapy to help with it using ERP/if that was helpful?
I just found out that I am pregnant and my OCD kicked in like a flamethrower. I instantly began panicking and have been in pretty intense panic for about 3 days now. I just am so scared that I didn’t make the right decision, even though this is something I wanted and we tried for. My husband is so excited but I am just terrified about all of the things that could make me a bad parent. So many thoughts of what if I don’t love the baby? What if I don’t want the baby? What if I’m bringing the baby into a terrible world… if anyone has been through this before and can give me some gentle and kind advice or experience that would be so appreciated.
Boy oh boy, I'm to be wed in the next few days (Sunday), and has this EVER been a trigger, hahaha! I've not got cold feet, but I literally can't stop thinking of how the wedding is approaching, but not here yet 💀 grrrrr!!! I wish I could just relax! Making me overthink my job too! I've made a habit of calling off a bit too much of work lately to work on the wedding, and NOW my brain goes- well, you've called off twice in one month: you're gonna lose your job!!! It's all been SOOOOO much in my brain. Wish me luck!!! I'm so excited to marry my sweet partner 😭😭😭
I'm feeling really discouraged because I've been working on one obsession for nearly two months and its still REALLY upsetting to me. Luckily, some of my other obsessions (I have multiple) have started to fade but this one feels very persistent. I'm so discouraged :( Any words of encouragement? Thanks
Good afternoon to everyone, I was hoping to find some advice on coping with derealization/depersonalization. It started about 8 months ago and scared me worse than any HOCD thought. Since then I’ve had ebs and flows of this trippy very unpleasant emotion/mindstate. Lately have been obsessing over it constantly. Currently this is the root of my current boxing match with OCD. Thank you in advance!
over the last few months i have been prone to panic attacks due to rumination. the five things you see, smell thing does not work for me. i just get more panicked and my brain tells me that i have to identify them in x time otherwise something within my themes would happen lol. instead i look around and find something to focus on and describe it, create links to what makes me happy through this thing. for example: 1. i see a sign 2. it is a circular shape 3. the sign is green 4. green is the colour of my dog’s collar 5. i love my dog and this seems to calm me down, something to try if you’re struggling right now. you’re not alone <3
Session 5, I believe. It was all over the place, we went through an exposure. It was fine. But we got to talking about many different things, & idk I wouldn’t stop talking like I was just constantly like “confessing” & thats a theme with ocd I believe. We didn’t have time for another exposure but my therapist made sure to call me after his next session bcuz it ended on a wild note where I was uncomfortable, but we had a lot of fun earlier talking about my triggers & his story. So idk it feels like I’ve gone through every emotion & I’m on this mid type feeling. He just wants me to focus on accepting uncertainty during this work week & not trying to solve these unacceptable thoughts I have. Very hard. But he will be available to me as much as he can be within reason to reach out to via the app this week so thats good. Anyone else’s experience you can comment about as I’m curious, like more long term experiences? Thank U all.
Those who are taking medications, if you had negative side effects how long did it take those negative side effects to kick in? Was it immediately? I was on Zoloft last year and didn’t have any negative side effects but I’m terrified to start it again and experience anything negative.
I'm 34/f. I take 200mg of Zoloft. I am also a teacher. I had a very bad spike back in April that resulted in me moving from Zoloft 150mg to 200mg. This past week we were about to go on fall break and I was stressed due to a fight with my mother and making assignments and grading things. On Tuesday I was making a quiz for my AP lit. Kids. The point of these tests are supposed to be super hard so I was having to create wrong answers for it. The quiz was over a poem about good and evil (because we are preparing to read Frankenstein) and I made this question: 3. The lines “they are a fundamental force/ within the hearts of men” implies Good and Evil are a result of Original Sin The concepts of Good and Evil only exist because they were created by humans Humans will always be coerced by both Good and Evil Free will does not affect the strength of Good and Evil It was response B that I created that immediately made me have a panic attack. My brain spiraled. If these are human concepts, then what stops us from being evil? What if I start being evil and hurting people as a result? And then to test myself, I would think of something evil I could do and see if that gave me anxiety. Sometimes it would, but most of the time it didn't, so not have anxiety made me feel like something was wrong. Since then I have felt flat and of course have tried to think about harming someone and then judging my reaction. I talked with my best friend about it today who brought up how even in the animal kingdom, they don't kill their own (without necessity) and this calmed me for a while but it came back later with a vengeance. I tried to think that my lack of panic was probably due to the Zoloft working "in some ways" but the flatness made me worried that like I was starting to not care about anything? Like a sociopath? And then I was worried about my meds not working or this being something else. I usually have spikes every 2 years or so, but this is just 9 months after the other so that's weird. Can anyone relate?
I just read an article this morning (link at bottom, apologies if any paywalls) covering time disintegration and it’s relationship with stress. I recently had a few traumatic experiences where time disintegration played a major role and amplified my existential ocd (albeit I am new to this diagnosis and just now beginning therapy with nocd). Has anyone else linked these two issues together? And if so, have you tried remedying your sense of time? Was there any direct benefit to your management of existential ocd? I have also linked below a time perspective therapy referenced in the article. https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-dates-and-times-seem-to-lose-their-meaning-11665135002 https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2014-50138-031
I’m really trying hard to push the intrusive thoughts out of my mind. When they come up I try to tell myself it’s not real, etc. Does anyone have advice for things I can tell myself when these thoughts come up? If anything’s worked for you? So far nothing I’m doing is working and it’s making me more anxious and stressed.
Am out of town for the weekend. Having trouble keeping up with my thought journaling. Two days ago I had the time of my life at a rock festival despite my intrusive thoughts telling me to not attend the event.That’s the deal with dealing with OCD: whenever I try having fun or have a good time, the universe tend to create something chaotic in the real world and making me feel responsible for it because I didn’t try to do compulsions.
So I had a dream and in my dream I was talking to someone who was upset with me and they tapped my forehead, I woke up right after that and it felt so real. Has that happened to anyone before ? Like they felt an action in their dream in real life?
whenever i have an interest in someone romantically i get so so intense. i build all these expectations and when they don’t fulfil them i feel like they think im gross or something i get so so emotional and upset at them very fast, which is how i’ve always been and get so scared they will not like me and i just obsess over it for ages. constant anxiety when i talk to them im never comfortable i recently started talking to male that really affected me. he is very clearly interested in a s*xual relationship from me and i’ve clearly shown him im looking for something deeper. at the moment we’ve remained friends (he does try to make the chat s*xual) but he told me yesterday he used to have feelings for me and it’s messing with my brain anyway he made a joke saying “i have better standards than that” and well they really broke my heart and i lashed out and swore and told him i’m done (we literally started speaking again a few days ago) i just get intensely emotional around him now i don’t know how i can be friends with him still can someone tell me if this is a symptom of rocd? if im being too controlling and expecting too much? i’ve had different opinions and i’d like to hear from my ocd community
I used to be able to drink socially but now I get anxious doing it. Could I do it as an exposure? Or should I just not do it at all?
I recently got diagnosed with bipolar 2 and OCD and found out my OCD flare ups are strongly correlated to depressive cycles but linger when I'm normal and feel distant when manic. Some research has been done on the comorbidity and it also Explains why my family history doesn't really show ocd too and why at times my ocd has gone down from ssri my manic stuff gets all funky cuz I guess for me I should first get mood stabilized and see best course for ocd that remains. Also makes sense why many of my themes are morality/sexuality/etc. with more mental a compulsions and some physical stuff too based on some of the studies too Honestly it's helpful for me knowing and knowing why I've had good success by accident even when under diagnosed (ssri was not prescribed for ocd, but for GAD) and was in cbt and good therapist
I had a really weird thought. I thought what if I'm the only real person and everyone else I love aren't real and they're trying to control me/trick me. I felt really anxious after and I'm dreading that I actually believe it/it's real. I'm really worried it means I have paranoia or something. Really worried it isn't ocd because I don't think I've seen anyone else say they've had these kinda thoughts. Does anyone know if it is ocd?? Or if it is something bad like paranoia or something?
does anyone else find themselves questioning within their subtypes even if you don’t get an intrusive thought? my brain works over time i swear🤣
I have been a lot better but I just watched a video of myself and I seriously didn’t recognize myself and I got a wave of anxiety 😟 I still have a lot of issues with this even months after I have begun therapy but it was really intense for a second. I have also got this with other people but that is much more common for me. Is this because I’m not being myself? I dont really know how to be myself honestly I think I am but ocd = doubt you all know. I’ll talk to my therapist about this but jeez that freaked me out for a second lol
so i have this big thing were i’m terrified of ghosts right. it’s pretty bad and at 3am (if you know why 3am is particularly special… you’ll know why i’m scared of it. it used to be a lot worse but basically any time at 3am i can’t leave my bed still. anyway i think i ate something off and my stomach hurts a lot but it’s still 3:52am and i can’t bring myself to get out of bed. i can’t think of a lot of good exposures because ya know invisible. could i have some advice or an opinion or something? also idk if that’s my existential, magical thinking or even the religion/spirituality (also a bit scared of aliens but that’s not as feasible, but i know they’re out there somewhere)
Any advice on getting rid of a stubborn fear or intrusive thought? this one has been the hardest by far, and scares me the most, brings me to tears in fact..
Okay does anyone else gets their brain like shut-down bcz of ocd? Like, having harm ocd ( plus all others) my brain has always been hypervigilent, but now it feels like it's shutting down. I am terrified and dont know what to do.
Hello, My name is Andrew. I suffer from Several different subtypes. Mainly, just severe nonstop obsessing causing debilitating compulsions relating to a close person to me dying if I don't do the compulsion. At least that is my core OCD is. New ones pop up randomly all day long. Which leads me to my question. Does anyone else have a revolving door of new obsessions and compulsions? I find it makes ERP very difficult. Because part of ERP is conditioning your behavior to respond in a different way by making a routine out of that response. But ever changing obsessions and compulsions, makes it dang near impossible to achieve. Don't get me wrong ERP, (we used to call it CBT), is great. It has done wonders for me. And I will always freely advocate for it. But this evolving nonsense makes it more difficult. Has anyone found a solution to that?
I feel like I am doing everything in my power to beat mental illness. I guess part of me expects it to go away. Despite having everything going for me (good job, good housing, friends), I still experience awful ocd episodes of distress. I feel tired and I am trying to keep up with erp. I might be avoiding my ocd, I don’t know
At what point do you know you need to take medication? I’m on the fence about it and it makes me so anxious not knowing if I should be on meds or not
TW I think I’m starting to notice a trend. When I’m especially hung up on ruminating over something, no matter the theme, I find it very hard to be aware during sex with my husband. I feel badly for him because he can tell I’m not fully engaged or present, and I know this also makes him feel uncomfortable. It’s also hard on me, because then I feel like I’m just going through the motions, which makes me feel very emotional after the fact. Has anyone else experienced this? Sometimes it seems like I have the ruminating “under control” but engaging in sex just brings it back to the surface even if it’s entirely unrelated. Anyone have any suggestions or encouragement? My poor husband always wants to stop and talk about it with me, but I don’t know if that’s healthy? Thanks guys. I know this is pretty personal.
I’ve had really scared intrusive thoughts about POCD lately and I’m a parent which terrifies me more. I’m starting ERP and I’m meeting with my psychiatrist today. But has anyone else had this theme and gotten better? I feel like I’ll never be okay after this.
Sorry im late but i believe the 4th visit with NOCD went well lol it hit me hard this erp. I cried & am not a crier. So i honestly dont know what to say. Im in pain, but supposedly theres alot of pain before the sunrise or whatever? I hope thats true.
Anyone else get hyper aware of everything they are doing? Like watching their hands move and struggle to connect the mirror reflection with themselves? I’ve had it a few times since this all started a few months ago?!
I’m convinced I’m going crazy. I think I’m in the middle of a very big ocd episode and it’s like I found out too late ocd was the main thing behind it, like jokes on me it was just ocd the whole time but I found out too late. And I’m going crazy because of it. Has anyone stopped working because they think they are going crazy? I don’t know what to do but I’m losing it
Any friends out there struggling with hyperawareness OCD? I struggle with hyperawareness of my body which leads me to feel "trapped" in my body. I also will have the realization that I'm a person existing in a body and people can actually look at me and perceive me... as a person lol. This usually happens when I'm talking with someone, this realization hits me and it's super troubling!!!! All of my obsessions usually go back to the idea of being insane/losing my mind Lmk what u struggle with!!!!
Do you all work on one obsession at a time until it no longer scares you and then move on to the next? Or do you work on multiple obsessions at a time? I have several obsessions that are equally scary
Lately I've been questioning my life choices a lot, beating myself up for things like not going to college, not dating sooner, not being more promiscuous in my early 20s, not making more friends back when it was easier for me, being bad with money and managing my health. It feels endless. I understand I was doing my best with what I could back then but I feel like I don't have it in me to make those positive changes now, it feels like somehow going back in time would be easier than just putting in the work. I'm exhausted and it's hard to focus when I'm always thinking about what I'm doing wrong. I also have severe relationship OCD that's been eating up a lot of my mental time. It's a healthy 3yr long relationship (the relationship OCD started the moment I met him but I didn't realize it until covid came around) I know he loves me dearly but I'm constantly judging his or I's actions like I have with my past self. It's my first relationship and even 3 years later I manage to convince myself that I don't know what I'm doing and that I'm gonna mess it up. I guess I feel like I effed up my past so doing the same to my future is inevitable.
I really miss my capacity for empathy and imagination when I was little… is there any way to build it back without obsessing over it. My OCD and self focus has taken over my imagination and I hate it
What ssri has worked for you? And at what dose? Currently on Lexapro but I'm considering switching due to the side effects... I know that medications effect everyone differently, I'm just curious what else is out there! Thanks :)
Does anyone have advice on how to handle multiple obsessions? I will be doing exposures on one obsession but then my mind jumps to another. I feel compelled to switch to the other obsession but I don't want to abandon the first because I know it's not completely resolved.... any advice???
I'm getting a little better lately at managing my P-OCD, at least to where I can be in zen states of mind mid-day or mid-week. I can be around my sibling's kids like I used to and have a fun time, not needing to monitor or test my bodily reactions whenever I'm around kids in general. Still, I prefer not dealing with this. I think about how it used to be when I didn't have this obsession on loop in my head, had to repeatedly test myself, suffer a moment of dread when I find my body react a certain way and think, "oh, no! I really am what I fear deep down." I didn't have the word for it back in the day, but in hindsight, I'm pretty sure I've dealt with this my whole life, themes cycling through having parasites, harming myself or others through contamination, washing my hands or drenching them with sanitizer when I touched the wrong surface, monitoring my thoughts for any "blasphemous" or "sinful" shit that would warrant eternal damnation, praying multiple times, beating my chest, wondering if I'm attracted to men, and so on. Is this just how it is? I miss being the fun guy/uncle/father figure when the kids come over. I miss holding a baby in my arms and sleeping soundly without seriously wondering. I miss being sure of what kind of man I am and who I want to be. At the risk of sounding totally juvenile (autism/retard/loser 👏), the film scene that describes my emotional state might be from Disney's "Pooh's Grand Adventure." Piglet asks what he's "braver than," but Pooh has no recollection and shrugs, somewhat defeated, "if only I could remember."
due to ocd being generally centred around thoughts i feel like it is disrupting my ability to stay motivated and achieve goals. i constantly get intrusive thoughts about how i’m never going to leave a mark and will become forgotten about. i try to write music or something creative and i just stop as i keep having these bad thoughts that i’m not going to do well i hate how ocd doesn’t necessarily only affect the symptoms it brings (obsessions/compulsions) but also gives us specific personality traits (like not a risk taker for example) it just sounds like one thing but it’s really just a big umbrella for many many other issues. i feel trapped as it’s permanent stuck with my forever
Continuing at this point im getting extremely frustrated. I need to know at least once from my therapists his thoughts on if my fear is true or not, but he will/has not given in & said this is reassurance & i need to be ok with it possibly being true. No. This is beyond ocd. I need to know from a qualified person that my fear is not true. My previous therapist said they werent, but this therapist has said completely different answers on a couple things then what he was saying. Ive had enough of the suffering. I literally cannot fully enjoy anything & be relaxed.
You guys I have been really struggling with existential and questioning my own sanity then Ibworry about getting demwntia if I am not in a familiar place.
