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working to conquer OCD
I genuinely feel like this terror inside myself, like this is my last day till everything gets horrible… idk suddenly I have this anxiety this “fear of nothing” makes me feel like I’m not gonna make it, that I will never feel okay and that my life is over. I’m scared, I’m always scared
TW: multiple good options for relationships I'm having stress about the concept and intricacies of relationships. Really, relationships of any kind. But, for example, partner relationships (I'm single btw); how do you know who's right? Aren't there multiple people who could be equally a good option? I can also miss my chance, yeah? I just don't like the intricacies and existential questioning about all my relationships, even my relationships with my friends and family... it's really stressing me out
I was told that this illness that im having now(some say its some kind of covid) is attacking people where they are the most sensitive, so it got my mental health and at first it was the fear of my health which im starting to face but now it got deeper and i have feelings of hopelessness and like a depressed feelings and thoughts like things wont get better. And i dont know where this comes from, im afraid this is actually what i believe. Dont know if its ocd or the illness actually made these problem come up what was pushed away by me... When i have these feelings my first reaction is fear and i dont know if its something i shouldnt give attention or the fear is actually bad and it makes me avoid the problem, so i should work on this depression... I dont know whats happening but its scarry and i dont like these dark thoughts. I think i suffer more because of the fear and shame of these thoughts but again i dont know if the fear and shame shows me that i dont need to give attention to these thoughts or the fear and shame actually blocks me to deal with these thoughts and feelings...
Not gonna lie, I am in fact feeling a little bit melancholy at the moment, and it’ll pass, and it’s probably because i didn’t get enough sleep. But here’s the thing, there’s been a ton of changes in my life recently, and a lot of upheaval, and it’s been a very difficult time. It’s part OCD, part current events, part changes in my life. I graduated college, so I lost my classes and counseling there (and I still have NOCD, and my therapist is wonderful, and I could not have gotten through this OCD episode without her, but my counselor at my college helped me through some more of the general stuff in my life, and she was wonderful and she really supported me). I had to leave my part-time job I worked at for three years, and I’m still searching for one. My OCD spiked really bad over these last few months, my mental health plummeted, and it hasn’t been helped at all by the horrible winter weather where I live. Because the weather has been so bad and I live with my family in an isolated rural area, I haven’t been able to go to any social groups, even though they said alumni can still attend. It’s hard leaving the house because the weather seems to change on a dime, so I’m stuck inside more often than not. On top of that, there’s everything that’s happening around the world right now. I genuinely don’t know what’s going to happen. I have not felt like myself in months. A big part of that is the OCD, which i really don’t think would have been as bad if it weren’t for all of these huge changes happening all at once, leaving me isolated and stuck inside. My self-esteem has been absolutely shattered. There are video games I love and want to finish that I haven’t been able to bring myself to play because I worry that if I play them while I’m still going through OCD episodes, I’ll always associate them with the anxiety and thoughts and fears, and then I’ll never be able to play them again. I love writing, and before my OCD came back, I had a story I was working on that I adored and that made me so happy, but right now, I hesitate to write anything for it because I just feel this strange sense of guilt that I don’t know how to put into words. Like I’m not worthy or good enough to write anything for it, I guess? Like I wrote all that stuff when I felt like a good person and my self-esteem was better, and because of my OCD making me feel like a horrible person, I can’t bring myself to write anything for it. There are movies I loved to watch over my last semester at college that I don’t want to watch because I guess I don’t want to ruin my last memory of them. I don’t want to look back on the last time I watched a movie I loved and remember that I watched it while I was anxious and fighting off the OCD. There are songs I can’t bring myself to listen to because I listened to them before major changes in my life. And the thing is, all of these things are still there. None of these things suddenly stopped existing. They’re still there when I want to get back to them, but I don’t feel the same as I was when I was doing these things, and it’s hard to bring myself to, when I almost feel like I’m intruding, or ruining the last memory I had of those things. I guess it’s just hard to see that this difficult part of my life does have an end to it and that things will improve, and i’ll feel like myself again. It just feels like my life will always be separated before the most recent OCD episode, and after, and that’s not what I want. And I can’t go back to my last semester at college, but I also don’t want to lose or throw away everything I used to love. Part of this could very well be nostalgia. I just miss who I used to be. I miss feeling like I was a good person who deserved nice things, I miss writing stories I love, I miss having classes and social events and a job and income. I miss my mind being safe to exist in. I miss not wishing I was anyone else. All of this might be easier to deal with except that all of this happening at the same time has left me at absolute rock bottom. I’m not sure if any of this makes any sense or if anyone has any thoughts? I think writing it all down helped a little, though. If you made it this far, thank you for reading 😊❤️ I hope whatever you’re going through gets better, and that you have a great day/night.
OCD Journey Stories
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It can feel like stepping into a bizarre version of the world, and all you want to do is get out.
By Michael Corey
Read my Existential OCD story →I got a virus, alot of people is sick now, this is another bog virus, i dont know the name, but i talked someone who told me that its normal that this virus attacks your nervous system, and brings up the things we are the most sensitive. I wrote a post before that i had really scary thoughts about maybe i will die tomorrow or i can die anyday, i feel like thats was a sign of that cause now im finding myself being so sensitive about this and also im afraid of depression, suicidal thoughts and feeling hopeless. The biggest problem is that i dont know how to label them,if i say maybe im actually dealing with depression, and i need to work on these dark thoughts then i feel anxious and freak out that im having depression and deep thoughts and then feel shame cause i use fear to hide from a problem which i should take seriously, but if i say its not true, i feel like im lying and not working on my mental health... but these dark hopeless feelings feel so real and the thoughts too, and i know this sounds really ocdish cause everyone says this, but it doesnt feel like the ocd symptoms i have. It seems like ocd is more about me not accepting that im depressed or feeling hopeless which makes me feel guilt more cause that sounds like i just dont want to accept that im actually depressed. Im really afraid that these thoughts and feeling means i have an actual problem, and im actually going through depression. My ocd can be about depression too but i heard from someone that many people with ocd doesnt want to accept that they are depressed and thats the problem, so this makes me feel bad that i have to accept that this is an actual problem. Also with grief, i have a fear over grief cause i think i cant deal with it, and i always has thoughts like "you didnt grieved well" and it makes me really sad and afraid that i will never get out of grief... Whatever i do i feel stuck cause if i accept im going through depression and these thoughts are something i need to work on i just feel worse... I dont know what should i do about this, view it as something i need to work on or its just ocd and the illness getting me where im the most sensitive...
I used to write everything that happened with me on daily basis. It can be any type of information like about my conversation with friends or family or what I eat, what someone did to me, bad experiences but I was doing It excessively. I used to write everything to conserve every type of memory which doesn't Even important for me. Like I couldn't resist my self to write about all bus journeys or all restaurants that I have been. But about 2 months ago I destroyed my notes and my anxiety skyrocketed for 1 week. I couldn't even move from my bed due to thoughts that came in my mind. But after talking with my friends my anxiety decreased for somedays but again many thoughts around this revolved in my head. Like will I remember what I'm doing in college life in future, will I remember my memories with my parents or grandmother or will I remember about all my experiences that I have experienced from childhood like my trips etc. I know that it doesn't sound that serious but it is affecting me very severely. I am not able to enjoy my life due to these thoughts and most of the time I feel sad and depressed. Can anyone help me about this?
Do you ever feel like people without OCD have an easy time just saying “you need to accept uncertainty” only because they’re not subject to the same level of fear and anxiety as an OCD sufferer would? I feel like they don’t really accept uncertainty, they’re just naturally more certain about things. For example, if you ask anyone whether they think their loved ones are real or not, they will never answer with “maybe, but I’ll never know for sure”. They’ll just say “of course they are”. Isn’t that what certainty is? For me, as I’ve been suffering from existential OCD most of my adult life, such a question absolutely terrifies me. The mere thought of my loved ones and the world not being real sends me into a spiral of anxiety and depression and never ending certainty-seeking behavior. I just can’t stand the thought of that horrible scenario being true. How can one accept uncertainty about such a thought, when it completely undermines all my values and beliefs and world view? Can non-OCD sufferers really accept those nighmarish scenarios? Am I misunderstanding what ERP and therapy is about?
Anyone else feel that when they aren’t experiencing a theme that their ocd is almost non existent. It almost makes me feel like I’ve been faking it, and also makes me feel ridiculous for obsessing over things. I feel sorry for myself :/ I know that my themes are valid and felt very real in the moment, but after I “get over” them I just can’t believe that I was obsessing over something that either wasn’t true or didn’t apply to me. I would also like to know how to prevent themes from reoccurring. Health, religion and existential OCD themes tend to take turns throughout my life, I just didn’t know that was it ocd. Trying to break the cycle.
Tw Tw Tw Tw Tw Tw Tw Tw So I was on TikTok and just scrolling and I hit this search of hell simulation and I started to think I’m going to be there eventually so while I do believe in a higher supreme being … I don’t necessarily believe in the Christian beliefs … all that being said … I just feel like I should mask my true self so I end up going to heaven … but God also knows when you’re being dishonest and not your true self that’s also a sin … so it’s a lose lose situation ugh religion is so stressful
This anxiety is killing me lol. I just want peace inside my mind
I have been told that what I have is OCD, but sometimes I doubt it and scare myself and say what if it’s not, what if it’s actually a curse, what if I have to do what my brain wants me to do? I’m scared and I think my period is affecting me really bad.
I'm Christian and I struggle with being close to god a lot but lately I just feel like I will never near a full relationship with god because of this not only that my heart physically hurts because I think about how I want god to allow me to get married and have kids but I don't think that's his will for me I feel like it will never happen and my heart hurts thinking about it and even if god does allow that blessing to come my way l'm afraid I'm going to end up hurting my husband or committing adultery and I'm afraid how he would react to my past and old relationship and ocd I don't think it will ever go away not because I don't think god is powerful enough I know he is I just think he wants that to be my story for the glory of his name and because it keeps me close to him idk I just my heart hurts thinking about not being married and not having kids but l'm trying to accept that in case that isn't his will for me it just really hurts my heart physically im thinking of starting therapy but im scared it wont do anything or God will get upset with me that I couldn’t do it with just him i got put back on pills and im gonna end up going back to therapy i get afraid of death and other things now idk I just don’t wanna upset god
I feel awful. I feel like I’ve received a test from God and failed. I got a groinal response while looking through instagram and saw a picture of a kid. I turned my screen off and laid in bed and I tried to recreate the feeling. I twitched my hips a bit, trying to see if it was real arousal, but now I feel like I don’t deserve to feel better and I’m convinced I am going to hell and will burn for what I’ve done. There was no joy or true desire there, but still, what kind of person does that? I thought OCD meant avoid avoid avoid, that’s not what I did. I don’t feel like a can wait another whole day before my session. Has any else had a similar experience? How do you forgive yourself and keep going when you feel like this?
Does anyone else deal with a psychic ability with OCD ? It comes to me in visions thoughts and voices and a lot of the times I am correct on them just curious if that's my OCD or not??
I deal with this everyday scared to go places because of it and having to take anxiety medicine before I go somewhere....some days are better then others and thought I was getting better over the past few months and now it's hit me again having panic attacks before work because I'm scared I'm going to faint or having them at home because I'm scared if I faint I won't wake up on my own and I live by myself. Don't really know what to do about this they say to challenge my thoughts and fears and I do and sometimes it helps so.eti.es it doesn't really wondering if I need OCD medicine for this? What to do or try without medicine?
i cannot go to therapy cause my parents don’t really “believe” in mental recovery, so i’d like to get some advices. i want these thoughts to leave my mind, i worry whether there is an afterlife or not, actually i believe in a material afterlife even tho i’m not religious but i obsessively think “will i get depressed/bored in a trillion years? will me and my bf break up in a trillion years? i love gifts, but in a trillion years i will have too much objects where do i put them??” and other extremely overwhelming thoughts like “i won’t remember this beautiful memory in a lot of years” and when i need to do something i ask myself "what's the point of this? will i remember this?" this is terrifying and i think about this every single moment with a lot of anxiety seems that a lot of people believe in reincarnation and that name is something you choose for yourself but this means that my mom is not my mom and she didn’t choose my name? please help me it’s difficult to react differently to these thoughts and don’t ruminate, i also have to study and this is so hard..i stayed home from school for 3 days because i was having panic attacks 24/7 and couldn’t study for tests, but i stopped with compulsions 5 days ago (aka searching answers about afterlife on reddit) and i feel like i’m way better, but i still have thoughts i mean, is this ocd? seems like im the only one i can't enjoy happy moments anymore and im scared, i often think that life is useless pointless and unfair, idk how 2 months ago i was able to live my life without thinking about the after..i only took my NOW life into consideration and had intrusive thoughts about my boyfriend..seems so weird to me now what i have to do? some techniques or idk? i never would have thought i would say this, but i miss ROCD, seems like my mental problems/ocd themes in this 3 years are only becoming worse and worse p.s. does drinking chamomile during the day and lemon balm at night help? cause i’m starting to drink this A LOT daily
I was trying not to think abt it and honestly inwas doing a great job until a woman came on my fyp on tiktok and said “if u think women are objectively more attractive u re not straight” and now i’m so anxious and distressed and am scared i might be comphet. When i was little i remember being obsessed with the “i cant remember to forget u” mv so i rewatched it and thought it was sensual but nothing more. Idk. She also said that if u use a fantasy to get arroused around men u might not like them. Idk anything anymore Im so tired
So hard to not engage the thoughts because even though it's from the "past" (i don't even know if im remembering things correctly and it kills me) and i can't change it, I just NEED to prove it to myself that it didn't happen this way. If you'd asked me questions maybe a few months ago, I would have been able to lucidly explain things. Now I just feel like I'm in a constant swarm of thoughts, not knowing if anything is real. If my brain is to be trusted. Wish I could just get hypnosis to forget
Tw throwing up The other day my friend and I were making jokes and it hurt the feelings of two of my other friends and they really blew up at us. (Later another friend confronted them about how extreme their reactions were for the situation which is important) I felt so horrible about hurting their feelings I had a horrible panic attack and was crying so hard I threw up. I have felt sick the last few days even thinking about the fact that I hurt any of my friends feelings and I haven’t spoken to either of them in four days to give them space but now since my friend told me she confronted them and I agreed with her they could have been overreacting I feel like I’ve been faking being sick to make it seem like I care about their feelings when I don’t really. I also feel like I’ve been avoiding them to avoid the consequences of my actions like my friends being mad at me. Not looking for reassurance just for advice on things I can say to myself to help or other ways you have felt with something similar.
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