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working to conquer OCD
I am having horrible regression in my recovery. Tonight i'm feeling really alone and sick from anxiety, i'm feeling scared to be alone with my thoughts. I had a family dinner with my sister, brother and mom today and I couldn't help but feel super dissociated. They are all laughing and talking while i'm just existing. I have a loud voice telling me I messed up, i'm dirty, i'm causing them harm. Being around people brings out the worst in my mind because i really want to be normal. My sister and brother did karaoke and sang Disney songs together and they sounded so beautiful and it made me sad because i truly don't feel like i will be able to ever live up to them. They are truly so smart and have their lives laid out for them. My mom takes my disorder personally and often says things like "you're disgusted of me" "you can't even touch me". I know she views me as the weakest one out of us 3, she favors them it's so apparent. My mom has bpd and being around her sinks me so deep. I feel so freaking alone guys and my ocd is actually spiraling me into a bad depression and my thoughts are becoming more serious. I do not feel comfortable in my mind or my body, i rely on distraction constantly running from myself.
I am a christian guy who grew up in a christian community and family. For as long as i remember, ive had horrible thoughts about all kinds of things that i dont know where to begin. Due to my extreme thoughts, i feel as if i am unworthy of practicing my religioin, such as praying, reading, meditating, etc. I feel ashamed when i go to church, as if i dont belong there because i feel like i am secretely evil, and that God knows i am evil and i am committing blasphemy by going there, and refusing to "repent", from my thoughts. But then again, my thoughts are just thoughts, sure. So whats the problem? - The problem is that in my faith, i have been taught that we must control our thoughts, so they do not get power over us to make us commit sin. Such as "If you think lustfully about a woman, you have already committed adultery with her in your heart". This verse has killed my self esteem, due to the constant unwanted sexual and disturbing thoughts. It makes me feel like a monster, who secretely just wants to abuse and be horrible to people, even though i know very well i do not want this. Sometimes i think horrible things about the people i love very much, such as my girlfriend. It feels so wrong and evil, even though i know it isnt my true will.
I’ve been worried that I will go to hell and have lost a lot of my interests, personality and even music I like . I don’t know who I am anymore
i haven’t been diagnosed with ocd but I have anxiety about harming other people/family members and it’s like urges and im scared I actually want to do it? I don’t think I’ve ever been violent as a kid (im 21 now) and the intrusive thoughts don’t go away so im just stuck all day everyday for the past few weeks just thinking and being scared about it and im having all these weird emotions like being irritated and angry I don’t want to hurt people I don’t think idk why my mind is making me think I do I’ve had intrusive thoughts before that I could brush away sure it took like a day or two but this one is different it doesn’t go away and leaves me with the worst fear imaginable and nothing I look up that should be giving me relief is giving me relief + I feel like im not in control of my body and that im just gonna lose it and act on these thoughts it’s just all on a loop and im not sure how im supposed to live the rest of my life when im in constant fear of my self
Whenever anyone starts to feel like their thoughts are less triggering or they feel a moment of happiness/ relief OCD tells you that you want the thoughts back or you actually like having the thoughts and maybe thats just the person I really am? I feel like im going insane😢
Someone I care about has OCD, he often gets worried to answer certain things in fear that he might be wrong or gets anxious in times when certain conversations such as dealing with negative emotions come into play and in the event something goes wrong even though we deal with the issue it takes him a long time to put himself back together. Often times worried about his image, hyper focused on being a good person etc etc. I believe I’m doing my best but as someone who doesn’t struggle with OCD I cant fully comprehend him and i wish to learn more about it, not just read it off of google. Any advice would be appreciate it. -Thank you!
Today I was trying to figure out something at work, and some people were watching and I was taking longer than expected. I said to myself, “why am I so stupid” and I felt like I was angry and I felt like I was angry at God. I’m worried because I felt like I cursed God in my heart. I’m worried because who am I to be mad at God. I want to have reverence, and I just don’t know what to do. It feels like my heart is hard.
Hello does anyone get such severe panic and anxiety that comes along with bad intrusive thoughts. Then the thoughts give you more panic because you feel you may act on them? Then I worry I’m going crazy, can anyone relate? Thank for reading
Not necessarily asking for reassurance and I know I’ve mentioned this here before but my OCD has been affecting my cognition seemingly. I’ll forget small things or put things in odd places sometimes, or mix up words - things like that. Obviously this triggers me to be like “Alzheimers/dementia.” Can anyone relate? And if you recovered what did you do for it?
Anyone else struggle with somatic OCD and any pain/feeling slightly different is so noticeable and you feel like you’re just going to collapse or something? Like my ocd always convinces me that any sort of pain is related to some kind of illness that can cause a bad outcome or even death. If so, please share your tips of how to improve with this type of ocd 😭
At this point I feel like I need to get on something ASAP. I know that therapy is a long road and hard work and I am totally down to do it but in the short term (I just started this journey) I think I need pharmaceutical help. Some of the people closest to me agree. I have never been on meds before and it's scary AF but the road I am going down is scarier. Advice?
When I say I feel like I like a thought, I don’t mean the OCD is telling me like a thought or that I concluded that from a physical sensation. I mean, I genuinely feel like something in my brain lights up and it feels like I like it mentally. Whenever I hear people talk about liking thoughts (excitement, arousal), I always see things about groinals or heart flutters. Physical things. I don’t think I really ever see people talk about the mental sensation if this is even a thing. I just wanna know if anyone relates to this or has found an explanation for this because seeing it from an analytical point of view seems to help me sometimes. This is so, *so* especially hard for pocd themed thoughts :( Anyone relate?
hi! i was wondering if anyone here began treatment using sertraline and then got off of it later? im just curious about other people's experiences using if for their ocd and if they eventually got off of it or are just taking it indefinitely. Thanks!!
Hello, so I’m in therapy for ROCD but my therapist says she doesn’t think/feels that I have ROCD. Her reasoning is because “compulsions don’t provide any sense of relief for someone with OCD, they are constant even after compulsions” but i’ve read online that they do provide relief until a new intrusive thought restarts the cycle. She also said I can’t have ROCD if I don’t show signs of regular OCD, because ROCD is only a subtype and I must have OCD to have ROCD. I’ve read otherwise online though so all therapist on here is she correct? (She also mention she only has 2 years experience and has a supervisor she reports to)
My thoughts are here but I have no anxiety. No matter what if I agree with the thoughts it doesn’t give me anxiety. If I think about how not having anxiety means that the thoughts are my truth since I’m not having anxiety. Nothing is giving me anxiety and I don’t know why but I don’t like that it’s not giving me anxiety. Is this normal?
Hi I’m really struggling I was up until 5 am last night getting showers and washing my bedding in stress. I want to know if ocd can do this…. When I get gronal responses it feels nice and last night even tho it was over a child it felt too nice to try to stop it… but can ocd do this, even tho the gronal responses was because of a child. I’m im so much distress due to this. Like they felt genuinely enjoyable and I wanted them but that itself was freaking me out
Hi All, just wondering if anyone here has any tips with dealing with uncertainty? My OCD centres on my being worried that I have committed a crime and can’t remember doing so, I was out last weekend and my mind is telling me I attacked somebody as I got an intrusive thought to do so when passing them in a bar, my therapist says I need to sit with the uncertainty that maybe I did and maybe I didn’t and have to be ok with that But if the answer is yes then how can I be ok with committing a crime and going to jail??, it’s affecting my relationship and I’m going on holiday on Friday and I’m worried it will ruin that, any tips would be greatly appreciated.
Curious.... the news has been terribly distressing for me and has stirred up OCD. Compulsive rumination and checking (news stories) are my go-to when OCD is triggered. Today, I purposely did not listen to my news podcast as I do every morning. I feel better-ish. Is this avoidance, or is this self care? Would continuing to listen to a podcast be exposure with response prevention applied to the compulsions that go with it? Thanks in advance!
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