Best piece of advice you will ever get.....

[Ashley]

Surround yourself with positive people!

- They will lift you up when you are down.

- Their positivity will be contagious.

- They will show you better ways to cope when the day is tough.

- Their courage at challenging their OCD will show you what you need to work towards.

[Guest zombiepaul6]

I agree with you totally it helps a lot to take your mind off the OCD also I would like to say I have seen a few topics and you always post reply's with advice and positive comments and I find that great

[Gemma7]

I agree too, I find any resilience I have can be easily drained if I am constantly pepping up other people. This year I have managed to try and form better relationships with my family so that I get the most out of seeing them. Before now I would put on an act that I could manage, that I was ok or simply just did what they expected of me even if I compulsed so much afterwards. This year I explained this to them and I feel our relationship is all the better for it :original:

[Guest nervous]

Good point Ashley, it will be really hard to improve being around negative people, like the old saying goes misery loves company.

[taurean]

And we can change a negative bias to our thoughts by challenging the non-OCD ones.

If we feel that others have thoughts about us that are very detrimental this could be the cognitive distortion of "mind-reading".

Or if we think in terms of black and white, but no grey.

Challenge these negative automatic thoughts, and make necessary thinking and behavioural changes. Our thinking should focus somewhere in the grey area to be more positive.

Adopting a more positive viewpoint is much more helpful when we get to grips with the OCD.

Edited December 26, 2015 by taurean

[Ashley]

Good point Ashley, it will be really hard to improve being around negative people, like the old saying goes misery loves company.

Exactly Nervous. Being around positive people won't necessarily keep our own misery away, but I am quite sure it will disperse quicker by having positive and supportive people in our lives.

[Claire1704]

This is so important. I often find myself taking stock of who I spend my time around and make a point of picking and choosing who I share things with.

This not only helps me, but also gives me the strength to support other people who are perhaps struggling.

I love those people you can not only have a really good chat with, but also laugh and talk about nothing in particular with too!