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OCD worse at certain times of day?


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I find my OCD much worse at certain times of day, namely at night and first thing in the morning. Is this normal? It doesn't matter whether there is any trigger in physical proximity, the intrusive thoughts just seems much more intense and real at these times and it's much more difficult to do ERP.

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Guest OCDhavenobrain

Same about the mornings. I never have problems sleeping. When i lay down do i always relax. I find the bed so smooth and soothing. 

 

 

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Guest ShadeofAce

My OCD seems to fluctuate through the day as well. It's the worst during the morning and right before I go to bed though, but that might just be because I don't have anything to take my mind off it at the time.

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Before bed our minds are often least occupied but because of that they are in overdrive, in the morning we have the whole day ahead which can feel overwhelming with OCD. This is how I would rationalise OCD being worse at those times of the day.

I find mine worsens on my train home from work because I have been busy all day and this is the first point of the day without something to focus on. 

I think it's good to acknowledge a cycle within OCD because it means we can fight it before we engage in it.
 

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Guest Bluheela

There was a time when my OCD was really bad that I had the morning dreads.  Something would always resurface from the night before.  Fortunately those days are few and far between now, because honestly when the dread hit - I just wanted to stay in bed and go back to sleep - anything to relieve the pain.  But as I learnt - nothing, no OCD, no anxiety..................for me, is that bad. :) 

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Guest OCDhavenobrain
1 hour ago, Bluheela said:

There was a time when my OCD was really bad that I had the morning dreads.  Something would always resurface from the night before.  Fortunately those days are few and far between now, because honestly when the dread hit - I just wanted to stay in bed and go back to sleep - anything to relieve the pain.  But as I learnt - nothing, no OCD, no anxiety..................for me, is that bad. :) 

I can really relate wow. 

good for you. keep being in control

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Guest Bluheela

TYVM.  Personally OCD was with me 24/7 - I thought it defined me.  Therapy taught me different.  Never fight it I was told.  And when I did - saliently speaking 'it smashed me every time.'  To me OCD is powerful, don't kid yourself - it constantly finds weaknesses in your psyche - it is a living thing, an organism in a sense - I though it had the power to knock me down, everytime and cringe me with fear and anxiety.  Wrong.  Therapy taught me to be friends with my OCD and not to attack it.  To make fun of it sometime and to give my family permission to do the same.  Humor broke it's strength.  And then I named - beautiful again - As schwartz would say - "It's not me, it's my OCD."  It no longer defines me. 

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Guest OCDhavenobrain

OCD is an very powerful process indeed. And you can't outsmart the OCD because it comes from your own brain. You can't outsmart yourself. And we often think we can. Which only leave us deeper inside the spiderweb.

Edited by OCDhavenobrain
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Guest Bluheela

GOOD POINTS, totally agree

Being friends with it means it is a piece of you.  Instead of Purge, purge, purge (can't think of a battle more exhausting) - you simply reallise your failings as a human being and accept at the moment that the symptoms are there.  But you still have to have your boundaries with it (it can be like a nagging child (LOL) - "Not now child I'm watching a program" (alternate behavior to fight obsession/compulsion).  And say: "It's not me it's my OCD, a biochemical imbalance in my Brain (J. Schwartz 'BrainLock').  So you can call it a name - BORIS or whatever.  My family used to humor me by saying that BORIS had played up today.  The laughter and humor broke down the bind that OCD had had on me for literal years.  We have so many stories - so many funny things I did.  Think of it as a friend and say: "Well that's a little silly don't you think?"  Come on let's be totally honest here the things it asks us to do or not to do can be totally outrageous.  Never stand in it's way defiantly - I'll tell you it will knock you clean over, flat on the ground if you do.  You need to be smarter than that.  No be it's friend - remember It's not you it's your OCD (Boris, Mary, whatever..... name it, draw it.) - This advice came from my Psychiatrist - a top level doctor from New Zealand who dealt and specialised with Bi Polar and OCD.  He was a very learned man, a smart man - and it took me a while to catch on because at first I though what he was suggesting was ridiculous.

 

To win against it will require creativity - sometimes a little genius (LOL).  It's almost like we need to peacefully bypass it (the Brain), somehow.

 

 

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