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What Have We Found Most Beneficial In Tackling OCD?


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For me, learning that my upsetting intrusive thoughts were as a result of OCD and said nothing about me as a person. 

That I am not responsible for having them, and in my case, harm OCD, my own true values of care concern safety are being turned on their head with the intrusions suggesting otherwise. 

This knowledge is massive power to me. It has helped me to not connect with OCD intrusions, and it has enabled me to refresh and maintain my exposure and response prevention exercises. 

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The thing that helped me most is not ruminating which is my only compulsion. I just return my attention to whatever I am doing at that moment and don't do ruminations as OCD demands. OCD then try to convince me that I have to do with it's malicious logic but I know I will never ever get certainty and ruminating will only make me more uncertain and ill. Another thing that helped me is to accept that whatever I fear may be true or false but I have no way to know. I must live with the pain of uncertainty.

Some people say that compulsions are automatic but I have read an article by a world renowned Psychologist that compulsion is the behavior we choose to do not automatic. In my case I realized it is very true. OCD may convince me hard but ultimately it is up to me whether to do it or to not do it.

Edited by worriedjohn
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I reckon that we can address the demand for certainty by teaching ourselves that rational response suggests probability, and we need to take a leap of faith and go with that probability. 

As with any OCD compulsive urge, intrusions will seek to sabotage that. But the intrusions won't be accompanied by proof, therefore we can ignore them if we both choose to and accept that what we are dealing with is OCD. 

I find remembering that under OCD 2+2 can be made to feel equal to 5 helps to remind me not to give any belief to the OCD falsehoods. 

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1- I think learning more about the condition as helped me immensely.

2- Realising it doesn’t reflect on me and who I am as a person.

3- Realising that everyone as intrusive thoughts and it’s how we acknowledge and react to them that is the problem. 

4- learning what are our obsessions and compulsions, recognising when we are ruminating or reassurance seeking, magical thinking etc.

5- learning to notice the anxiety, but knowing that it does come down is really helpful. The storm will pass. 

6- Trying to keep a positive frame of mind, the negatives drag us down. 

7- learning from setbacks, how I dealt with them and how I turned things around again. 

8- learning to accept and live with the doubt and uncertainty of never knowing. 

9- Reminding ourselves that ocd is a big fat liar.

10- Acknowledging and praising ourselves for every little step we take. how far we have come. 

11- Courage, hard work, determination and repetition. 

12- Never ever give up hope of finding a way to tackle our compulsions. 

13- looking to see how far we have come every so often, reminds us how well we are doing, lifts our spirits and encourages us to keep going. 

14- Always reminding our selves that recovery is possible. 

 

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Rules and restrictions are part and parcel of our disorder. 

So we need to break those rules, not accept those restrictions - chipping away at them in structured CBT.

Then when we feel the compulsion to allow another restriction we need to resist that, refuse to listen. 

When we don't give intrusions meaning, when we don't respond to them, they gradually lose power. 

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If I do relapse, I know I CAN overcome it. Having been here before, i know that if i fight hard enough in time I can get back to being me again living and enjoying life to the full.

AND....

Finding this forum.

Searching for ways in which i can try and help myself whilst i wait for therapy I found this forum. It has been priceless in guiding me through some pretty hard times. You guys on here have helped me in ways I can never thank you enough for...and I don't mean reassurance! Knowing you are not alone, although awful, is comforting in a way only those who experience/have experienced this disorder can understand. 

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I Label everything with ocd and move on with whatever im doing.

Like today for instance, had the brain fog (the depression) but labeled it as ocd.Come home,took kids swimming. 

Its really nice to be at this stage, but its took a breakdown and failed suicide attempt to be here.

Wishing everyone well.

 

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1 hour ago, Lisa davis said:

If I do relapse, I know I CAN overcome it. Having been here before, i know that if i fight hard enough in time I can get back to being me again living and enjoying life to the full.

 

Just thought I would pick up on this comment of Lisa's. 

If we get into CBT therapy and there is enough time allotted, it's well worth while considering what to do in a relapse, and laying down some tools to tackle it. 

Then, if and when it happens, we aren't left floundering and sinking - rather we can work our relapse recovery plan. 

If we aren't in therapy, we can consider our own plan based on what we have learned about our own OCD, plus good ideas from sources like this thread. 

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To be kind to ourselves on both good and bad days.

Not to dwell on the past or worry about the future, only live for today. 

Forgive ourselves for past mistakes and leave it be. 

Dont worry about what you’ve got to do throughout the day, just think about what your doing at the moment. 

Learn to live in the here and now is really helpful. 

 

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This idea from Caramoole is really good. 

We think of our own experience of OCD in terms of an onion. 

As we have travelled through life, feeling bad and ashamed, full of doubt and fear of talking about it in case we are considered mad, we add layers onto our OCD onion - restrictions and rules, different themes, inhibitions, phobias - all restricting our lives and taking enjoyment out of our existence. 

So we can be faced with little, or a lot, to tackle, depending on the layers of our onion. 

But if we tackle the onion gradually, working one layer at a time, one theme at a time, then we can gradually slowly but surely peel away and discard those restrictions and rules, and reclaim our lives. 

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I'm relearning some of my old CBT techniques; such as - what's the worst that could happen, if I had this thought? What does it matter? I've also found some new passions that have really helped me break down my walls and they've done me a lot of good - my Dad happily noted the other day that I was writing again. One of the most important things my doctor ever told me was that I do put pressure on my shoulders and that's not going to get me anywhere - nor will ruminating. I'm able to distract myself and remind myself that going over and over something is not going to change the outcome and will make my obsessions worse; tangle me further in the weeds. Let's see how we get along with that. And, as people above point out: trying to forgive myself for past mistakes I've made as a human-being and it's more beneficial to be kind to myself, rather than hurt myself over something I can't change; I'll always arrive at the same muddle I was in to start with. 

I don't know how healthy some of you will consider this, but I'm living back with my Dad for the time-being and I feel a lot better being at home than I was being away. I know that sounds strange, because familiarity can trigger OCD but my childhood home has changed a lot since I went away and my Dad's a really easygoing guy. I'm just getting on with the day and find I have lots of things to do - helping around the house, taking the dog for a walk, which is good for me as it means I get out in the fields and the sunshine and I get some exercise. We live in the country, so it's good for me, at least for a few weeks, while I'm looking for a new job. I'm rather anxious about leaving home again, depending on circumstances, but the short version is that yes: family helps. I don't want to lean on them all the time, though. 

I'm writing again as well and one of the characters I'm writing around has anxiety, so I find a lot of empathy and exploration in his character; it's helped me get a better grip on my own fears and it means I'm producing something after spending so long feeling stuck in writer's block, which contributed to my anxiety and depression. I've been reminded that I worry because I care and I hold myself to high standards. It's good to have passion back in my life for the time-being. I don't always feel I deserve to be happy because of past sins, but this feels like an improvement over what I used to feel. :)

So for me, personally, that's where I am. Also: eating less chocolate! :a1_cheesygrin: It's just good to be busy and surround yourself with people who love you. I tend to try and fight this on my own but every now and then, it's okay to accept help. Make sure you always accept help, if you can find it. 

C x

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10 minutes ago, taurean said:

Just thought I would pick up on this comment of Lisa's. 

If we get into CBT therapy and there is enough time allotted, it's well worth while considering what to do in a relapse, and laying down some tools to tackle it. 

Then, if and when it happens, we aren't left floundering and sinking - rather we can work our relapse recovery plan. 

If we aren't in therapy, we can consider our own plan based on what we have learned about our own OCD, plus good ideas from sources like this thread. 

This is a good point taurean. Having recovered from ocd does not mean we will relapse, but if as you said time allows, it is a great idea to have a plan of action in case we ever do feel ourselves slipping a little.

I saw a gateway worker last week and he was pretty surprised that I hadn't remembered the tools learnt from my previous CBT. I did point out that I have been free from this for around 7 years but have unfortunately found myself back in its claws. He pointed out that perhaps we can get a bit complacent and old ways can slowly but surely slip back in perhaps without us even noticing.

It is therfore a good idea to take what we learn, weather it be from therapy or by discovering techniques from our own personal experiences, and apply it to our thoughts each and every time it is needed until it is ingrained in us.  

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The Four Steps. 

This practical technique for dealing with OCD intrusions is contained within the book "Brainlock"  by Jeffrey Schwartz, and details of the steps can be found using the search field on the main OCD-UK website. 

Essentially the process helps us to identify and label intrusions, re-attribute them to OCD, refocus away from them, then revalue our thoughts and feelings afterwards. 

I have found it simple and easy to use, and a great way to shift attention away from our OCD. 

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For me the realisation that doing our compulsions keeps us stuck and makes OCD stronger. Compulsions may provide temporary relief but it does a lot of damage long term. OCD gives us a false belief that the compulsions are necessary and actually helpful.

its a bit like a bully taking money off you, just a few pence at first and this keeps the bully happy however it then wants a bit more, and a bit more until your giving the bully bigger amounts each time. Eventually your struggling to afford what the bully wants.

Understanding how OCD works has been really useful for me, so too the ERP I have been engaging in. I still have a away to go but I feel in a much better place than say 6 months ago. I have to guard against complacency though as I have slipped back before. 

 

 

Edited by Avo
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3 hours ago, Lisa123 said:

This is a great thread to read with lots of great tips! Love the positive messages.

 

thanks x

Thanks Roy for posting such an useful thread. You bring up topics that are useful to all of us.

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Thanks Lisa and John, it has worked well this thread, I'm pleased I posted it. 

Another important thing I learned in therapy is to take the high ground, not let the intrusions gain the upper hand. 

When we have learned in the cognitive part of therapy to recognise OCD intrusions, we can then simply note them, think "Oh that's just my silly obsession",  then gently but firmly refocus away without believing, or connecting with, the intrusion - and keep doing this if it creeps back - until the intrusion fades away. 

Edited by taurean
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