General anxiety or ocd?

[Guest beecham]

Hello guys. Ive been doing fairly well recently but im a bit confused about the difference between standard anxiety over something and actual ocd - i have relationship based ocd, despite being recently single i am still dealing with it. I was in a text conversation with my ex the other day that was very short but i started thinking about being with him again and it brought back a lot of negative thoughts - the relationship not being right, there is more out there and just general low feelings about the relationship which i had throughout the relationship that caused me a huge amount of distress, and so when i thought about being with him again it made me feel sad and anxious (i think mainly because in the last part of our relationship i had so much anxiety and negative thoughts that i couldnt control so its the memory of that?!). Im not sure if this is ocd specifically though or just anxiety and how to deal with it because im not even in the relationship anymore!

Im not looking for reassurance here im just trying to differentiate between whether these are genuine retrospective feelings about the relationship/ generalised anxiety/ ocd/ a mix of all of them! Because im doing better than i was when i was in a relationship and im concerned that whenever i get into a relationship from now on that everything will come back and that im not properly dealing with the ocd and the anxiety and the illness, and that its only subsiding now because im not directly involved with this person.

I hope this makes sense. I want to make clear that im not looking for reassurance or answers about my relationship here as i know how detrimental they can be to ocd thinking. Im just a bit confused about the difference between anxiety/ocd/normal feelings about a relationship and if anyone could give me some clarity it would be much appreciated!

Sorry if this is confusing - ive just read through it and it doesnt make much sense even to me!!

[PolarBear]

Go back to the basics. Are you experiencing unwanted thoughts that cause distress? Are you participating in some kind of compulsion (act, behaviour, reassurance seeking, rumination)? If so it's likely ocd.

[Guest beecham]

It's more just when i think about being in a relationship i get this feeling of panic and claustrophobia and i can only remember all the negative feelings that i had when my ocd and anxiety was high and it makes me just want to run away from being in a relationship?

[PolarBear]

Could be either. Have you got a therapist you can bounce this off of?

[Guest beecham]

No im not in therapy at the moment - im studying for finals and dont really have the time at the moment! I think I'm just going to not over think it and keep focusing on myself and thinking positively because its helped me so far