How do I make decisions with OCD?

[Guest cizzor8168]

What's the ideal means of making decisions (both with a lot of time and very quickly) if those decisions feel like a big deal (I have POCD http://www.ocdforums.org/index.php?showtopic=69849although I'm aware that I should treat the thoughts as thoughts and not as a big deal, because they are just thoughts)? As in, how should someone with an OCD mind make decisions? I've read not to dwell on the thoughts for long (as that's when you get screwed by the OCD), to avoid hunting certainty, and to trust my instincts. That said, i know my instinctual reaction to my obsessions is often to flee and avoid things, which is a compulsion. So I'm curious what the best strategies are.

[Guest ADD]

Impulsively!

Nah after a cool down period. Though how do you ever cool down when you have triggers that are always triggers and therefore influence your decisions with OCD biases and then ?

[Ryukil]

What I try to do is just relax and trust myself. Usually I know what the best decision is after logically weighing it out...but then obsessive doubt will come in and say, "What if you're wrong?" If I get sucked back in, I could be obsessing about that decision for months at a time so I refuse to let myself get sucked back in after I've made the decision.

I remind myself that the obsessive doubt is just anxiety and I know what I am doing, and eventually the doubt will go away like any other obsession that you refuse to give into.

[Guest cizzor8168]

Thanks for the replies. ADD, how does one handle suspected OCD biases? One of my biggest problems is I usually assume those biases are working against me all the time, making me think anxiety-free choices are the best (note that these aren't compulsions in my head-they feel NORMAL- but of course I worry they are in REALITY compulsions my biases are making me think aren't compulsions). Naturally, this gets me concerned I'm doing too many compulsions, and I feel drawn towards difficult courses of action routinely. And that's a bit stressful.

That said, is it more healthy to assume these biases are working against me all the time? And for me to subsequently make more anxiety-inducing choices? For the good of my mental health?

[bruces]

Decisions are a nightmare for me,even when I've made it I wish I'd gone the other way

[Guest cizzor8168]

I guess a better way of phrasing it is, is assuming I'm biased to favor anxiety-free decisions good because I can counter them, or bad because I'll engage in time-consuming overexposure? Would it be best to try and just sense that kind of bias in specific situations and take things from there?

[Gemma7]

I try to just go with what deep down I want to do. If there is no major swing either way then just pick one of the decisions and move on. I find that if you do what you truly want you end up having to face ocd in the end.