Every single day new trauma!. Ocd never takes a day off!

[Guest Stu.]

Every single day I wake up i get an instant anxiety hit as my brain immediately start searching for todays thought/s to torment me with! It always chooses one I haven't thought about for a while and off we go again on a continuous never ending cycle of thoughts going round and round in my head filling me full of anxiety and pain. My brain seems to keep recycling the same old thoughts over and over and looking at them in different ways to try and hurt me more and more.

I don't even know why im typing this really other than to get it off my chest. I cant even mention ocd to my family as they don't want to know. Infact theres only 1 or 2 that will actually listen to me and it makes me angry. I suppose at least anyone here reading this should understand.

What is it about going to sleep and waking up that resets anxiety to 10!?. Its like this for me every day.

[Guest silverlight]

Me too! I even Googled it once because it seems most people with anxiety have it at night but it's usually morning for me, as soon as I wake up! It's cyclical too. None of my issues seem to be resolved. I think that they are, but then I am reminded of them again and have to recall everything I learned previously all over again. It's like it takes me right back to square one.

[mdlbrightchild]

I came in here to post a similar question, i guess you beat me to it.

I keep doing the exposure exercises when i have spikes. I try to let them be there, let the anxiety fade without ruminating. I thought this was supposed to neutralize the obsession after awhile. Unfortunately i seem to be having the same trouble as you, the anxiety will fade for that spike only to come back full force hours later with the same thought.

I dont understand what im doing wrong. Its been weeks and i keep getting the same spike with the same level of anxiety no matter how many times i expose myself without ruminating.

[sim123]

Hey Stu

I could have written this post about myself. When I immediately wake up I feel fine, but after a few minutes of lying there I start to get the feeling of anxiety. I really have to force myself to get out of bed and not just lie there feeling anxious. It's quite bizarre as well since I used to sleep in at the weekend until midday and lying in in the morning was my favourite thing to do! I've found that if I get up almost as soon as I get up this helps, although I still have the anxiety it dilutes somewhat due to me becoming distracted with getting ready etc. I put a post up a few weeks ago Stu recalling what my therapist suggested, as a brief summary it was eating breakfast in the morning, doing diaphragmatic breathing when you wake up and downloading an audiobook for car journeys to work in the morning. You could give a few of these things a try? I have been alright at the eating breakfast and listening to audiobooks which seems to have helped, however haven't been too good with the breathing. Some mornings I really make an effort to get up, distract myself, stay calm and eat a good breakfast and others I do just lie there feeling anxious and get out of bed 5 minutes before I have to leave the house. I guess it is a slow process trying to reprogram your behaviour. If anyone else has suggestions or experiences regarding morning anxiety it seems we would all appreciate hearing them

[Guest Stu.]

Me too! I even Googled it once because it seems most people with anxiety have it at night but it's usually morning for me, as soon as I wake up! It's cyclical too. None of my issues seem to be resolved. I think that they are, but then I am reminded of them again and have to recall everything I learned previously all over again. It's like it takes me right back to square one.

It seems the issues are only gone when the anxiety is gone?

[Guest Stu.]

I came in here to post a similar question, i guess you beat me to it.

I keep doing the exposure exercises when i have spikes. I try to let them be there, let the anxiety fade without ruminating. I thought this was supposed to neutralize the obsession after awhile. Unfortunately i seem to be having the same trouble as you, the anxiety will fade for that spike only to come back full force hours later with the same thought.

I dont understand what im doing wrong. Its been weeks and i keep getting the same spike with the same level of anxiety no matter how many times i expose myself without ruminating.

I don't think your doing anything wrong?. Keep on with it and hopefully it will neutralize over time.

[Guest Stu.]

Hey Stu

I could have written this post about myself. When I immediately wake up I feel fine, but after a few minutes of lying there I start to get the feeling of anxiety. I really have to force myself to get out of bed and not just lie there feeling anxious. It's quite bizarre as well since I used to sleep in at the weekend until midday and lying in in the morning was my favourite thing to do! I've found that if I get up almost as soon as I get up this helps, although I still have the anxiety it dilutes somewhat due to me becoming distracted with getting ready etc. I put a post up a few weeks ago Stu recalling what my therapist suggested, as a brief summary it was eating breakfast in the morning, doing diaphragmatic breathing when you wake up and downloading an audiobook for car journeys to work in the morning. You could give a few of these things a try? I have been alright at the eating breakfast and listening to audiobooks which seems to have helped, however haven't been too good with the breathing. Some mornings I really make an effort to get up, distract myself, stay calm and eat a good breakfast and others I do just lie there feeling anxious and get out of bed 5 minutes before I have to leave the house. I guess it is a slow process trying to reprogram your behaviour. If anyone else has suggestions or experiences regarding morning anxiety it seems we would all appreciate hearing them

I think your brave still managing to work with ocd. I packed work in 2 years ago, I couldn't cope with it all. I think the breathing is to reduce/get rid of the anxiety.

[sim123]

Thanks, I don't feel very brave to be honest! The things I mentioned I still try and apply at weekends etc when I don't particularly need to get up.

How were you feeling this morning stu?

[Guest silverlight]

Yeah I will have rare days with minimal anxiety it really seems that the mere feeling of anxiety is the main driving force behind it all. Like, there are no real problems aside from excess anxiety.

[Guest Stu.]

Thanks, I don't feel very brave to be honest! The things I mentioned I still try and apply at weekends etc when I don't particularly need to get up.

How were you feeling this morning stu?

Hi sim, just as bad to be honest, sometimes the thoughts don't kick in till im up and watching tv as my brain tries to find something to bother me with. Its different thoughts all the time. How are you?. I guess work is a good distraction for you?

[Guest Stu.]

Yeah I will have rare days with minimal anxiety it really seems that the mere feeling of anxiety is the main driving force behind it all. Like, there are no real problems aside from excess anxiety.

Anxiety is certainly the driving force behind it all. But I guess its the thoughts that bring on your anxiety?

[Guest silverlight]

It's the thought, and then it's heightened depending on my response to them. Which I usually choose wrong.

[Chirpy]

I am actually the same as the rest of you. I wake up in the morning and the thoughts just come and the anxiousness. As the days goes on I start to feel better.

[Guest nikko9000]

Every single day I wake up i get an instant anxiety hit as my brain immediately start searching for todays thought/s to torment me with! It always chooses one I haven't thought about for a while and off we go again on a continuous never ending cycle of thoughts going round and round in my head filling me full of anxiety and pain. My brain seems to keep recycling the same old thoughts over and over and looking at them in different ways to try and hurt me more and more.

I don't even know why im typing this really other than to get it off my chest. I cant even mention ocd to my family as they don't want to know. Infact theres only 1 or 2 that will actually listen to me and it makes me angry. I suppose at least anyone here reading this should understand.

What is it about going to sleep and waking up that resets anxiety to 10!?. Its like this for me every day.

I came in here to post a similar question, i guess you beat me to it.

I keep doing the exposure exercises when i have spikes. I try to let them be there, let the anxiety fade without ruminating. I thought this was supposed to neutralize the obsession after awhile. Unfortunately i seem to be having the same trouble as you, the anxiety will fade for that spike only to come back full force hours later with the same thought.

I dont understand what im doing wrong. Its been weeks and i keep getting the same spike with the same level of anxiety no matter how many times i expose myself without ruminating.

I think half of the therapy is about not doing compulsions the other half is somewhat cognitive. The cognitive part in this case is to learn to accept your thoughts and not seeking to control them. By the way, seeking or wanting to control your thoughts may create automatic compulsive behaviors or ruminating which is difficult to not perform. So it seems that you are afraid of having the thoughts reoccurring. Now wouldnt that be scary? Thoughts reoccurring and anxiety doesnt stop despite the cure yikes. Similarly, some people are scared of being a pedophile, killing their children, yikes. Thus in your case you need to accept the scary thought of that the thoughts are reocurring. Do you feel a strong desire to figure out how to cure yourself or is it more like this is something you could easily forget? If the latter is not the case you may still perform some compulsions. Realistically desensitation isnt supposed to happen over night. It is supposed to happen over weeks or months. So you should desensetize yourself from being afraid of not being desensetized i guess. Assume that your thouhgts will be there forever, accept it with determination. Learn to live with it. Perhaps if you can accept that they will be there forever and get so used to them to the point that you dont even care. Well then it may not be far fetched to think that it is possible to forget them forever as well?

My interpretation is based on this source. The source is much better explained and has been very helpful to me: http://www.ocdonline.com/#!thinking-the-unthinkable/c1arh

Edited December 2, 2015 by nikko9000

[Guest nikko9000]

A general principle in the confusion of what is compulsions and what is not compulsions one should seek the unknown and insecurity and not comfort and controll.

[Handy]

But if you know when anxiety is coming, set up a plan of attack to resolve it before it comes on. This is how you deal with morning anxiety.

[jballan]

This is a great post. I feel similar. I find myself ruminating over social situations, dreading having to see family or going to a class. Most times I can't handle it and don't end up going, costing me a good grade. In the morning i am "fuzzy" and anxious for no particular reason. The eventually my mind finds a reason to be anxious and I cycle between Anxious and zoned out. I can't function, its just horrible. I feel your pain!

[Guest Stu.]

This is a great post. I feel similar. I find myself ruminating over social situations, dreading having to see family or going to a class. Most times I can't handle it and don't end up going, costing me a good grade. In the morning i am "fuzzy" and anxious for no particular reason. The eventually my mind finds a reason to be anxious and I cycle between Anxious and zoned out. I can't function, its just horrible. I feel your pain!

It sounds like you suffer from social anxiety?, do you know why?