ecomum

I have fought and won so many OCD battles since covid started.i have gone from not leaving my bed or eating and shaking continuosly to being back at work and going shopping and into town etc. It's been hard but I have pushed myself and read a lot of self help books. Today I faced a new trigger, not covid related and it's brought home to me that there will always be new ones so it's more about dealing with them than the subject of them. I need to apply what I have learned to this .

Hi Lou Lou I work in school too. I wash my clothes and have a wash but keep the same bra on. It's hard in these times to know if it's necessary or OCD and where to draw the line. I always think if it feels like I'm overanalyzing it then it's OCD.

I think because you know it's OCD and you know what you want .you have a good chance if getting it. Good luck. I'm 47 next month. My first husband left me because if my OCD. We were young and didn't even know what OCD was, I have hyper responsibility. My forever person, my now husband is amazing and we have a great life. Getting diagnosed helped. I've missed out on a lot , mainly career and financial because if OCD but I do have a good life. Stay positive and many many thanks for your amazing forum. When looking for a date visualise yourself as the amazing caring person who has and does help so many. You are wonderful and someone would be lucky to meet such a kind person .

I have felt like that but it does pass. Just start by doing something small that's what I do then I start to feel a bit better. OCD is hard but we are stronger .

This has turned into a realy great, positive thread. I have always felt we are here for each other on this forum and it has helped me so much, as I hope I have helped others too. I am having a bad night of false memories and I can pop on here and look for advice and don't feel so alone. Thank you Hdigtts .

Great advice Dksea .thanks for the kind words Jedi and Chirpy.

Yesterday I had a massive panic attack and wanted to seek reassurance from my daughter. I didn't and she said I was a good role model for facing my fears (didn't tell her about the issue). Today I want to to seek reassurance from my husband about something else but I already feel like I burden him so much.He has to cope with life's tasks and then my fears on top.i know seeking reassurance won't help but I feel so lonely dealing with all this anxiety and not being able to talk to anyone. My mum sought reassurance from me which has contributed to my OCD. I just want the release of voicing my fears so I don't feel so alone with them. It's so hard. How do we get through this without giving in ?

I have just bought and read a book called Embracing uncertainty by Susan Jeffers which has helped me a lot. It's not about OCD but I have found it very useful. Just thought I'd share as it may help someone else.

I have realised that my OCD seems to raise its head when things get too much, if I am coping with a lot at once and am starting to show signs of exhaustion. I want to try and identify this before it happens in the hope of preventing severe OCD flare ups. Does this sound like a likely contributing factor and a reasonable idea ? Thank you everyone.

I have this problem of being scared to be happy cos I'll have something to loose. I have been reading self help books about resilience and said to my self " I am a strong person,I can do this and if the OCD comes I will deal with it " This has helped me , hope it helps you.

Due to my anxiety I have always liked the comfort of my own home and not going out. I used to make myself because of my children and work etc. Now we haven't been out for ages I have got used to being in and am finding that I am even more scared of the idea of going out again. I've been out a couple of times but really hated it. I am scared of accidently doing something that will trigger my OCD and of confrontation with people if I do something wrong. Does anyone else feel like this or know of any strategies to help me. Many thanks Best wishes .

You sound exactly like me. I can see it's OCD ,but I know how you feel cos I can't see it when it happens to me. I can see you did nothing wrong . I know I shouldn't offer reassurance as it won't help. So what I wanted to say is I used to have a coaster for a tea cup by my bed that I made saying ' no one got hurt' to remind me in times like this to let it go..everyone makes mistakes or perceived OCD mistakes and just let's it go. OCD makes me blow it out of proportion. Today something similar happened to me, not Corona related , something where I made a mistake but luckily all was well.I decided as no one got hurt to use this as practice for walking away from my OCD and not ruminating on it. I did it and it feels amazing .like I beat it You did nothing wrong and it is OCD .use this bad feeling as an opportunity to practice accepting that.

Yes you are right. Things can go wrong and it doesn't have to be anyone's fault. it's just life's ups and downs. Not everything is about fault ,some things just are. Everyone is different doesn't make them wrong. This is great advice Snowbear. It's not easy to change when i have been brought up that way and my family are that way but I have time now to think about this and work on it. I feel I am getting closer to resolving my issues . Thank you so much for taking the time to reply it has really helped .

After reading this touched upon in another post I began thinking about my situation. But didn't want to change the focus of their conversation.. My parents and my sister have a very strong need to be perfect. With my sister it involves cleaning and having an immaculate life style.with my parents it involves avoiding problems like illness. They all go to a lot of lengths to achieve this. I can see that these are not good ways to live especially when u compare to how other families live. However, I do feel that if something goes wrong it must be my fault as I have not adhered to their high standards.eg. if someone gets I'll. I make mistakes because I am human. But they don't . They genuinely believe they are perfect and frequently find fault in others. I believe this is the root cause of my harming others OCD. . My therapist told me to brush them off my shoulder when I 'hear' them in my ear. Does anyone else have any strategies for getting over the need to be perfect please? I don't feel the need to be perfect per se but just inferior to my family who do and as a result the cause of all harm.

I used to have a little coaster that you put a cup on next to my bed that I made saying 'no one got hurt' so when this happened to me I would look at it . I wish I could give it to you now. He didn't get hurt. The fact you are worrying shows you are a kind person who would not hurt someone. OCD is taking your worst fear and using it against you, it's just a thought. Think of something to do either a hobby or a chore but just get busy physically and mentally and it will lessen enough for you to think rationally. I hope this helps it's what I do.