Jump to content

PolarBear

Bulletin Board User
  • Posts

    21,092
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by PolarBear

  1. Any OCD therapist has heard it all before. And then some. You can't be arrested for thoughts. Breathe. Eat chocolate. Watch something funny on TV.
  2. Because you're looking for certainty that you have OCD! You can't have it. So give up looking for it. Just go with you having OCD and treat it all as OCD.
  3. Hey Chris. Remember when I told you that you were seeking reassurance? Here you are, right back at it. No answer is going to satisfy you. Your mind will just come up with another question and you'll be seeking more reassurance. Let it go. Treat it all as OCD. Happy New Year.
  4. What you've described is reassurance seeking, a compulsion. It won't end until you stop it. OCD is very much about doubt. You get a piece of knowledge. You feel better. Soon doubt rises. You go back to reread or ask more questions. Round and round you go.
  5. Chris, this is all OCD. Obsessions can be about anything. Anything. You're stuck on, yeah but can OCD be about this? So you ask tons of questions, on multiple threads. Seeking reassurance. Ruminating like crazy. All compulsions. You're trying to figure out something that doesn't need to be figured out. Let it go.
  6. Moving would be a huge compulsion. And pointless. Your house is not the problem. OCD is the problem. At the end of the day, if you move, you'll take your OCD with you.
  7. It's all hogwash. An all powerful being sending you a sign by honking a horn? Don't you think it could be a little more precise? This is all nonsense made up in your mind. You are making it so much worse by doing endless compulsions, like praying, writing down a mantra and talking to so many people about this. Take some breaths, check your compulsions and get on with your life.
  8. I responded well to meds. I took relaxation therapy. I took CBT and really practiced what they preach.
  9. I've been on the forum for 9 years and I can honestly say I can't remember a single person saying hypnotherapy helped them (beyond learning to relax).
  10. You really do need to reign in and stop your compulsions. The reason you feel so fatalistic is because you keep this topic on top of your mind by doing compulsions.
  11. You perceive risks as being far more dangerous than other people. Common with OCD. Sufferers routinely catastrophize, thinking their lives will be over in the future, but what life do they have when nearly every waking moment is filled with dread, anxiety, ruminating and other compulsions? One thing you can do is start changing your internal self talk. "It's going to be okay," and " I can handle this," are much better than "My life is over."
  12. In both cases, and I imagine there are other examples in your life, something perceived to be bad for you could happen. You were not contaminated with asbestos. The thought that you could be sent you over the edge. You don't have a missing tooth right now but the thought that missing a tooth and it driving you nuts has you doing mental handstands. See? The mere thought that things might not be in order in the future sets your OCD off. Then you worry and ruminate yourself into a tizzy. And for what? You don't know that having a missing tooth will drive you nuts. I've been there and done that and it wasn't a hardship for me. There's certainly catastrophic thinking at play with both examples. Before anything bad actually happened to you, you're thinking of the worst possible outcome. I think you don't trust yourself to deal with adversity. You don't trust that you'll be able to handle tough situations in the future. The mere thought of future adversity ruins your day. Maybe there's a little perfectionism there too, whereby you want things to be a certain way and when a hiccup comes along, it shatters your world. All OCD sufferers have these underlying conditions or core beliefs, by the way. My big one was believing I was a bad person. Anything bad or adverse that came along only strengthened that feeling.
  13. Actually, this has nothing to do with teeth. Just like the asbestos thing had nothing to do with asbestos. They are very similar situations, however. Can you figure out how?
  14. You had a thought. It upset you. You've no doubt ruminated mightily (a compulsion) and tried to remember more (a compulsion). You've gotten reassurance twice (compulsions). Now of your compulsions have helped ease the distress you feel. In other words, none of what you've done has helped you. What else could you do? How can you change your reaction to the thought?
  15. Basically, there is. Change your thinking and behavior. Changing your behavior chiefly means stopping your compulsions.
  16. How long do you plan on punishing yourself over this nonevent? That's what you're doing, punishing yourself. If your mom, spouse or best friend did it, how long would you suggest they punish themselves?
  17. As far as we can tell, Robin doesn't have a health issue. They have an OCD issue. No symptoms currently, but a sense of impending doom. Jumping from this happened to my life is over. Catastrophic thinking.
  18. "Then I tell myself..." There's your copulsion. This is you trying to solve the problem. Unfortunately, you are also keeping it alive. You are under no obligation to solve it or do anything with it. Just leave it alone. Treat it as irrelevant.
  19. Ruminating is going over the same thought(s) repeatedly and not getting anywhere with it. I think ruminating is the most common compulsion, done by virtually all sufferers, no matter the theme. Ruminating can be somewhat difficult to identify for some because they think, That's just the way I am. I've always done that. Ruminating can be tricky to overcome because you don't outwardly do anything and it becomes so ingrained. The good news is that ruminating is learned. With a lot of work, it can be unlearned.
  20. I'm not going to answer your question. You're looking for reassurance, which is a compulsion. No answer will give you the relief you seek. You can only get long term relief by leaving this completely alone.
  21. Exactly. The thing is, OCD is nasty. A Neurologist could tell you everything is fine, but OCD may not let it go. You might be fine for a few days, but then you get an obsession that the doctor didn't get all the necessary information or you need a second opinion or there's that other test you read about that should have been run. And off you go again.
  22. Without knowing the specifics, you sit down and imagine a scenario you fear. You conjure it up. Then you do your best to not do compulsions, letting the thought just be there. Then get up and get on with your day.
  23. Yup. Harm OCD comes in several forms. Very common.
  24. I have no problem with you getting checked out, so long as you are willing to learn if it ends up being a big compulsion. You can't see it right now as you are in the thick of things, but this head trauma thing tracks parallel with the radiation thing. Both end of the world. Both involve you dying in the future. Both 'real' concerns. Both causing you to ruminate endlessly to the detriment of living. Go ahead and get checked out.
×
×
  • Create New...