Puffin

Hello all, hope you are well and staying as sane as you can in these times! I got made redundant last year and took the leap to go self employed which I always wanted to do. I've loved it and it has given my self confidence back in my abilities as a graphic designer and I am much happier with the work I'm producing and feel more fulfilled in what I do. In this time I've been working part time at a supermarket a few days a week so I have some financial stability and routine as well as giving me a reason to leave the house as I struggle with being outside sometimes in the real world. It's also helped with covid as a lot of my work went when isolation came and companies furloughed people. I'm getting to the stage now where my part time job is making me anxious and depressed as I'm really not enjoying it, however I'm very nervous to give it up even though I want to move my business forward and it's at a stage I can support myself financially. However what I'm most worried about is if I completely go self employed I'm anxious it will make my OCD even worse than it is (even though it's been much better this year.) I'm worried I'll be even less inclined to go outside and do ERP and every day tasks will become even harder. Is there anyone who has been in a similar situation or could give any insight, I have in place plans to get myself out the house more and build a routine like going to exercise classes but just worried I'll avoid things even more and make excuses not to leave the house. Any input would be really valuable. Thank you kindly.

Hi Guys, I've been a long time lurker of this forum for years. I remember when my OCD was in full force and was thinking about just wanting to end it all looking through these posts and seeing such fantastic support and guidance helped me so much. I consider myself as someone who still suffers from OCD every day as we all do but it has become a secondary part to my otherwise full life. Unfortunately with everything happening at the moment I've lost my job and have too much time on my hands to ruminate meaning I can see OCD creeping back into my life more heavily. I just wanted to say that to anyone else struggling at the moment you are certainly not alone, even those of us who have tackled our demons time and time again this is a challenging time to stand up to the bully that is OCD. So sending good thoughts and we can all do this and come through the other side! Best wishes, Puffin x

Thank you both means alot Emsie - yes you are 100% right, I googled it and then had a massive panic ? Yes that's very true about OCD! I also still struggle with self compassion and I think having a big wobble recently the internal diaglog of hopelessness and depression is harder to deal with which makes challenging OCD a bit more exhausting. Thank you that's good advise and very helpful thank you for your compassion and hope your mental health journey is going well x Paradoxer - thank You! I am a bit of a bird nerd ? Yes that is very accurate advise, I've been through it many times before. There's a good OCD book "when in doubt make hope" as essentially OCD works on the worse case scenario and sometimes you just need to have a bit of trust that life isn't just a giant **** sandwich! Thank you for your time x

Hello all :) I'm a long time lurked of these forums. I was diagnosed with ocd at 17 and have been in and out of therapy over the years. I've had some fantastic therapists who gave me great tools to support my illness, I'm also on medication. Ive had periods of doing very well with recovery and also some incredible lows. Unfortunately I am really struggling with a relapse this week. Work has been very busy and my ocd has come back with avengance. I'm paranoid, exhausted and depressed. I was very looking forward to a good night's sleep and am now in bed paralysed by thinking I've got a flesh eating bacteria as I have a scrape on my ankle that's red and itchy. I'm seeing my therapist tomorrow but would appreciate any help in the mean time. Sending virtual hugs to you all.