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Everything posted by Emsie
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Bless you. It helped very much.....thank you again. X
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Hi dksea, Thank you so much for your reply and insight here. Really useful and such a good point, thank you. Thank you. X
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Sorry OCDhavenobrain, I just seen this post. Yes, I hope you can find the strength too. I’m sorry you feel lonely when you’re not in therapy and you feel it’s a compulsion. It didn’t get too much of a security for me as I only had 12 sessions, which was the maximum I could have. I can see how it could though. I agree a lot of us have had ocd for a long time so there’s some unraveling of behaviours to be done. Take care too and keep fighting. X
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Absolutely Roy. It’s all been SO helpful. Thank you so much again everyone! X
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I’m sorry to hear that you’re not feeling too good. It wasn’t offensive and I know too that you were just trying to help. I feel very blessed that we have such a great place here, with so many kind, supportive and helpful people. Thank you so much for cheering me on and for your input. Take care and I hope you feel better soon.
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A big thank you to everyone for the great advice, help and support. X
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I’m not really sure what you mean, I was just trying to explain that this is not fear based in anyway. Just simple learning. I of course meant no offence. Thank you! It’s a biggie and a long way to go, but I’m up for it!
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Thank you GBG. I agree....this thread had nothing to do with my OCD talking, I can tell that without a doubt by how I’m feeling and behaving. It was simply about learning. I hope it’s helped others too. I totally get where you’re coming from and sometimes I do have to say to my husband ‘this is not my OCD’. Thank you so much for all your help recently, you’re a star! X
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That’s great PB, thank you so much. X
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Trust me it’s not OCD. Overcoming OCD is not an obsession for me. OCD is telling me nothing on this. It’s a perfectly rational question, I’m learning that’s all. I’m more than my OCD and I just don’t want to dismiss thoughts with a compulsion, hence my question. My therapy has finished but I still want to improve further for myself and my family.
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Thank you for your reply. I’m not currently having an ocd episode so there are no thoughts at the moment. I’m not ruminating about the best way either, although I can see how that could become a problem for some. I just genuinely want to get it right and not turn my dismissing of thoughts in to another compulsion. I don’t/can’t avoid triggers so I just want to learn further now that my therapy has finished. The reason I ask is because some ways of dismissing the thoughts would actually be a compulsion or run the risk of becoming one, so I do think it’s an important question. Thank you for your good luck wishes and the same back to you. X
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Hi PB, Thank you for your advice and support. Yes, consistency is the key. Can I please ask you, what method do you think is best for dismissing the thoughts? X
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Doing What's Needed & Measuring Progress
Emsie replied to taurean's topic in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Only just seen this, this is great, thank you Roy! X -
Thank you for your reply GBG, you’re not confusing things at all. It’s great to hear what works for you and it is something that I’d definitely like to work towards. I completely agree, shutting it off will only make it come back with more force. It makes perfect sense. X Thank you Gemma, I knew that’s what you meant. I do buy in and that’s what I need to shut off. I think ramping up the anxiety is something I can work towards. Thank you Roy, I completely agree with this. During my CBT, which has now finished, I feel my scanner has been switched off for some of my other themes and we looked at my core beliefs surrounding those. I know this to be the case because the triggers don’t exist for me now even though they are still there. They are not on my radar now. I’m just finding the health theme particularly difficult, especially when it’s not my own and my daughters. It doesn’t have to be really serious things either. It’s been about her teeth and seeing cavities that aren’t there for example and it’s just normal tooth structure. Thank you so much Roy, Gemma and GBG. This has been such a helpful discussion and I now feel I can put a plan together to work on this. X
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Bless you Gemma Thank you for your reply, I love the tap analogy. What you have said is great advice. I will aim to take that leap of faith it’s OCD when I think it is and turn off the tap. Thank you so much. Love your take on things. X
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Thank you Roy. So good that all your hard work has paid off. You are an inspiration to us all. So would a good idea be to continue as I am for a while, as in labelling the thoughts in order to dismiss them, because I am reacting emotionally very quickly with huge surges of anxiety. At present that’s automatic. And then when I feel I have broken the cycle of thought/feeling>anxiety>compulsions, try to move on to not focussing in on triggers? How do you not focus in on such things? Certain aspects surrounding my health and the health of others are simply on my radar. X
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Hi again everyone, I’m not in an OCD episode at the moment, but triggers can make the trap door open for me at anytime. So I thought this would be a good time to get some further advice. I’d like to move on from labelling my thoughts/fears when they arise, such as saying something to myself like ‘that’s just my obsession’ ‘that’s an intrusive thought’. This might sound like a stupid question, but how do you just notice the thoughts/feelings when there is a rapid, huge surge of anxiety and you’ve instantly started to ruminate on it/check things etc, etc? Obviously I know what ‘notice’ means but I don’t know how to notice a thought/feeling. Thank you for any help you can give me. X
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What are Intrusive thoughts
Emsie replied to jamie2011's topic in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Hi Jamie, I completely echo and agree with all that Gemma and GBG have said. I’m sorry you’re struggling so much and I really hope things improve for you soon. The definition of an obsession, brilliantly explained by PolarBear may also help you. It doesn’t have to be just intrusive thoughts. I’ll paste a link below to his post where he gives the definition. Take care and I hope your assessment goes well. X -
Wow! Thank you so much Roy, GBG, Lost and St Mike for all of your input and great advice. Sorry for my late reply, I had family visiting today. Your replies have been so invaluable and the debate was great. It's all made things really clear for me, thank you so much! Hi Roy, I think that this is a great tool to break the cycle. As ever Roy, thank you so much for your time and support, always so invaluable. X Hi GBG, this REALLY helped, to see the two ways you can say these things to yourself and how one is helpful and one not. If I'm being honest I am guilty of this: Sometimes I'm not, but often I'm saying it to reassure myself it's not real, it's my OCD, it's irrational, it's nothing to worry about etc. Invaluable advice GBG, thank you so much! X Not at all GBG, loved the debate and I'm sure many others will find it very helpful. X Hi Lost, this helped so much, Lost, thank you so much. You're so right, we need to be very careful for it not to become reassurance. I agree, it can work well at the beginning, but after a bit, we just need to notice the thoughts. I love your last sentence, how true is that! X Hi St Mike, thank you so much for your advice. I completely agree. I think I will need to use it short term to break the cycle. I want to stick with what my therapist recommended to just notice the thoughts and it's something I want to move swiftly on to, but I'm not sure how to. I don't just have intrusive thoughts, they can be feelings/fear and my anxiety response is so quick and I feel so panicky I don't know how to just notice them. The ruminating, analysing, checking, reassurance seeking etc can come so automatically. My current predominant theme is my health and the health of others such as my little girl, so I find it very hard to deal with because to ignore it would be irresponsible. I will keep persevering. Thank you. X Hi Jules, I have this too. Often fears I think have gone, return full blast in the morning, it's my most dangerous time. X Thank you so much everyone X
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Hi everyone, I need some advice if that's ok. My obsessions arise from intrusive thoughts and sometimes feelings that then lead to the thoughts. I understand it's my reaction to these intrusive thoughts and feelings that then leads to anxiety/distress and then safety seeking compulsions. My anxiety response however does often kick in immediately after the thought/feeling. I've had advice on here in the past that I need to recognise when I'm having intrusive thoughts. When I was having CBT, my therapist said just to notice them. I can recognise them and recently I've been saying to myself 'that's an intrusive thought/feeling' and then getting on with whatever I was doing to prevent the rest of the vicious cycle. But I do say it to myself after the anxiety feelings/internal panic, because that response can kick in so very quickly. My question is, is saying to myself 'that's an intrusive thought or feeling' a complusion? It is helping me to dismiss them, but of course I don't want to be going down the road of self reassurance by saying that to myself as I am feeling anxiety at the time. Any thoughts on this would be gratefully received. X
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I might have cancer- two week referral- scared!
Emsie replied to BelAnna's topic in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
That’s really good news Freya. Well done for getting through today. -
I cant stop ruminating even though...
Emsie replied to humbleno1's topic in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Hi there, PolarBear has produced a great video on how to stop ruminating, hopefully it will help you. I’ll paste the link below. X -
I might have cancer- two week referral- scared!
Emsie replied to BelAnna's topic in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Excellent advice from GBG, BelAnna. Xxx -
I might have cancer- two week referral- scared!
Emsie replied to BelAnna's topic in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
I’m so pleased for you and that you can put all of this behind you now. Don’t let the OCD pull you in with any questions, leave it be. You got the best outcome ever. That’s great you had lots of yummy food last night to celebrate. Xxx