Little_Mim

Hi Nikki. I just wanted to say be VERY careful in using prayer as a coping mechanism for OCD. I started doing this (I used to be religious - I'm not any more) and it became a massive compulsion which took years to break. Of course this is just my story so it won't necessarily apply for you - I'm just saying that we need to be very cautious of things that bring relief from intrusive thoughts, unless they have been recommended by a CBT therapist. OCD is, after all, being stuck in a loop of discomfort-temporary relief-discomfort-temporary relief...

My current obsessions is with understanding each every thing I hear, see, read etc ABSOLUTELY - and explaining it to myself. Even if it's something complex, or there is a grammar error, or someone hasn't said exactly that they mean. This makes is very difficult to separate the obsession from the compulsion. For example, when I had POCD in the past, the compulsion was praying - in order to do the exposure, I would concentrate on the horrible intrusive thought without doing the praying. But with this one, the thought is both the obsession and the compulsion, so in focusing on the thought, I am engaging with it by default - does that make sense?? Even trying to explain it triggers me lol I am probably a bit too reliant on others' support, but I have found sometimes that it's helpful to get someone to sit with you the first few times with exposure (whether a family member or a therapist) before trying it alone. I have times when I just cannot manage without some outside help. It's not really about seeking reassurance - it's so hard for me to explain the source of my distress that people can't offer reassurance even if they want to! I guess I'm just wondering if exposure is the way forward with this, or if there might be better ways to fight back? I don't usually allow myself to employ distraction because I know it doesn't deal with the root cause of the problem, but I don't know if this time it might work better than exposure?

Hi everyone. I’ve been an ocd sufferer for nearly 30 years and have had several rounds of CBT/ERP, which have worked in the short term but I end up unable to employ the techniques when the next bout of ocd surfaces and I always feel like I’m back to square one. I’m currently on a waiting list for CBT but have been told it will be weeks or possibly months before I get an appointment. Does anyone have any tips for basically forcing themselves to do the exposure and other techniques? Do you get family members to sit with you to make sure you do the exposure? Or do you try distraction or relaxation techniques rather than exposure instead? Have you found taking part in groups helpful? Any tips gratefully received ?

Hi everyone. My new OCD is a really strange one. I’ve had most of the more common ones at one time or another - the most long lasting was the sexual one. But the new one is something I can’t find anyone about anywhere. It’s a type of Pure-O I think. It’s hard to explain, but basically it’s an obsession with understanding things and meaning. Like if someone says something that doesn’t quite make sense grammatically, I have to explain to myself exactly what the problem is. It’s not just grammar - I also spend ages worrying about strange, irrelevant questions like (get ready for a really strange idea): ‘If you only have one option so you have to do something, but there are bad things about doing it, are the bad things disadvantages, or are they only disadvantages if you have a choice of actions?’ (See?! Basically, if can’t understand something and explain it like I’m writing an idiots’ guide, I go into total meltdown. Triggers are everywhere: in almost anything I hear, read or watch. And it’s taking hours and hours of my day, as I re-read and re-write work emails a hundred times and pause tv shows/films every 2 mins to go over what’s just been said. I’ve had years worth of CBT and have never really succeeded. The best I can manage is to suppress the OCD for a short while, but when it reappears, I utterly fail to employ any of the tools I know I need to use. So, firstly does anyone else recognise my new ocd? And secondly, has anyone else had a similar experience of failing to really crack the whole CBT thing, but eventually getting there??

I used to have similar issues with the groinal thing. My therapist basically told me that if you are on alert for it and thinking about it, you’ll feel it - like if you think about your genitals, they’ll react. Also, when you’re highly anxious, it affects your whole body and you’ll feel that tense, tingly feeling everywhere, including down below. It DOES NOT mean you are turned on.

Hi everyone I am new here and have never before reached out to other OCD sufferers - but just seeing the community here has already made me feel less alone. I wondered if anyone has shared my experience of their OCD constantly 'mutating' (that's how I think of it!)? I'm 32 and first showed signs of OCD when I was 4 years old - since then I've had some times when it's been almost gone and some times when it's completely taken over my life. But the thing is - the episodes are always around something different. There were intrusive thoughts that I had tried to harm someone (I hadn't). There was a stage where it took me over an hour to get to bed each night because I had to execute my routine 'just right'. There was handwashing. There was a bout of anorexia in my teens. There were horrendous intrusive thoughts that I had to neutralise with an incredibly complicated praying routine (I'm not even religious). And most recently this very strange thing around understanding the EXACT meaning of everything anyone says, even if it doesn't make sense. I've been in therapy for OCD, anxiety and depression for most of my adult life and I have never managed to find a long term solution. Every time I feel the OCD coming back, I promise myself that I will resist and not let it in, but I always do. I may as well never have bothered with the CBT in the first place. I think dealing with it is made more difficult by the fact that it's in a different form every time. Learning how not to wash your hands 100 times a day isn't the same as learning not to spend 2 hours praying about a horrible sexual thought that you had. IS this the case for anyone else? If so, have you found any strategies that really work to keep it at bay??

Hi Koala Your OCD sounds really closely related to mine! I've had just about every type going over the years - some of the more common ones and some pretty weird ones as well. I've been finding it very difficult to explain this latest one, but similar to yours and understanding things 'perfectly'. So let's say someone says something that doesn't quite make sense, or is ambiguous...I have run explain to myself EXACTLY why it didn't make sense, the EXACT literal meaning of what they said, and each EXACT interpretation. And this can take hours. Literally. Then once I've settled upon the 'facts', I have to explain it clearly to myself, in my head, or out loud, until it feels 'just right'. There are lots of other examples too, but basically, anything I can't understand/explain exactly is causing me massive amounts of stress right now. I read something on the BBC website this morning which triggered me off, and I'm still trying to work it through 5 hours later. During this time, I have done almost no work because I just cannot focus on anything until I have dealt with this thought. I know the answer is there but I just cannot find it! Maybe that isn't very helpful, but I just want you to know that you are not alone in this. If you find anything that works, please let me know and I will do the same.