GreenJet68

Thank you both so much, I will try my best to keep the radio on and things to distract from constantly looking for noises. It’s an old convertible so the noises from scuttle shake and the more rattly roof often trick me into thinking the belts are about to snap.

Hi everyone, I’m majorly into cars and have been for a very long time. I’m having problems at the moment worrying about my car breaking after needing to spend quite a bit of money in recent times at garages so I really can’t afford any bills. I am constantly worried about things going wrong in a big way, listening out to every little noise. Most of the time I’m driving without the radio on constantly analysing what the car is doing. I can’t sell the car and get something more reliable financially at the moment, and it’s almost a better the devil you know thing. The constant checking and catastrophising is driving me up the wall. I had the timing belt changed today at £340 and have just been driving around looking out for weird noises, in spite of the mechanic saying the car is in good shape. Really don’t know what to do with myself. I start cbt in April, this is one of many things at the moment. I am trying to drive more often with the radio on as I read in a self help book doing the opposite of what the anxiety wants you to do is effective, but I don’t always succeed. Thanks for any help you might be able to offer.

Hi everyone, hope you are well, I’m struggling presently with insomnia, nocturnal panic attacks and have always had OCD. If any of you have GAD or panic disorder, how does it combine with your OCD, and do you have any coping routines or mechanisms? thanks as ever.

I’m literally doing this right now ?

Yes absolutely, overthinking and over reading conversations, replaying them in my head afterwards, becomes compulsive mental checking/review, totally get where you’re coming from.

I’m so sorry, please give the CBT a go, and give it time. Think of all the thousands of people on here and in the wider OCD community that have benefitted from the treatment, if not at first then eventually with time, dedication and some grit. You’re absolutely worth it, be good to yourself and reach out if you ever need anything.

Good for you, so pleased it went well. Think it’ll be good if you can go again at some point to hammer it home that everything is fine.

Thank you, I’m starting to wonder whether GAD is there as well as the OCD, wonder if it is a potential comorbidity? Trying to avoid the spiral of ‘do I have OCD now’ haha.

I totally understand the writing down thing, while I’m in a rough trot at the moment even writing my first post on here felt so cathartic. The air traffic control chatter suggestion is a new one! I used to use a white noise machine but I’m trying it out again tonight, already quite sleepy. Hope it works… How long was it before you began to make progress with night terrors?

Hi northpaul, thank you for replying, Yes I’ve promised myself some reading time before sleep and a phone detox about half an hour before bed. Which radio stations do you listen to?

Over the last few days I’ve had a panic attack in the night every time I’ve tried to sleep, usually between 3-4am. I’m on my own and starting to feel a sense of dread about going to bed tonight. Can anyone offer any help or advice please? Sorry that this isn’t strictly OCD I just don’t know who else might know what to do.

A lovely positive thread and it’s so nice to read of you playing with your grandchildren. I hope I can emulate your long-term success with fighting OCD. You definitely deserve all the fruit and nut your teeth can handle. Have a great evening.

Thank you I will have a look into Dr Burns’ work now. Can completely relate to planning for the worst case outcome all the time.

5th night in a row with a 3-4am panic attack. Does anyone have any advice as to what can be done? I’ve not had them at night like this before, it’s disorientating and hard to control.

A similar book is ‘Because We Are Bad’ by Lily Bailey

I guess sometimes things do go better than expected but the idea of expecting the best case scenario seems so alien. How do you cope? I wasn’t expecting some help so quickly thank you both. It’s so nice to write down what I’m thinking/feeling.

That’s really nicely put, I think of a thing that can happen, then it feels like I’m falling, I start coughing, my breathing goes shallow and I feel sick. It’s like I’ve lost the ability to stay in the here and now, even while repeating to myself that in a day, a week, a month and even perhaps a year I can’t think of anything specific that will happen for definite. It’s like being clobbered out of nowhere.

Thanks so much, I’m sad that you can relate so well but it is also a relief in a weird way. So do you tell yourself to stay in the moment? Is there a way to stop your mind wandering off too far into the future where it feels like everything will go wrong?

Very similar to my own experience, there are a lot of similar examples. The OCD brain has an ability to run very hot, which can be advantageous if channeled into something useful. I think I read there’s a statistical parallel between incidence of OCD vs academic aptitude, that it occurs more in high functioning people who are more likely to be acutely hyper aware of all potentialities.

Brain Lock by Jeffery Schwartz I found to be really useful for to convince myself that I was dealing with something medical rather than personal inadequacy.

Thanks so much for replying. I’m really scared of going to the doctors. (TW) When I was first diagnosed I was first misdiagnosed, and it frightened the life out of me. Ever since then I’ve had a huge fear of doctors, dentists etc. and I’m not sure what to do about it. This then latched onto a fear of therapists after I read of one breaking patient confidentiality and a patient being locked up. It’s like I’ve created this wall around help. I created my OCDUK account months ago and haven’t posted anything, written things out a few times but didn’t click send for this reason.

Likewise, catastrophising is definitely the way my OCD ‘holds on’ even when good things happen elsewhere. Sometimes it’s good to get a non-catastrophic viewpoint but good to keep an awareness of when you’re reassurance seeking if possible to not become overly-reliant on it.

I was just going to suggest what @BelAnna has written above. Maybe share this with your therapist early in your next appointment? In terms of understanding your fear it’s more the actions your thoughts cause than what you are thinking of in the first place, or the compulsivity of those thoughts. Even pure O is significant because of the mental compulsions it causes, so it’s not the thoughts themselves, as our minds have the ability to randomly throw unpleasant imagery at us constantly, but what you do when a thought comes along.

I would suggest maybe your OCD is latching onto change, and a way of differentiating your life plans and the most likely outcome from the outcome your OCD wants you to believe is to keep a dialogue open with your partner to see what they believe the most likely course of action to be. You obviously trust in each other’s judgement, having that support will be invaluable as you navigate a period of great change in your life. Hope you are feeling better than at the time of your original post.

Hi, this is my first post and I’m very nervous about it, please bear with. I was diagnosed with OCD 10 years ago. At the time I was given access to private therapy and had generally excellent treatment, to the point where for much of the decade previous I could for the most part manage my OCD. Now however, I’m really struggling. I have a good job yet feel so ashamed that I’m so childish financially. I keep thinking of all the things that could go wrong which rapidly becomes will go wrong. I think it’s OCD related where for example, if I get a thought my car will break that thought becomes a reality, so I compulsively check the engine bay or get underneath the car to check my suspension etc. However there’s things that I can’t control, like the health of my family (probably the most constant worry), or losing the lease on my rental while I can’t afford to move, and completely irrational things like becoming unemployed and bankrupt that make no sense and are extremely unlikely given what I do. I feel like I’m constantly walking a tightrope where on either side is a catastrophic failure. I feel like I’m letting everyone around me down with my past irresponsibility. I have found a very happy relationship lately and have benefited hugely from that, but it also exacerbates the feeling of not wanting to let anyone down. Covid also takes its toll, as someone who suffers from Harm OCD, the thought of passing it onto someone vulnerable destroys me. It has also manifested itself in obsessively checking the news and losing myself in doom-scrolling for several hours a day. Recently I keep waking up in the night in cold sweats/breathing really quickly and I’m absolutely exhausted. I can’t concentrate on TV shows or reading books which are my usual distraction techniques. Please can someone offer some advice? Thank you for reading.