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dan9911

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  1. Glad to hear that, mate! And to answer your previous question, yes purposefully distracting yourself is a compulsion because what you’re doing then is subconsciously telling yourself that those thoughts and feelings are dangerous, that you have to run away from them and block them which just intensifies the cycle. Also, watch out with meditation and yoga as those can also turn into compulsions if you’re doing them for the wrong reason. Keep in mind that the whole point of meditation is acceptance and mindfulness. If you’re committing to meditation just so that you can try to escape from a certain feeling or thought then that’s a compulsion, not acceptance. So make sure you’re honest with yourself.
  2. Glad you mentioned the re-reading part as we share a common compulsion there haha. I also have a tendency to dissect concepts in my mind with the conviction I don’t understand them. As long as you keep on performing compulsions, you’ll continue to feed the OCD. Now that’s not to say you can’t make progress while still having compulsions. If you were to feed the OCD less and less each day, you’d still get from point A to point B in the end with the latter being the point where OCD starves to death. So focus on making gradual, balanced progress. Don’t push yourself to the point where your anxiety is off the charts and you can’t handle it without doing compulsions. Aim for a level at which your anxiety and discomfort is relatively high, but you’re still able to resist compulsions. That’s the sweet spot in my opinion. Going cold turkey on all compulsions overnight is unrealistic just like it is unrealistic to go cold turkey on smoking if you’ve been a regular smoker for years. If anything it’d require all the willpower in the world so setting such a goal for yourself is most likely going to lead to more disappointment. Our brains hate rapid change and they’re wired to resist it when it comes. By doing baby steps at a time and focusing on gradual progress, you’re allowing your brain to rewire naturally and seamlessly. You’re bypassing the need for motivation and willpower which are what prevents most people from reaching their goals. They think they need megadoses of motivation so they push themselves too hard and then revert back to the exact same state once their willpower drains and they find out their mind is unable to handle the strain they’re making it go through. Your mind is your biggest muscle so treat it like a muscle. Don’t be making New Year’s resolutions ?
  3. About the same amount of time it takes to get over a smoking addiction and obviously there’s no definitive answer to that. It’s different for everyone depending on how severe your OCD is, how long you’ve been feeding it, your management techniques, consistency with therapy, relapses etc.. Your goal at all times should be to cut off compulsions which also includes identifying and stopping hidden compulsions that you’ve become used to doing automatically (e.g. checking if you’re anxious or not). Sometimes compulsions become so habitual that they’re hard to identify so you may really have to put your mind into it. You can’t force your way out of the process and the more you try, the longer you’ll stay in the same loop. Anxiety will go away once you give it your full unconditioned permission to be there whenever it wants and for as long as it wants. After all, what could you possibly lose by allowing more of yourself?
  4. Hi Milly, Overcoming unwanted intrusive thoughts and the Mindfulness Workbook for OCD are definitely two pieces worth picking up.
  5. I would say that’s quite common even for people without OCD. In fact, I used to get it every time I would see someone on TV pass out or get a heart attack. You have to remember that you can’t control the thoughts that pop into your head. Every moment that you’re awake your brain is scanning your environment for danger but it is doing so subconsciously. What would happen occasionally is your brain would identify something in your environment which it thinks might be a real danger and it would push it into your conscious mind to try and keep you safe. In other words, it’s using its messenger system to send you a thought with a goal to warn you of potential danger. From that point onwards, it is all in your hands in terms of what you decide to do with that warning. You could either confirm to your brain the danger is real so that it would continue sending you such thoughts or you could flag it as false alarm in which case your brain would eventually learn there is no danger and therefore no need for any conscious warning. The way you do that is by not performing compulsions.
  6. If your question is whether you can exist without intrusive thoughts then the answer is no. It would mean existing without imagination. If your question is whether you can live normally without allowing those thoughts to disrupt your life in any shape or form then the answer is yes 100%.
  7. Well it’s certainly something that takes practice. I am still early on in my recovery journey myself but here are some tips that I have found to be effective in my case. 1. I am personally a bit wary of the ‘letting go’ of thoughts technique. What I’ve found is that whenever I tell myself to let go of thoughts, I feel like I have to do something to make them go away, that it’s not ok for them to just be there which could very easily turn into a compulsion. So instead I’d do something like this: Imagine yourself sitting in a room and keeping the door of that room open at all times. A thought flows in and you see it. You recognise it’s there and that it is separate from you. You give that thought permission to be there for as long as it wants to while keeping the door open. You’re not doing anything to fix or push it away. It can leave the next second or it can stay with you indefinitely. You’re giving it FULL FREEDOM. If you get the urge to push it away or problem solve your way through it, then simply become aware of that urge without engaging. Observe it like you observed the initial thought. Realise that the urge does not control you, you have a choice at that moment which only you’re making. (What you’ll likely feel at this point is a very strong rush of anxiety and discomfort. You’ll feel the OCD do everything in its power to try and get you to perform a compulsion. Recognise that feeling as well, identify it, see what it feels like and accept it as part of being human. Accept it as part of yourself. As you allow more of those feelings, you allow more of yourself. You end the tyranny of trying to control and deny who you are.) 2. Try seeing those intrusive thoughts about potential future catastrophic events for what they are - imagination. Then ask yourself this. Am I imagination or do I have an imagination? If you’re not imagination, then what sense does it make to try to prevent or control your imagination? Is your imagination dangerous? How so? After all, it has no reflection on the real world with all its circumstances, people and actions. It only exists as imagined scenarios in your head. And just like the scenarios are imagined and not real, neither is the fear that comes with them. That allows you to fully feel the fear without getting in its way. So when an intrusive thought comes your way, you could simply let it be there, let it cause all the emotions it is going to cause and watch the show without doing compulsions. In fact, you can start to purposefully expose yourself to your imagined fear and explore it to the point where your mind becomes fully habituated to it in which case the fear seizes to have control over you. You’ve neutralised the fear, allowing you to start approaching life from a place of freedom and joy. The bottom line is this: The 2 most effective treatments for OCD are ERP and Mindfulness. Both require vigorous practice and consistency so definitely consider seeking help from a therapist, especially if you’re having trouble staying consistent. I’m currently doing self-help only but I’m considering turning to one in case I run into trouble. Your goal at all times should be to cut the compulsions/rumination, not the obsessions/intrusive thoughts. Focus on the compulsions. That’s what your task is and what you have control over. It’s not going to be easy and it will certainly suck at the start. It sucks for me right now. All that pain is going to pay off though once you arrive on the other side of the fence where a much better version of yourself is waiting.
  8. Hi mmpp, I am not sure about book recommendations but here are 4 youtube channels that have personally been of great help to me. https://youtube.com/c/ocdandanxiety https://youtube.com/c/23katied https://youtube.com/c/YOUHAVEOCD https://youtube.com/c/PaigePradkoLPCNCC
  9. Watch this video: The principle is the same.
  10. In my opinion, meds should only be taken when the individual’s anxiety and stress levels are so bad that they’re unable to perform CBT. We all know those times when your anxiety is a 10/10 and focusing on anything else is just impossible, right? All you wanna do is get rid of it because it is unbearable. That’s when meds could come in handy because they would allow you to feel better and turn your focus to ERP. The whole point of ERP is to make yourself uncomfortable so if you were to take something that relieves your anxiety like a benzo every time you felt slightly anxious that would be a compulsion, yes. In ERP it is important to keep your anxiety high but only to the point where you can still manage not to perform compulsions (7-8/10 instead of 10/10) . What you’ll find at that point is that your brain will start to habituate to the discomfort and your anxiety will decrease on its own over time, allowing you to progress your exposures to some of the more fearful situations.
  11. I’ve had MD for the past 10 years even though I would say any other persistent and disruptive OCD symptoms only began 3-4 years ago (I’m 22). I never made much of my MD at the start but over time I tried to grow more aware of the triggers and I’m suspecting that for me it’s a compulsion that comes in the form of escapism from uncomfortable feelings. Not necessarily anxiety, but also sadness and anger. I would just pace around and replay a certain part of a song countless times which I also think has something to do with perfectionism and seeking that “just right” feeling. Sometimes, I just feel like it comes up on its own though whenever I hear a certain song that triggers me without having experienced any negative feelings. Those of you that also have it, do you guys think the two are related? Perhaps if MD is the first compulsion of OCD, engaging in it excessively could be what brings up other compulsions? Or maybe MD is a separate condition that resembles addiction disorders and that has to be addressed on its own?
  12. PolarBear, may I ask how long it took you roughly to consider yourself having fully gotten over compulsions after going all into therapy? I know it’s different for everyone depending on their attitude towards it, how hard they’re willing to push themselves, learning proper techniques etc. but just curious to know.
  13. (E.g. A dog person walks down the street and sees a dog walk by with his owner) Non-OCD guy: Wow, that’s a cool dog. (Keeps walking) OCD guy: Wow, that’s a cool dog. Why is it brown though? What type of breed is that? What’s its history? Damn, how can I call myself a dog person if I can’t figure such a simple thing out? What does that mean about me? It seems like I know nothing about dogs. (Takes phone out, starts googling) Has anyone dealt with something similar where you’d start to ruminate about things your mind used to just let go of automatically before? It’s like an urge to have it all figured out, especially if it relates to something you’re genuinely interested in. Any tips on coping are all well appreciated!
  14. Thanks for your suggestion, Richard. Yeah I’ve already read two books on the subject. Haven’t checked out the brain lock one yet but probably will in the future. I just prefer to consolidate knowledge first.
  15. Overcoming unwanted intrusive thoughts by Sally Winston The Mindfulness Workbook for OCD Two of the best in my opinion.
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