Smithy29

Yea I agree, but how do I stop it

I’m really really struggling with the thoughts behind my car. It’s taken over my whole day

I’m really struggling with it

Very true , and now I have an uncomfortable driving seat and it’s doing my head in because I don’t know what to do

I agree lol.. My psychologist says I need to make it slightly uncomfortable (being safe to drive of course) and sit with it to know nothing bad will happen.. To drive with it being uncomfortable and not perfect.. you agree? I think because I’m constantly thinking “my shoulder is aching” I actually make it ache by thinking about it

That’s a good tip.. What if I start feeling actual physical discomfort (achy shoulders for example) because I’m too close or too far away? I don’t want to get back into the cycle of spending ages moving stuff to get in a perfect position

I do intentionally do it because I don’t find it comfortable

So just leave the seat as it is and now drive without moving it??

Some of you may or may not know my compulsion with the perfection of my car drivers seat. Well I decided to get a new car, more so because I actually needed one but secondly hoped it would dissipate the sensation of needed it to be perfect. It’s been okay over the last few weeks but over the last few days it’s beginning to trickle back in. The OCD is telling me that I NEED to have the drivers seat, wheel etc etc in a “perfect” position. What that is I don’t know, sometimes I wonder if the compulsion has been there too long that I’m just used to it. Because when my partner asked “how exactly do you want it, high/low, forward/back” my response is that I actually don’t know. I just want to be comfortable. It’s difficult because my ERP isn’t really helping as much as I’d like, as the exposure is to completely mess up the position and then set off driving (safely of course). But I find it very uncomfortable (physically not emotionally), which would then revert me back to moving everything to make it comfortable and then open up a can of worms because I start obsessing with every movement. If my shoulder even starts aching for a second I revert to moving everything again to try make it re-comfortable. I don’t know if it’s because I’m actively seeking for physical discomfort that I actually start becoming uncomfortable whilst driving. The other weird thing is I don’t do it in any other car, just mine. I can get into my partners car, wiggle everything around for a second where I semi think it’s fine, then drive off. Sometimes I might think ‘oh this ain’t comfortable’ but my mind trails off and I don’t think anymore about it and sometimes don’t rectify it. Any tips or tricks?

I must admit I have completely and utterly demolished my “fear” of thinking I’ve run somebody over and going back and checking, It doesn’t even cross my mind anymore. I now drive with my windows up and music playing have a sing song. It may slip in maybe once a month ish. It’s tough and has taken me about 10 years to master, so trying to incorporate it into my other obsessions is hard

hey, I see you had to emphasise NOT. It’s good you got out and went to the gym. I’m also intrigued if you’re trying to convince us you don’t think about your parents whilst wiping yourself or trying to convince yourself? Either way it doesn’t really matter. OCD is loud, it’s trying to compete with you. It’s telling you something you don’t even believe is true in the first place, but you’re falling for it because your brain is telling you that you need to.

I definitely feel that forcing myself not to do it increases the anxiety and then starts being a compulsion

Well done Cora, that’s refreshing to hear. Just remember how empowered you felt during those few days and keep going!

Hellppp

Ooo fighting the temptation is almost impossible, to not move my drivers seat. Maybe that is my problem, fighting it? My therapy has been so good and helpful on some minor compulsions but it’s just the big ones, like making sure my drivers seat is in the perfect position. If it wasn’t I don’t actually know what the issue would be, I think I’ve obsessed over it for far too many years that I’ve actually forgotten what would happen, it’s like my anxiety is just now used to being stuck with the thought of my chair moving. I try distracting myself (safely of course) whilst driving, speaking on the phone (blue tooth!) to take my mind off it, but that little niggle of it just not being in the right position eats away. I know it’s in the “right position” but it still doesn’t feel right, so what if I’ve moved it far too much that it’s actually wrong but I’m trying to convince myself it’s right? I did so well until I got to work this evening, parked up and moved the seat upwards once and then back down one to be in the position it should be. But the fear is that I’ve moved it too much now and not correctly so the “right” position is actually wrong.. Hope that makes sense

I’ve just driven to work, very anxious, still trying to fight the urge to move my seat.

Hey all, I haven’t posted in a while as been having access problems through my phone. But all seems well now so hello again :). I need a kick up the bum.. Long story short for those that don’t know I need to have my car drivers seat in a specific position (well I don’t need but my ocd does). Just now before I set off driving I used the lever on the side seat to move my seat upwards once, then push it back down once to confirm it was in the right spot (silly rookie mistake) because I’ve now reached my destination and I’ve continuously been fighting the urge during the drive to do it again just to make sure, again. it’s the whole “do it once more in case you didn’t do it right”, “it’s not in the right position so you need to do it again”, “you did it wrong so you need to do it again just to make sure”, “you didn’t do it how you normally do it so do it again” etc etc, I could go on and on.. Tips? Pointers? It’s really engulfing my thoughts at the moment

What a mere of a morning! Trying to do my exposure but it all goes wrong. On the way to work I go to a different petrol station (I go to the same one every morning) to get my stuff. However, when I parked up some guy decided to come over and talk to me at my drivers side window to ask a question which meant he was stood directly behind my wing mirror, now my brain is telling me what if he nudged it by accident, which means I need to do my normal compulsions to make sure it’s perfect again. I’ve resisted the urge to push it in and out to make sure it’s where it should be, but that’s mainly because I’m at work. I’m also trying to not think about it and not offer myself reassurance that he couldn’t have moved it but I don’t know what to think that’ll make the thought go away that he’s moved it and to make the anxiety go I’ve been doing so so well over these last few months, it’s just now all going peek tong and I don’t know what to do

I’d probably say that its just to see if a cyclist is there.. It all boils down to if it’s not in the “perfect” position I won’t see properly, which means I may hit someone and not realise.. etc etc etc

I wish I had a lightbulb moment haha, could you expand @Caramoole. I don’t seem to get it

I tell myself get a grip everyday

It’s good you’re talking in past tense, how did you overcome it? Or did you just move on to something else

You’ve answered your own question at the end

You have definitely unraveled my thought process to a T, I couldn’t explain it better myself… I guess it boils down to trusting myself that I won’t touch it but don’t trust others.. That is a very good exposure, oof, one that will be very hard lol