Caramoole

Ultimately, yes. You would work towards eliminating all of the compulsions that sustain OCD. But you have to start somewhere. I started with the constant confessing/ talking to my Husband when that need to bring it up to gain reassurance struck. It does feel urgent but so does the need to carry out any compulsion. Compulsions sustain OCD and in order to feel normal again, we have to start to address them. A great deal Emmalou

All of the above Emmalou. This is a compulsion carried out to relieve that Whoosh of anxiety.....it works in the moment.....but onlyi for a moment, in the long term it sustains the problem. When that rush of anxiety hits you, try your best to ride it. Recognise it, label it for what it is....wait, postpone the confession, the need to be reassure. It will pass....especially if you look out for the secondary fear. The internal chatterbox that is going on and providing you with all the reasons you should take this seriously All most 21 years I've been with OCD-UK.......I've read 10's of thousands of posts. In all that time I've only come across one person that flagged up a doubt....and even then, I was unsure. It saddens me so much to still see people like yourself bound with such fear. Try to take that leap of faith. Trust in what we say. Practise postponing the reassurance seeking for just one hour.....then build on that....one hour ten minutes and so on. Many years ago I quit reassurance seeking cold turkey......it was easier than I thought. Start tomorrow by postponing and then building on it

I think this is the crux generally......."What if I lost control and....." You won't....but it's a very powerful, convincing thought & enemy

Or rather, it keeps on taking! There is risk in every aspect of life. Every time you drive/or are a passenger in a car you could end up in a fatal accident. You could slip on ice, crack your head on theground and fracture your skull. You could scratch your hand whilst gardening, develop sepsis and die from septic shock. There are real risks from many things. We don't choose to have OCD but we can choose to change how we respond to the overwhelming doubt & anxiety.

Hi Chels.....Christmas present for you.....reassurance (just once) you're not going crazy.....nor will you. You're having intrusive thoughts about the thing that's most precious to you.....that's why you/we have them. They don't target things we're not bothered about but the things we do. We often read about fears of harming children, pets, the elderly....anyone/thing vulnerable. Rarely (if ever) do we hear about someone fear attacking a night club bouncer or body builder. Our mind defaults to "What if I lost control and ???" (Fill in the and) The only danger at play is to you, your mental health and well-being. Tell your psychologist....."I'm terrified I'll somehow lose control and......" They won't blink! Yes, they will routinely ask you some questions, they have to - but do so, bearing in mind that this isn't a risky situation. And it isn't. Try your very best to get your head round this and "know " this is a very common (albeit scary) thought with no risk attached. Happy Christmas, hope you can enjoy the day

Hmmm.....not often I disagree with you - not sure I do now even but it's not always clear cut and is often a chicken/egg, egg/chicken situation. My initial OCD was primarily a response to extreme anxiety first, not anxiety caused by OCD. They were/became intrinsically linked.

So Bexi...are we going to start this journey today? Can you find a couple of tiny things that you're going to work towars conquering? It can seem paralysingly terrifying, it can also feel liberating to even that decision in your head (as the first tiny step) Itsok has made some great suggestions, are there any you think you could start to work with? You say you sometimes go out late at night to buy a sandwich.....how's about trying to buy another item that may help with your problem? Shower gel has been suggested.....but you know what? I don't bother with shower gel. Yes, it smells lovely, does it's job and then washes away down the drain. I always use a good old-fashioned bar of soap.....it's cheap and lasts absolutely ages. Even if you can't shower (yet) you could was your hands & face....or just your hands. There will always be a starting point. How's about it? Are we going to start this?

Hi Bexi - I can appreciate how tough it must be for you experiencing these doubts and the level of anxiety it gives you. It must be doubly tough facing this on your own with no-one to give you support A phrase you used twice above was "I feel" and this is the truth. You "feel" like things are contaminated.....you "feel" the emotion & the fear but the things you fear are grossly inflated and exaggerated. Although life isn't risk free, the reality is that the majority of the population don't feel this way. They don't moderate their lives to try and control things and they live (largely) without any catastrophic consequences. You are hide bound and paralysed by fear and the power of your obsessions. Are you getting any help from anyone to help you address this problem? Have you seen your GP? What have you tried? You can move forward from this horrible place you find yourself in. I know it's very scary to contemplate making changes to behaviours you believe are protecting you but you can. These behaviours don't really protect you at all......your OCD is the thing that convinces you that it's necessary to take such precautions....it's a powerful argument it taunts you with. The truth is 98% of the population live very nicely without taking any precautions at all. They have deliveries, they pick things up from the doorstep, they tread where dogs have peed and then walk all around their house......and nothing happens.......luckily for them, they don't have the OCD demon sitting on their shoulder taunting them. You clearly don't want to live your life like this, so are you ready to see what sort of strategy you can work towards changing things? I'm not going to lie, it will need you to make changes....but you can gradually do that

Nope.....can be about literally anything. It is about obsessing/ obsessions about something. As you say, it's normal to worry about things like this in the type of world we live in, any parent would. The difference is that others wouldn't be consumed with it, tortured by it, made I'll by it. You've had a sensible conversation with your little girl and have explained why we don't do this sort of thing.....?.now you have to watch for the rumination, the internal conversation with yourself and try to break that cycle. Do your best

Well Done You - take faith in what you've done....and survived. Trust in yourself & keep on trying, you might just continue to surprise yourself

Having come back and briefly reviewed this thread I've decided to let it remain locked. Frankly, it appalled me. 145 posts in less than 24 hours with little input other than mud slinging and point scoring. To say the point was missed is an understatement. My first experience of OCD was almost 50 years ago, a time (yeah, yeah, yeah, boring) when there wasn't any information available, no access to appropriate treatment or medications, no internet articles, no support forums, no Self-Help books. You lived with the fear of insanity & complete helplessness. You also lived in a state of ignorance. My status doesn't describe me as "recovered" because OCD does come knocking, especially in times of stress but I have learned what helps and perhaps more importantly, those things that keep one locked firmly in the loop. Those doubts and fears that are not real but which we remain slave to for decades in an endless cycle of avoidance and compulsive behaviours. Not cured, not quite .....but managed very effectively for the most part 98% of the time. How has any of this nonsense helped anyone gain hope? How has it been for the greater good of anyone? Quite simply, it hasn't. As someone looking in it seemed like self-indulgent, self-serving, point-scoring, hypocritical behaviour that benefitted no-one. I took my mod's hat off there to post that and to post as a fellow forum member for a moment. Honestly folks, I've been so disappointed in what I've witnessed this evening.

And another. Yes it is playground stuff. Can you not see you are as guilty as those you accuse?

This is so hypocritical Paul. Now who's bullying?

Crikey .... you guys just won't give it a break!! I'm off out now and plain-speaking myself, I simply can't trust this thread to run smoothly - so for the moment, at least, I'm going to lock it whilst I'm away. Please don't just take it elsewhere

This is a prime example of adding 2 + 2 and making 9. U less I've read it completely wrong, MW made his comment in response to Polar Bear Which just shows how easy it is to jump to conclusions and get it wrong