Moving house with OCD- is it harder?

[Guest Annabel]

Hi everyone,

Like a lot of my families my parents have financial problems so we have to move to a rented house in 2013.

We haven't moved for quite a few years and the last time we moved I found it incredibly stressful and missed my old house, town and life for about 4 or 5 years.

In the past few years I've lived away 300 miles away in various flats but I've always had our family house to come back to and when my OCD was bad I was coming home every weekend anyway! Now I'm living at home because my OCD made it impossible to live away and go to university this year but I'm worried about this move. My gran will struggle in the new house too because her dementia means she struggles in new places but it has to happen!

Have you moved house when your OCD was severe? Did OCD affect the move in the anyway? Did you come up with any coping strategies? How long did it take to settle into a new house?

xx

Edited December 28, 2012 by Annabel

[Guest Annabel]

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[deepblue]

Hi Annabel,

I've moved twice whilst my OCD has been really bad. With me, most worries are at their worst before I start facing the actual problem eg once I started the actual physical move I found I wasn't as anxious as I thought I'd be before hand. That doesn't mean I wasn't stressed at all, it just wasn't as bad as I'd feared. Also the physical exertion of lifting, carrying etc tends to work as a distraction for me.

As for feeling settled I'm not sure about that. I've lived in my current home for over 10 years, but it isn't the same as my last home, nor the one before that, and it never will be. But it is my home. I'm not sure what settled really means to me, just remember for you that your new home is where your family will be together and that will hopefully help. :original:

[Northern Star]

Hi Annabel,

I have moved house with OCD, with mixed feelings. The first time was moving from home to uni, then later from England (uni, ostensibly) to Sweden, which saved my life. In Sweden we moved house twice, which I found stressful but knew that we had to, for financial/job reasons. We then moved back to England and in with my parents, again stressful. Then about 8 months later we moved to our own place in England, again stressful but the right thing to do.

I have often struggled with moving to new places, but OCD does have its upsides, eg I can be very organised when it comes to packing etc (not making light of OCD, just I have found that one of the very few advantages to my OCD has been that I am organised by nature). We have never moved house "just for fun" or anything like that, it has always been because it was the best option at the time. They say that moving is one of the most stressful life events, and I would have to agree with that. It's a question of trying to find ways to make it easier for yourself so that it's not as stressful as it could be.

I agree with deepblue, though, that home is where those you love are, no matter whether that's a palace or a garden shed

[Guest hope*]

Try to embrace where you move to, not compare it to where you came from, thats really important, to stop analysing the pros and cons of both as your head will melt from all the analysis. Been there, got the t shirt! So get out there and join a few things. Good luck xx

[Guest FlyingEagle]

They do say moving is one of the most stressful things you can do... and that's for someone without OCD. But also it's what you make of it too.

I have to move out of a place i have been at for about 5 years. I have sort of been planning for this all that time but now that time has come. I am sort of ready but it is daunting.

[Guest Emmals]

Hi,

I couldn't believe it when I saw this subject title. I'm due to move out of my flat in Febuary, the idea of moving out is both exciting and terrorfying at the same time. I have anxiety about packing, cleaning the place and getting everything done. But I'm not on my own, I'm moving with my sisters. I don't know if my OCD is making the idea of moving worse or if its just the usual stress about moving. I just keep taking deep breaths and trying to take it as it comes.

Xx

[Guest FobicFairy]

Hi Bella,

When I moved onto the ward in London for 6 months I felt at home within a week, despite the constant contamination issues. I had my own room and could control what went on in there, it soon felt like my space and I settled ok.

We moved to California for a while, we went out to set the apartment up and I have to admit I also felt fine there within a fortnight. My OCD was really bad back then, but I felt ok about it because it was empty and I could go in and clean everything before we moved anything in there.

I think you will be ok, you are an adult now so don't need the security of your long term family home. Home is just a place where your family live and you can be with them. You will soon settle in and it might be nice to sort your new bedroom out the way you want it. Change is good, it's healthy to learn that you can be at home anywhere you want to be, you will have to move out some time, when you get your own place with a partner ;o)

Msh xxxx

[Guest GraceLily]

Hi Annabel,

I've recently moved house and have severe OCD. Yes my OCD did affect the move and made it even more stressful than moving house is generally! I have many contaminated items that I have put into storage in the hope that one day I'll be well enough to look through them again (old school things mainly), but moving house meant dragging these out the loft which was incredibly stressful. My next hurdle was moving into a new house that as far as I was concerned was totally contaminated, and thus needed to totally clean from top to bottom. I was able to travel down to the new house a day before the actual move to clean which was very useful.

Overall it was exhausting and if you're able to remove yourself from the situation while the move happens I would highly recommend it. Unfortunately, I felt I had to be there or I wouldn't have known what was contaminated and what was clean - that would have been even harder. I just allowed myself to go through it and was kind to myself for a few days after to recover.

Hope the move isn't too stressful for you.