Two Random OCD Questions

[RB3462]

(1) Do people ever notice that they sometimes fall into a habit where, upon feeling better for a few days, you begin to check whether you still feel better?! And of course, this just perpetuates the cycle anew.

(2) Is it just me or are the mornings harder than the rest of the day? I often wake up and feel much worse in the morning, and find it harder to not engage in compulsions in the mornings.

[Emsie]

Hi there, 

Yes, I have certainly done what you referred to in your first question. 

And yes, the mornings are the hardest and I always wake up feeling anxious. It's probably because the mornings are when the bodies cortisol levels (stress hormone) are at their highest. I too find it harder not to engage in compulsions in the morning. It's even worse if I was ruminating last thing before sleeping. If I avoid this, mornings are better. 

[RB3462]

Yes, I especially find it tough if I have been ruminating a lot. I even have OCD-related dreams if I do it too much!

[HDC]

Agree with both of these!!

[Haayleey96]

1. Yes

2. For me it's more the evening time, or early hours of the morning when i can't sleep. 

[RB3462]

I certainly think fatigue and stress play a role. My OCD always gets worse when I've been having a particularly stressful time. Lack of sleep only exacerbates this.

[Ashley]

14 hours ago, RB3462 said:

(1) Do people ever notice that they sometimes fall into a habit where, upon feeling better for a few days, you begin to check whether you still feel better?! And of course, this just perpetuates the cycle anew.

No.  The reason is because I proactively and deliberately keep doing my therapy exercises every few days, the fact I can do them with no anxiety ensures I remain better.

 

14 hours ago, RB3462 said:

(2) Is it just me or are the mornings harder than the rest of the day? I often wake up and feel much worse in the morning, and find it harder to not engage in compulsions in the mornings.

No. Because OCD is no longer a big part of my life I wake up each day no longer worrying about what compulsions need to be completed and when.  

If I am honest your two questions are indicative of the OCD still impacting, perhaps even minimally, but enough to suggest it is still time to work on the OCD. 

[Torsa]

2) I definitely find the mornings harder, especially if I've not slept well. It's that feeling of "argh, not another day of this again". But then as the day progresses, as I put into practice the CBT tricks I've learnt, things generally tend to ease off slightly.

[Danielle_l]

1) yes - one of my biggest issues with my OCD is mental checking. And definitely with checking whether I still feel okay if I've had a few decent days etc. I haven't figured out yet how to stop mentally checking yet. 

2) when my OCD is bad the mornings are always more difficult for me. I have had lengthy periods where the morning was okay though, too. And my life before OCD started having a huge impact, the morning's were fine too. 

Sending you best wishes and hope...

[Emsie]

6 hours ago, Ashley said:

No.  The reason is because I proactively and deliberately keep doing my therapy exercises every few days, the fact I can do them with no anxiety ensures I remain better.

 

No. Because OCD is no longer a big part of my life I wake up each day no longer worrying about what compulsions need to be completed and when.  

If I am honest your two questions are indicative of the OCD still impacting, perhaps even minimally, but enough to suggest it is still time to work on the OCD. 

That's really great Ashley, and it really illustrates the power of good therapy.

We are all at different stages though and some of us are waiting for CBT therapy. Speaking for myself, I am waiting (and expecting a long wait) and I know I do not yet have enough understanding to fully tackle the impact it has on me.

[Ashley]

4 minutes ago, Emsie said:

We are all at different stages though and some of us are waiting for CBT therapy. Speaking for myself, I am waiting (and expecting a long wait) and I know I do not yet have enough understanding to fully tackle the impact it has on me

Absolutely, without the tools and techniques it can be hard to know what to do and when.  Whilst waiting for therapy one book I encourage everyone to read a) prior to CBT and b) again post CBT is 'Break free from OCD'. One of the best CBT based books for OCD treatment still out there.

[Emsie]

Thank you Ashley and I am currently reading 'Break free from OCD'. I think I'll read it a few times. 

[Ashley]

I think sometimes reading it post therapy can be much more helpful that pre-therapy. Because post therapy we will be more informed and knowledgeable from our therapy (usually), the book will then make much more sense and easier to apply some of the techniques and suggestions later on.

[RB3462]

7 hours ago, Ashley said:

 

If I am honest your two questions are indicative of the OCD still impacting, perhaps even minimally, but enough to suggest it is still time to work on the OCD. 

Ashley, I never denied that OCD is still impacting me. I was simply asking for other's experiences.

[Ashley]

Just now, RB3462 said:

I was simply asking for other's experiences.

Ok, so are you still working on tackling these problems?

[Emsie]

48 minutes ago, Ashley said:

I think sometimes reading it post therapy can be much more helpful that pre-therapy. Because post therapy we will be more informed and knowledgeable from our therapy (usually), the book will then make much more sense and easier to apply some of the techniques and suggestions later on.

Thank you, yes, I can imagine that's the case. 

[RB3462]

49 minutes ago, Ashley said:

Ok, so are you still working on tackling these problems?

Yeah I'm still trying. I have my ups and downs. The last month has been tough. But before that I had a good year where I felt much better.

[Ashley]

In terms of the OCD, are you doing something different now that you were perhaps not last year when things were going well? (I appreciate you may not have identified that, even if you are). 

[RB3462]

I think the only thing that changed is that I started giving in to compulsions/checking, etc., again, which just made everything worse. Once I started I found it difficult to stop. I have also been ruminating and worrying a lot again. 

[Ashley]

Yep, sometimes there is no rhyme or reason for the return of OCD.   So sadly we have to dust ourselves down, review what worked originally and start to apply those techniques again to see where that takes us.

Hope you start moving forward again very soon