What have you done today to make you feel PROUD?

[Rucker]

I've been on hedgehog watch today.  We have had two active hedgehogs in the garden today.  One large one looks young.  I wasn't here until the afternoon but the large one was exploring the garden and was gone before I got here.  The little one has been active in a bush and hiding under some bricks/fence.

They shouldn't be active now though and it's a sign something is wrong.  If they were bot together when I was here I'd have rescued them and taken them to the vets tomorrow morning, but I was reluctant to pick the smaller one up in case  the other was a parent and would return.

I put food and water out, and tried getting advice (but it's Sunday).  It's disappeared for the moment.  Been sitting in the dining room window for 4 hours on cat watch.  Going to rescue it if it reappears....I think it's just going further under the fence occasionally.

Any hedgehog experts?

[taurean]

Well I am no expert, but I am not certain they need rescuing. 

They are basically nocturnal by my recollection. But people do put out food and water to encourage them, so they may become tame. If you see them, just look to see if they are behaving as if unwell. They would normally root around in the garden for things to eat, including slugs I think. 

I - as a former long-standing cat owner - would think cats might be intrigued and investigate them, but not attack them ; in any case they will roll themselves up into a ball of spines if threatened. 

 

Edited September 3, 2017 by taurean

[lostinme]

Well guys this is such a positive thread, with lots of us making good progress to which we should all be proud 

Its nice to see us all encouraging and cheering each other on I think it helps to be honest 

I got up and went to the carboot again today, I coped a little better and managed to stay a few hours and luckily I wasn't so anxious either. I'm glad I found the courage to go again today and wasn't put off trying after yesterday's episode. 

Remember to praise yourself for every achievement whether it's big or small throughout your heirachy. We are all at different stages of our journeys and by sharing our achievements it hopefully encourages everyone that change is indeed possible. Who would have thought I'd be doing this a year ago. 

Keep positive guys

Recovery is possible 

[BelAnna]

2 hours ago, lostinme said:

Well guys this is such a positive thread, with lots of us making good progress to which we should all be proud 

Its nice to see us all encouraging and cheering each other on I think it helps to be honest 

I got up and went to the carboot again today, I coped a little better and managed to stay a few hours and luckily I wasn't so anxious either. I'm glad I found the courage to go again today and wasn't put off trying after yesterday's episode. 

Remember to praise yourself for every achievement whether it's big or small throughout your heirachy. We are all at different stages of our journeys and by sharing our achievements it hopefully encourages everyone that change is indeed possible. Who would have thought I'd be doing this a year ago. 

Keep positive guys

Recovery is possible 

Well done Lostinme, that's brilliant! 

I had to go back to the Minor Injuries Unit at my local hospital today. I avoid hospital and doctors appointments like that plague (for years!) and am terrified I will catch a sickness bug from medical centres so this was a massive big deal especially as lots of patients were waiting to be seen by a locum doctor and I think someone might have had a sickness bug. I am struggling with anxiety over it but trying to distract myself!

 

Edited September 3, 2017 by BelAnna

[Rucker]

4 hours ago, taurean said:

hey are basically nocturnal by my recollection

Yeah that's right.  The problem is if they are active during the day it pretty much means something is wrong with them and they are in trouble.  It's pretty much get them to a rescue centre to get checked over that's the advice given.  Apparently numbers have declined 30% in the last 10 years so vets have to treat them.

Happy ending though. The mother returned and they disappeared under the fence/bush fora while.  Came back out at 8pm and trotted off together and they were trying to get into the other neighbour's garden.... so we made the hole bigger for them and cleared the other one a bit better so there is now a 'hedgehog highway' through the garden.

Nice little feel good distraction

 

[lostinme]

Thank you so much BelAnna

That's great news, your doing so well  you should be feeling really proud of what you've achieved over the last few days,  that's fantastic, well done 

Don't worry the anxiety will come down, your doing the right thing keeping yourself occupied x

[bwelagain]

Not a good day for me today, I'm afraid.

Started doubting my character as soon as I woke up.

So, today has been something of a setback, but at least I managed to cook dinner, which is something I wasn't really able to do this past few months.

[BelAnna]

12 hours ago, bwelagain said:

Not a good day for me today, I'm afraid.

Started doubting my character as soon as I woke up.

So, today has been something of a setback, but at least I managed to cook dinner, which is something I wasn't really able to do this past few months.

Well done both for cooking the dinner  and for focusing on a positive! 

 

[bwelagain]

Today I have reconciled with my only sibling as they put out the olive branch and I was happy to take it. We haven't spoken for 2 years.

Since I relapsed in March, I have felt as if I wanted to contact her many times. I felt like I needed her to help me through this, yet I didn't contact her.

Turns out that she is now physically sick, waiting to see a neurologist and I am struggling to recover from ocd. 

I am glad we are talking again and hope we can help each other.

I have also tried to shift the focus away from ocd today by trying to keep busy, going out for groceries and doing some basic housework. I have still been having intrusive thoughts and doubt, but keep trying to accept it is all ocd even if it feels real.

[BelAnna]

40 minutes ago, bwelagain said:

Today I have reconciled with my only sibling as they put out the olive branch and I was happy to take it. We haven't spoken for 2 years.

Since I relapsed in March, I have felt as if I wanted to contact her many times. I felt like I needed her to help me through this, yet I didn't contact her.

Turns out that she is now physically sick, waiting to see a neurologist and I am struggling to recover from ocd. 

I am glad we are talking again and hope we can help each other.

I have also tried to shift the focus away from ocd today by trying to keep busy, going out for groceries and doing some basic housework. I have still been having intrusive thoughts and doubt, but keep trying to accept it is all ocd even if it feels real.

Aw that's lovely news Bewellagain! so glad that you can both help each other now. 

Also that's fab that you were so productive with the shopping and cleaning and that you accepted the thoughts and carried on despite them. You should be really proud of what you've achieved today! 

Today I went to the CMHT, which I find really stressful due to my contamination obsession and social anxiety. I particularly hate the waiting room as it's very smelly and I feel anxious about talking to other people but today someone started talking to me about her husband who was there for a memory assessment for suspected dementia and I was able to chat away about dementia (having been a carer for a family member with dementia for five years). This was significant because it reminded me that my social anxiety doesn't always have to be a barrier to talking with other people (I used to be very sociable but my world has become so small in recent years) so that was a real positive!

[bwelagain]

Well done BelAnna for chatting to that lady.

We can all do so much more than we think we can.

I hope your world and all of our worlds grow bigger and more fulfilling as we overcome our anxiety conditions.

[taurean]

4 hours ago, BelAnna said:

This was significant because it reminded me that my social anxiety doesn't always have to be a barrier to talking with other people (I used to be very sociable but my world has become so small in recent years) so that was a real positive!

This is very significant. OCD often brings on social anxiety by seeking to restrict our interaction with others. How do we tackle this?  In exactly the way you did Belanna - by seeing what its game and method is, and refusing to play that game. 

In this way we can gradually, slowly but surely, reclaim the life we have lost to the disorder. 

Edited September 5, 2017 by taurean

[Rucker]

7 hours ago, BelAnna said:

This was significant because it reminded me that my social anxiety doesn't always have to be a barrier to talking with other people

It definitly doesn't.  I often convince myself I have no issues as I'm a bit of a talker to people.  Yet often feelings can keep me in the house or I feel anxious when I'm out.  But you can have issues and still talk to people.

[BelAnna]

10 hours ago, taurean said:

This is very significant. OCD often brings on social anxiety by seeking to restrict our interaction with others. How do we tackle this?  In exactly the way you did Belanna - by seeing what its game and method is, and refusing to play that game. 

In this way we can gradually, slowly but surely, reclaim the life we have lost to the disorder. 

Thanks so much Taurean! You are completely right. I hope you are doing ok at the moment.

7 hours ago, Rucker said:

It definitly doesn't.  I often convince myself I have no issues as I'm a bit of a talker to people.  Yet often feelings can keep me in the house or I feel anxious when I'm out.  But you can have issues and still talk to people.

I know what you mean Rucker and it's a slippery slope because the more you avoid going out the worse the social anxiety becomes and your conversational skills and self-esteem can suffer.

Hope everyone's having a good day! 

[taurean]

5 minutes ago, BelAnna said:

10 hours ago, taurean said:

 

Thanks so much Taurean! You are completely right. I hope you are doing ok at the moment.

I am fine thanks - I am doing what I have learned to do, keeping my exposure and response prevention up to date, and not avoiding things

 

[BelAnna]

Just now, taurean said:

I am fine thanks - I am doing what I have learned to do, keeping my exposure and response prevention up to date, and not avoiding things

 

That's brilliant- well done!

[Haayleey96]

I'm so proud of everyone on here and your stories. Keep on being strong ?

My anxiety has really got to me today- I keep obsessing over people's views of me at work. Having just come off night shift doesn't help either! It messes with your body clock and my anxieties are all over the place because of this! But I got through the day ?

[Haayleey96]

9 hours ago, Rucker said:

It definitly doesn't.  I often convince myself I have no issues as I'm a bit of a talker to people.  Yet often feelings can keep me in the house or I feel anxious when I'm out.  But you can have issues and still talk to people.

This is exactly me Rucker! I am always smiling, always talking to people but inside my head is a mess ?

[Haayleey96]

I'm finding it hard at the moment to not take what people say to heart. I often mistake what others mean and take it personally  (if that makes sense) and I obsess over it for days. My positive is that I can and have been moving on with life and work, but then when im on my own I obsess over it again.

On the plus side, I am dealing with the thought. I'm not asking the person for reassurance like what i used to, I just deal with it. 

[NNSuperTrying]

These stories on here show how strong people are in challenging the OCD. Not  asking for reassurance is very tough but resisting to, I feel  is the way forward in challenging the Ocd. I often take what people say to heart and will obsess over what I think they mean. I have recently volunteerd to work in a charity shop. It's something I have always wanted to do and I have always let my Ocd talk me out of doing it. This time I was really determined to just let the intrusive thoughts be there. I was very anxious , however eventually my anxiety went right down and I was really happy that my  Ocd did not win this time.

[Miranda123]

Well done all. Haayleey it's good that you have a break in the thoughts in that they don't interfere when you're busy in your life or at work, I think one of the hardest things is feeling at peace with yourself and your thoughts when you are idle, but you can do it! 

I have had a bad day today, but I did manage to stay at work even though I was obsessing overly health non stop and creating horrible anxiety. I have booked a first session with a therapist today though who can see me next week so I am looking forward to getting started with that.

[Emsie]

Thank you so much for starting this thread, it's been really good to read everyone's successes. Well done everyone.

I've had a bad run of it recently, but today I've gone a whole day without ruminating on my current fear and when it came to the forefront of my mind I was able to slip it back away again. No compulsions at all today, which is of course key to not reinforcing the fear. My anxiety is definitely lower now. I know it will be high again when I wake, but I know it will come down again. 

I feel stronger and thank you to everyone on this amazing forum. ?

Edited September 5, 2017 by Emsie

[taurean]

That's great Emsie - you understand what to do and you have been able to do it! 

Over time that, not the compulsing,should become the norm

 

[Emsie]

Just now, taurean said:

That's great Emsie - you understand what to do and you have been able to do it! 

Over time that, not the compulsing,should become the norm

 

Thank you so much Roy ?

Best wishes to you,

Em 

[taurean]

Watching TV tonight and looking through the channels, two very unpleasant things that I always have had a problem with were featured. 

I only caught sight of them momentarily, but of course the OCD wanted to home in, focus on them, stick on them raise an anxiety response. 

I know that is its game, what it wants to do; it wasn't easy, but I threw myself into watching Antiques Road Trip with the subtitles on and sound off, and listening to smooth classics on Classic fm on the radio. 

This is because, in a bit of a breakthrough a few months back, I discovered that, for me, when faced with a big OCD challenge, refocusing away and distracting isn't enough to break the power and hold of the obsessive thought. 

But a double distraction, such as that I described above, presents the OCD with double-powered competition for my attention, and this makes it much more difficult for it to overpower them 

If like me you are struggling to distract from the power of the intrusion, you might wish to try this, but make sure it is totally safe and the two activities are quite manageable and complimentary without creating any risk at all. 

Other dual activities that work for me to break free from the intrusions are listening to music the same time as reading an involved book, clearing the kitchen or doing some cleaning whilst listening to the radio. But it must be absolutely safe activities, with no risks attached at all. 

I only practice the double distraction when really struggling to break free. It's usual to find an involved beneficial distraction is sufficient to break free from the thought, after a certain amount of practice. 

And remember, distraction is OK to shift focus from an intrusion, but exposure and response prevention work is necessary to see the intrusions for the unwanted worthless nonsense they really are, and take away their power. 

Edited September 5, 2017 by taurean