Tips for a beginner

[Headwreck]

Does anybody have any good tips or techniques to stop ruminating? What do you do mentally, physically? What about when you fall into the pit of believing the anxiety to the point where it is unbearable?  I'm a novice at this, never had treatment and any ocd I've had previously I've just let subside itself which takes a very long time and seems to make it come back with a vengeance. 

Thanks in advance. 

[Ashley]

1 minute ago, Headwreck said:

 I'm a novice at this, never had treatment and any ocd I've had previously I've just let subside itself which takes a very long time and seems to make it come back with a vengeance. 

Hi there,

I don't think overcoming OCD is so much about simply learning to sop ruminating, but it's more about changing our beliefs about our thoughts and subsequently our interpretation of the thoughts.

My tip would be to make this your number one priority in January to seek access to suitable treatment. 

OCD is not usually something that can be controlled with tips/techniques, for most people it does require the intervention of a good therapist and a commitment from us to invest time and energy into tackling OCD, even if things clear up a bit in the new year, to prevent being back here a few months down the line it's important to commit to tackling OCD head on.

 

 

[lostinme]

Hi headwreck, 

I’ve copied and pasted this for you with the hope it will help you 

I would like to share with you my experience on how I stopped ruminating. I suffered with ruminating 24/7. 

Ruminating is something I would say all of us have done over and over again.

To me ruminating is an evil part of OCD and is a compulsion we do to elleviate our distress caused by an intrusive thought that pops into our head and even though this only lasts around 2 seconds, the ruminating can last for hours and at times even days.

To stop ruminating takes a lot of hard work, determination and perseverance .

Starting to work on stopping ruminating we need to work out the difference between a worry and ruminating. A worry is predicting what may happen in the future or an upcoming event, where as ruminating is we focus on a past event. 

Ruminating is going over something in your mind over and over again re observation and consequence, coming up with no suitable solution or answer.

Before starting to work on not ruminating we need to learn when we are ruminating. 

At first it can be difficult to recognise when you are doing it because both obsessions and ruminating both occur in our mind.

Ruminating is going over something over and over again and replaying it over and over again in your mind and seeing it from every angle and still finding no solutions. 

When we react to a intrusive thought (obsession) and start ruminating a (compulsion) we actually strengthen our belief, this actually keeps the thought going and makes it stronger and causes us more distress. We have no control over our obsessive thoughts but we have over the way we react to them. Ruminating is a mental compulsion that can't be seen and is a mental ritual we do at times quite automatic.

The hardest part is to notice when you are ruminating and stopping as soon as you realise. At times you will catch yourself ruminating and are often unaware your doing it but that's ok just stop as soon as you realise, however at times when you first start you may not always be able to resist not ruminating. This is ok too because over a period of time it actually teaches you, you will begin to see a pattern regardless of the obsession that no matter how long you spend ruminating you never find a solution or an answer, but rather eventually you have no choice but to live with the doubt of never knowing thus letting it go, reducing the anxiety and fear associated with it, until next time and the viscous cycle starts again, so eventually you learn that after hours of ruminating torture your brain actually accepts the fact you will never know and you have to live with the doubt anyway. So at the times you find it to difficult to resist the compulsion to ruminate you actually begin to see a pattern that no matter how many times you go over and over it again or no matter how many hours you do it that you never find the answer, thus showing you it's a pointless task. 

So with this evidence and noticing the same pattern you start to realise that ruminating is a pointless task. You learn to live with the doubt of never knowing 

and living with the uncertainty without hours or days of ruminating because you will still end up living with the doubt of never knowing or getting a answer or solution anyway. So it is good to have setbacks when you first try to stop ruminating because it teaches you that even after hours of ruminating you accept the doubt of never knowing any way, thus it proves more that it is a pointless task making you more determined not to waste any more time ruminating. 

It takes lots of practice and doesn't happen over night, but over time you will learn how to stop ruminating and at times when you catch yourself beginning to, you will remember why it is a pointless task and you will continue on with your day. 

Not ruminating is likely to raise your anxiety temporarily but only short term, 

it will take hard work, determination and perseverance but it is possible to do. 

Hope you find this helpful 

Best wishes 

lost

[Headwreck]

31 minutes ago, lostinme said:

Hi headwreck, 

I’ve copied and pasted this for you with the hope it will help you 

I would like to share with you my experience on how I stopped ruminating. I suffered with ruminating 24/7. 

Ruminating is something I would say all of us have done over and over again.

To me ruminating is an evil part of OCD and is a compulsion we do to elleviate our distress caused by an intrusive thought that pops into our head and even though this only lasts around 2 seconds, the ruminating can last for hours and at times even days.

To stop ruminating takes a lot of hard work, determination and perseverance .

Starting to work on stopping ruminating we need to work out the difference between a worry and ruminating. A worry is predicting what may happen in the future or an upcoming event, where as ruminating is we focus on a past event. 

Ruminating is going over something in your mind over and over again re observation and consequence, coming up with no suitable solution or answer.

Before starting to work on not ruminating we need to learn when we are ruminating. 

At first it can be difficult to recognise when you are doing it because both obsessions and ruminating both occur in our mind.

Ruminating is going over something over and over again and replaying it over and over again in your mind and seeing it from every angle and still finding no solutions. 

When we react to a intrusive thought (obsession) and start ruminating a (compulsion) we actually strengthen our belief, this actually keeps the thought going and makes it stronger and causes us more distress. We have no control over our obsessive thoughts but we have over the way we react to them. Ruminating is a mental compulsion that can't be seen and is a mental ritual we do at times quite automatic.

The hardest part is to notice when you are ruminating and stopping as soon as you realise. At times you will catch yourself ruminating and are often unaware your doing it but that's ok just stop as soon as you realise, however at times when you first start you may not always be able to resist not ruminating. This is ok too because over a period of time it actually teaches you, you will begin to see a pattern regardless of the obsession that no matter how long you spend ruminating you never find a solution or an answer, but rather eventually you have no choice but to live with the doubt of never knowing thus letting it go, reducing the anxiety and fear associated with it, until next time and the viscous cycle starts again, so eventually you learn that after hours of ruminating torture your brain actually accepts the fact you will never know and you have to live with the doubt anyway. So at the times you find it to difficult to resist the compulsion to ruminate you actually begin to see a pattern that no matter how many times you go over and over it again or no matter how many hours you do it that you never find the answer, thus showing you it's a pointless task. 

So with this evidence and noticing the same pattern you start to realise that ruminating is a pointless task. You learn to live with the doubt of never knowing 

and living with the uncertainty without hours or days of ruminating because you will still end up living with the doubt of never knowing or getting a answer or solution anyway. So it is good to have setbacks when you first try to stop ruminating because it teaches you that even after hours of ruminating you accept the doubt of never knowing any way, thus it proves more that it is a pointless task making you more determined not to waste any more time ruminating. 

It takes lots of practice and doesn't happen over night, but over time you will learn how to stop ruminating and at times when you catch yourself beginning to, you will remember why it is a pointless task and you will continue on with your day. 

Not ruminating is likely to raise your anxiety temporarily but only short term, 

it will take hard work, determination and perseverance but it is possible to do. 

Hope you find this helpful 

Best wishes 

lost

Thanks very much, I'm going to save this to my phone so I can refer to it. 

34 minutes ago, Ashley said:

Hi there,

I don't think overcoming OCD is so much about simply learning to sop ruminating, but it's more about changing our beliefs about our thoughts and subsequently our interpretation of the thoughts.

My tip would be to make this your number one priority in January to seek access to suitable treatment. 

OCD is not usually something that can be controlled with tips/techniques, for most people it does require the intervention of a good therapist and a commitment from us to invest time and energy into tackling OCD, even if things clear up a bit in the new year, to prevent being back here a few months down the line it's important to commit to tackling OCD head on.

 

 

Thanks, I'm hoping to find a therapist to start treatment in the new year. Thanks also for giving us such a welcoming and supportive charity and support base. 

[lostinme]

41 minutes ago, Ashley said:

Hi there,

I don't think overcoming OCD is so much about simply learning to sop ruminating, but it's more about changing our beliefs about our thoughts and subsequently our interpretation of the thoughts.

My tip would be to make this your number one priority in January to seek access to suitable treatment. 

OCD is not usually something that can be controlled with tips/techniques, for most people it does require the intervention of a good therapist and a commitment from us to invest time and energy into tackling OCD, even if things clear up a bit in the new year, to prevent being back here a few months down the line it's important to commit to tackling OCD head on.

 

 

6 minutes ago, Headwreck said:

Thanks, I'm hoping to find a therapist to start treatment in the new year. Thanks also for giving us such a welcoming and supportive charity and support base. 

Totally agree with Ashley, cbt is the best treatment for treating OCD, let’s hope you can get your therapy started soon. 

Wishing you well, 

lost