Dealing with OCD when you are poorly

[greentop]

I'm finding my OCD to be particularly bad this week as I'm suffering from a flu which appears to be going around my housemates. Feel like a lot of my hard work has been flushed down the toilet essentially as I've let intrusive thoughts take hold and haven't been strong enough in my illness to stop ruminating about them. Has anyone else found this when they are poorly?

[Ashley]

Hey Greentop,

I don't think your hard work need be flushed down the toilet, I guess just accept that today you're unwell but later in the week you will dust yourself down and start again, but you're not starting from scratch is the good news.

I think when we are poorly everything else will feel a lot worse. With me sometimes my OCD does feel worse like you are experiencing, but other times I think I feel so poorly that I can't face my OCD rituals and end up with unplanned exposures. 

Try not to worry, spend some time looking after yourself and pampering yourself and worry about OCD later in the week

[taurean]

I think there are two mental angles to when we are ill. 

There's the side where we feel weakened, perhaps stressed, and are as a consequence more vulnerable to OCD - particularly if we are not able to distract with our normal daily duties. 

And I reckon there's another side, where the very fact that we have to think about our illness becomes a distraction, forcing the OCD in the background. 

I found that I belonged in the latter camp.Though of course I had no desire to have another illness to feel better about my OCD!

But what this did additionally show me was the benefit of distraction in refocusing our mind away from the obsessional thinking and the carrying out of compulsions.