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Hi all.

I have recently started receiving help for OCD despite struggling with it for around 13 years.

I have begun an online CBT therapy (as the waiting list for in person is long) and I am on anti depressants. I have done some self reading including the book 'break free from OCD'. And I have told my personal tutor at uni who is lovely.

I suppose what I want to know is, does it get easier? I'm still really struggling with my thoughts and I still feel anxious all of the time. In recent months it got to the stage where I couldn't go to work and also affected my uni work. I'm just worried I'll never be able to cope like I did before. 

Is there anything else that might be helpful for me to try as well as the things I already have in place? I think it would be useful for me to hear of others who have been in the same boat.

Thank you x

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Hi Just me and welcome to the forum :)

Does it get easier? Yes it does :) OCD is really hard to fight but it is possible. I have been highly restricted by OCD, I could barely live in my own home at one point, but I'm loads better with the help of CBT. How did you find Break free from OCD? Have you tried applying any of it? The same for your online course, have they allowed you to make any progress? Is there anything you're particularly struggling? Don't worry if the answer is no you haven't made progress, it can be hard on your own :)

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Hi gemma7,

Thanks for the reply :)

it's super helpful to hear that cbt worked for you and I'm glad you're coping better.

I'm still making my way through the book so I haven't used any of it yet but I'm hoping it will prove helpful with time and learning to understand the condition is starting to help me realise when some thoughts are irrational.

I feel the CBT helps when I'm doing it but when I'm away from my laptop and in the 'real world' it's hard to apply it and I easily become overwhelmed again?

I struggle mostly with contamination OCD, and I work in a health care setting so this is just getting worse and my main worry is not being able to continue a job I usually love.

Did you have any trouble with sleep and keeping thoughts away in the night when you had flare ups with your ocd?

Thank you for your time, I really appreciate it x

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41 minutes ago, Just me. said:

I feel the CBT helps when I'm doing it but when I'm away from my laptop and in the 'real world' it's hard to apply it and I easily become overwhelmed again?

Yeah that happens and completely understandable in the early stages of therapy. When you've gone through various behavioural experiments and challenged some of your beliefs you'll get better and better at dealing with triggers in the real world. 

44 minutes ago, Just me. said:

I struggle mostly with contamination OCD, and I work in a health care setting so this is just getting worse and my main worry is not being able to continue a job I usually love.

I have contamination OCD too and understand how hard it is and it's probably particularly hard because of your profession. But try not to think too far ahead, you can only take one step at a time, and right now you seem to be going in the right direction :)

46 minutes ago, Just me. said:

Did you have any trouble with sleep and keeping thoughts away in the night when you had flare ups with your ocd?

OCD compulsions have kept me up, either because I've been cleaning or because I've been thinking over and over about what I'm worried about. 

The key with overcoming OCD is to learn what maintains the problem. So in Break free from OCD, they mention what is called the vicious flower. This is a good way to begin to understand the maintaining factors. If you have more questions don't hesitate to ask :)

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31 minutes ago, Gemma7 said:

The key with overcoming OCD is to learn what maintains the problem. So in Break free from OCD, they mention what is called the vicious flower. This is a good way to begin to understand the maintaining factors. If you have more questions don't hesitate to ask :)

Thank you for your help and support, you've given me that bit of confidence that I needed to hear today. I will continue with my book and see what I can get out of it!

Hopefully things start to make more sense as I practice CBT more and more so I can go back to a bit of normality in life.

:)

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