Some Problems Again

[benedictsoup]

Hello! 

I've been doing pretty well as of late actually except for in one area. I keep getting intrusive thoughts when I wake up in the morning and also with animals less so than other people, which is still invasive but less prominent I guess. 

Has anybody else struggled with waking up to the thoughts? And how did you help it? 

[Hdigtts]

I did used to find the mornings were a particularly difficult time for me. I put it down to me not being properly awake so not in a state to have a bit more control over my mind. During the day you can almost block out certain things better.

[Chirpy]

Yes my thoughts are worse in the morning but get better as the day goes on. I think it is just because we are waking up and you are not quite on top of things

[dksea]

12 hours ago, benedictsoup said:

I keep getting intrusive thoughts when I wake up in the morning

Many people struggle with anxiety in the morning, and for a reason, many of the same chemicals involved in anxiety response are the ones our bodies use for waking up!  Similar experiences can result in mixed signals.

Further, as OCD sufferers we often inadvertently train ourselves to "check" for intrusive thoughts in the morning.  "Oh gosh, I hope I don't think about X today" or "Am I thinking about X".  Rather than focus on the fact that you get these intrusive thoughts, work on changing how you respond to them.  As much as you can, treat them as no big deal.  The less focus you put on them, the less reaction you have, the sooner they will fade. 

It might help to follow a morning routine, particularly one that gets you moving and cuts out your time for early morning rumination.  When the alarm goes off, get out of bed, make sure you take a shower, get some breakfast, etc.  If you are busy in the morning, it'll leave you less time to dwell and hopefully find that disconnects your morning time from the rituals of rumination.

[benedictsoup]

Thank you for all the response they’ve been very helpful!