Lockdown OCD

[C09]

Hi, 

I'm struggling with lockdown OCD (contamination ocd and the desire to fix/better habits). It's hard not to want to fix and correct things, I'm in counselling atm and so far I'm trying to work on acceptance but it makes my OCD spiral and then I feel depressed. I'm waiting to look more into this in my next session (I have GAD too) but I don't think I can handle exposure therapy rn . Does anyone have any alternative coping techniques to binging TV series and overeating/comfort/binge eating? I feel like I have no control over my own life and nothing to look forward to   

Would love any ideas or suggestions please

[Gemma@OCDUK]

Hi CO9,

I'm sorry to hear that you're struggling with OCD at the moment. You mentioned that you're in counselling, do you mean Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), as this differs somewhat from counselling and is the recommended treatment for OCD. CBT should help give you tools to tackle OCD and if you don't feel ready to do a particular exposure exercise, make your therapist aware and they might help you to approach the exercise with something slightly more manageable. It's also really common to feel apprehensive at first with exposures, but you will be amazed at how much you can challenge yourself. 

It's really hard at the moment to find things to occupy ourselves so try not to be too hard on yourself, lockdown is challenging for everyone. I know I find listening to music and reading a book really helps, while others find getting out the house for a walk really changes their mood for the better

Gemma

[ecomum]

I got kobo app. Its like a kindle on phone. I have read lots of books for escapism but also self help books to help my progress. Has really been a big help.