Achievements Thread - Pat on The Back

[determination987]

Achievements: I’m working on the sneaky compulsions that seem like very real worries until I realise that I’ve been ‘dealing’ with them in my head for hours on end and there’s nothing that actually warrants action right now.

I’ve spotted this a few times today and put a stop to the compulsions - not the thought. I’ve realised that trying to stop a thought isn’t the same as actively saying ‘nope, not going down that route again today’ and letting it just be .

 

[taurean]

Yes. Trying to stop a thought will only make it stronger.

It's " just a thought", so keep practising not connecting or giving meaning to it, and then going back to what you were doing. Just leave it be, then refocus your attention elsewhere. 

[taurean]

29 minutes ago, determination987 said:

That’s amazing, you’re an inspiration

I could have done with it not taking many years  various therapists various attempts at medication  and lots of upsets before reaching this position at the age of 71!

That's one of the reasons why I so want forum members to find their best practice tools a lot earlier than I did.

[anthu]

So today I touched my phone for 1 hour! I was thinking of extending it to 20 minutes or something. But then I started to think that I was faking all this since it seems easier every time I touched it. But my brother helped me understand that it was another OCD thought (he has OCD too, so he really help me with these things)

[L.M.]

So great to read of all these lovely achievements @BelAnna, @taurean, @determination987, @anthu reading books, talking on zoom, touching the phone for an hour, a year free of ocd issues! Amazing and lovely!

I would say my big success yesterday was getting a trigger that might have had me showering and changing and declaring all my laundry that I'd just done as 'unclean' but decided to go with the logical part of the brain instead and decide all that was unnecessary.

 

[determination987]

3 hours ago, L.M. said:

So great to read of all these lovely achievements @BelAnna, @taurean, @determination987, @anthu reading books, talking on zoom, touching the phone for an hour, a year free of ocd issues! Amazing and lovely!

I would say my big success yesterday was getting a trigger that might have had me showering and changing and declaring all my laundry that I'd just done as 'unclean' but decided to go with the logical part of the brain instead and decide all that was unnecessary.

 

That’s brilliant !

[BelAnna]

5 hours ago, L.M. said:

So great to read of all these lovely achievements @BelAnna, @taurean, @determination987, @anthu reading books, talking on zoom, touching the phone for an hour, a year free of ocd issues! Amazing and lovely!

I would say my big success yesterday was getting a trigger that might have had me showering and changing and declaring all my laundry that I'd just done as 'unclean' but decided to go with the logical part of the brain instead and decide all that was unnecessary.

 

That's amazing L.M- well done! 

[anthu]

@L.M. Thank you! and Amazing success 

I touched my phone again yesterday (1 hour) and today (2 hours), not only touching but also grabbing! I still feel nervous when I confront it but day by day it will get easier, right? (Although it is very difficult with uncertainty).

Today I am going to take a walk in the nearest park with my mom. I always have breakdowns when I go out, so it will only be for a moment (30 minutes I think?).

Edited April 25, 2022 by anthu

[determination987]

47 minutes ago, anthu said:

@L.M. Thank you! and Amazing success 

I touched my phone again yesterday (1 hour) and today (2 hours), not only touching but also grabbing! I still feel nervous when I confront it but day by day it will get easier, right? (Although it is very difficult with uncertainty).

Today I am going to take a walk in the nearest park with my mom. I always have breakdowns when I go out, so it will only be for a moment (30 minutes I think?).

That’s fantastic! Hope that you enjoy the walk

[L.M.]

On 25/04/2022 at 14:12, anthu said:

@L.M. Thank you! and Amazing success 

I touched my phone again yesterday (1 hour) and today (2 hours), not only touching but also grabbing! I still feel nervous when I confront it but day by day it will get easier, right? (Although it is very difficult with uncertainty).

Today I am going to take a walk in the nearest park with my mom. I always have breakdowns when I go out, so it will only be for a moment (30 minutes I think?).

Wonderful about the phone, and going on a walk! How did the walk go?

 

[L.M.]

I've continued working through stuff and making some good progress. 

Continuing to touch and hold and carry things home on my walks through nature.

That just makes me feel so happy to finally just reach down and pick up a rock, and feel its texture and carry it with me...

The other day I touched the blossoms on a tree and they were so soft and lovely and it's been so long since I've been able to do that. They were wet with rain and it triggered me that maybe it wasn't rain but something that could contaminate me somehow...but put the thought aside and just enjoyed it.

[taurean]

1 hour ago, L.M. said:

They were wet with rain and it triggered me that maybe it wasn't rain but something that could contaminate me somehow...but put the thought aside and just enjoyed it.

Classic OCD isn't it, trying to throw a spanner in the works and spoil your experience?

But you didn't let it, and you now understand how it works.

[determination987]

3 hours ago, L.M. said:

I've continued working through stuff and making some good progress. 

Continuing to touch and hold and carry things home on my walks through nature.

That just makes me feel so happy to finally just reach down and pick up a rock, and feel its texture and carry it with me...

The other day I touched the blossoms on a tree and they were so soft and lovely and it's been so long since I've been able to do that. They were wet with rain and it triggered me that maybe it wasn't rain but something that could contaminate me somehow...but put the thought aside and just enjoyed it.

I love blossom trees :). That’s so good! I’m glad you got to enjoy it!

[determination987]

Today, I’ve had a few triggers but I’ve managed to not go too far down the checking route and stopped it quickly.

I saw a post about the dentist and immediately started to panic about my upcoming appointment which is over a month away. I stopped that quickly and said ‘nope, not spending hours on this today again’ and it went away on its own.

I then started staring at a freckle on my face that I’ve had for a while and started worrying that it had got darker and started checking old photos and the internet. I saw a photo from years ago and it’s the same but then the urge to keep checking came. I managed to stop though and decided that I’ve checked it enough, I can keep an eye on it but I don’t need to do this right now when I’m pretty certain it’s nothing and it’s just because my anxiety was already high.

I made the decision to go to the coast to walk the dog instead of the same route I take because I wanted to do something different and to do something positive, rather than spending the day doing compulsions.

Also, I haven’t checked social media since this morning and although I feel anxious to check it, I’m going to gradually increase the amount of time between checks.

[northpaul]

1 hour ago, determination987 said:

I made the decision to go to the coast to walk the dog instead of the same route I take because I wanted to do something different and to do something positive

A good example of doing something different/new and learning to tolerate the uncertainty.  

[determination987]

15 hours ago, northpaul said:

A good example of doing something different/new and learning to tolerate the uncertainty.  

Thanks

I'm trying to do this as much as I can. Especially when all I want to do is stay inside and do nothing.

[determination987]

Yesterday, I bought something online that would be sent by email. I rushed the process and didn't check that I'd put the right details in and realised after paying that I'd put my email address in wrong. 

Panic started to set in and lots of what ifs but I let it be. I emailed to advise them of the situation and left it there. Usually, I'd be stuck all night and checking over again for replies and worrying about it. 

I actually forgot about it until this morning I had a reply and they'd rectified it.

Seems small but the uncertainty usually cripples me and I managed to lean into it instead.

[L.M.]

10 hours ago, determination987 said:

Yesterday, I bought something online that would be sent by email. I rushed the process and didn't check that I'd put the right details in and realised after paying that I'd put my email address in wrong. 

Panic started to set in and lots of what ifs but I let it be. I emailed to advise them of the situation and left it there. Usually, I'd be stuck all night and checking over again for replies and worrying about it. 

I actually forgot about it until this morning I had a reply and they'd rectified it.

Seems small but the uncertainty usually cripples me and I managed to lean into it instead.

That's great! Doesn't sound small to me!

[L.M.]

On 02/05/2022 at 10:48, determination987 said:

I made the decision to go to the coast to walk the dog instead of the same route I take because I wanted to do something different and to do something positive, rather than spending the day doing compulsions

really need to take that one on board today. Having so much trouble getting out the house today!

[L.M.]

17 hours ago, L.M. said:

really need to take that one on board today. Having so much trouble getting out the house today!

Got out the house yesterday which was a small but good achievement as I'm trying to keep up positive things while stressing about the upcoming work needing doing in my place.

[determination987]

A few kind of achievements:

• I went to go on a website to check something and then was triggered after thinking about why I wad avoiding it. I then went to go on a big tangent but stopped the rumination quickly before it went too far.
• I got a letter through that triggered me hugely. I checked the form and tried to remind myself to only do it once but lots of 'what if I've missed something' popped into my head and I kept checking it and then googling but I stopped. I did do compulsions but I stopped them after 15 minutes which is an improvement. Anxiety is coming down now on its own and I'm feeling proud for it not taking a whole day up, as usual.
• Caught other triggers throughout the day and stopped the rumination before it got too bad.

[L.M.]

55 minutes ago, determination987 said:

A few kind of achievements:

• I went to go on a website to check something and then was triggered after thinking about why I wad avoiding it. I then went to go on a big tangent but stopped the rumination quickly before it went too far.
• I got a letter through that triggered me hugely. I checked the form and tried to remind myself to only do it once but lots of 'what if I've missed something' popped into my head and I kept checking it and then googling but I stopped. I did do compulsions but I stopped them after 15 minutes which is an improvement. Anxiety is coming down now on its own and I'm feeling proud for it not taking a whole day up, as usual.
• Caught other triggers throughout the day and stopped the rumination before it got too bad.

Excellent to hear! Yes cutting back the time spent on compulsions is huge. Really good job!

[Ma29]

On 05/05/2022 at 14:47, determination987 said:

 

A few kind of achievements:

• I went to go on a website to check something and then was triggered after thinking about why I wad avoiding it. I then went to go on a big tangent but stopped the rumination quickly before it went too far.
• I got a letter through that triggered me hugely. I checked the form and tried to remind myself to only do it once but lots of 'what if I've missed something' popped into my head and I kept checking it and then googling but I stopped. I did do compulsions but I stopped them after 15 minutes which is an improvement. Anxiety is coming down now on its own and I'm feeling proud for it not taking a whole day up, as usual.
• Caught other triggers throughout the day and stopped the rumination before it got too bad.

 

Hey @determination987 . Hope you’re having a nice weekend. Your post was great to read. I think you’ve identified some real gains. I’m in a similar position with identifying Compulsions and have also minimised the time spent on these. Ive also found that anxiety decreases as well as a decrease in fatigue. Amazing how much time and energy compulsions use up. In fact from November - March, I would ruminate In bed all day long and I was feeling mentally and physically exhausted. When I think of that time, it makes me feel exhausted too. It’s all work in progress but We will get there. 
best wishes 

Ma

 

[L.M.]

8 hours ago, Ma29 said:

Hey @determination987 . Hope you’re having a nice weekend. Your post was great to read. I think you’ve identified some real gains. I’m in a similar position with identifying Compulsions and have also minimised the time spent on these. Ive also found that anxiety decreases as well as a decrease in fatigue. Amazing how much time and energy compulsions use up. In fact from November - March, I would ruminate In bed all day long and I was feeling mentally and physically exhausted. When I think of that time, it makes me feel exhausted too. It’s all work in progress but We will get there. 
best wishes 

Ma

 

That is great to hear Ma! I find you an inspiration to have to tackle ocd while caring for your baby. I think you're doing wonderfully. Really good to hear you're feeling so much less fatigued too. OCD-mind really is exhausting. And it feels so hard to get started on cbt when we're in that state sometimes--but then when we do it really does make a difference to the energy and anxiety levels doesn't it!

[L.M.]

I am very happy with the improvements I made this last time having to have some work done in my place. I wasn't sure how extensive the work would be so there was a lot of uncertainty involved, contamination fears, as well as having to do things differently while I waited for the repairs to get done.

I was certainly stressed but was sure to try and carry on doing positive things. And then after the work was done I did so much less cleaning than I did the last time I had work done here. I feel like I am gaining trust that I can deal with the uncertainty more, and that I can deal more with my fear that if I don't do the cleaning right away, my ocd will be triggered even worse.