I don’t want reassurance, but on the days where you are convinced of doomsday scenarios, your life is over, etc. what’s your go to (healthy) method to help you calm down and/or ground yourself? Thanks for the support y’all.
Hi, ive struled with OCD my entire life. recently, ive had this constant thought that something bad is going to happen in october or november. id this common for others? is jt intuition or OCD? any advice? :(
Hey everyone,
I am currently unemployed and I got a job offer but I have a very scary OCD thought telling me if I take the offer a specific detailed bad thing will happen to me
Just because I had that thought when I picked up the phone when the HR called
And I know it makes no sense but I’m so scared and I feel Id rather be safe and unemployed than take the job.
Does anyone else do this? I count syllables by moving my toes to the rhythm of every syllable. Start always on my left toe then move along my toes one syllable at a time. It could be a phrase someone has said, a movie line, song lyrics, etc. For example, if I'm watching a movie and an actor says "you'll be rich soon", in my mind i go "you'll" starting with my left big toe, then "be" with my right toe, then "rich" with my left toe, and then ending on "soon" with my right toe.
What i love the most is when sentences have an even number of syllables or end in a nice pair, like "you'll be fat soon" being 4 syllables, because I always want the sentence to end on my right toe. If it ends on the left one, I low key have to add another word to end in on my right toe.
Love how this video describes what we are experiencing .. it’s not just the thoughts it’s the intense emotions
My question for people who have recovered from this theme is: how on earth did you learn to live with the uncertainty of whether other people exist?
I know I’m supposed to learn to live with the uncertainty, but I don’t see how not fighting the question of ‘what if my loved ones don’t exist outside my head’ does not equal ‘I accept that I might be alone in the universe, and that my love might not be making anyone’s life better’. Accepting that would make my life meaningless and depressing.
Context for me: I have existential OCD of a Boltzmann brain and solipsism theme. (Boltzmann brains are a physics thought experiment that basically asks ‘What if you’re a brain floating in space with fake memories of the past, experiencing what you only perceive to be a complete reality?’ More info at the bottom of you want.) (Solipsism being the idea that you can’t prove other minds exist outside of your own.)
My core fears are being alone and not making a positive impact on others around me. (With this theme, I’m afraid that other people don’t exist outside of my head.)
I’m a couple sessions in with an OCD specialist; this fortnight he told me to work on doing things that matter to me - spending time with loved ones, making art ect. - while the intrusive thoughts yell in the background.
Any help is appreciated, thank you for taking the time to comment.
Scientific & philosophical explanation of Boltzmann brains in this video - you only have to watch to 6:18 to understand. Are You A Dream Of The Universe? - YouTubewww.youtube.com › watch Big trigger warning though, this is the video that started my OCD. (Of course, everyone is different and I know it won’t freak everyone out.)
This may be vague, but I have always had this issue. If I get the slightest tinge of an issue with a relationship, I can't help but tell the person. I also have attachment issues, but let's focus.
I did this around 4am today with a long text to someone I was hoping to get to know better.
In my mind, I was setting a boundary that I don't want to be FWB, but it was persistent and unrelenting. I couldn't get back to sleep, it was all I could think about.
I just read in another post that if the person feels an urgency then they know it's the OCD talking. So this was definitely urgent to me. Also, please don't focus on the FWB thing, yes I set a boundary and I know it's good to have them. This issue has hurt every single relationship I've ever had or even didn't have but could have!
So, what should I have done? My bff has a 24 hour rule. Ponder the thing for 24 hours and if it's still what I want, then say it. The thing is that she doesn't have OCD and I can have the same nagging thought for days on end, really until I say it and destroy everything.
Any advice on what I could do next time? I'd love to be able to actually date and feel that kind of thing again. It's been years.
I ve read that Zoloft is better for obsessions than Lexapro. I have both anxiety and obsessions that stick in my head. I dont have physical rituals since 2015 and if I have nowdays are inner ruminations (maybe pure O)
What are your experiences?
Recently I came across this quote from Dutch Psychologist Akke-Jeanne Klerk:
“Excessive analyzing and rumination are stress responses on a mental level. They create the illusion of control over pain.”
This wasn’t referring to OCD, but as someone who’s OCD stems from childhood trauma I thought it was a really intriguing concept. That my OCD is in some way actually trying to help me cope with pain. Ironic given the fact that it causes me so much pain and anxiety in itself.
Does anyone else relate to this?
Is anyone on medication for it? I have been on Prozac over 20 years for anxiety but they said it can help ocd too.
I remember most of the night but I feel like it gets blurrier the more I think about it. I know I was drunk at the end of the night (it was a party) and I think I got more drunk than normal because I had trouble eating before the event because of anxiety and I have not heard that I did anything wrong but my mind goes to the worst places and I’m so embarrassed and ashamed of myself. I feel like no one is telling me that I didn’t do anything wrong because they want to be nice. My husband has said to let it go and to trust him that I was fine but I feel like I deserve to die for what I have done but I don’t even know what that is.
the constant talking about it and seeking reassurance is probably not helpful right? I've been trying to work on acceptance instead
I have had compulsions (hand washing, minor tics, symmetrical) which were physical actions before and while they were annoying it’s nowhere near as bad as the thoughts that keep coming in. I can’t explain it but often times I have a thought that makes me bad and no matter what I’m doing then, I have to stop doing it. the thoughts are of a specific person and if I’m doing smth like on a certain app I have to exit out, if I’m using a specific shampoo I have to use another one, if I’m in a specific room I have to go upstairs, or if I’m writing smth like an essay do 4 undos or to the previous sentence but only in groups of 4. I am so miserable and the more I do it the worse it gets. it constantly disengages me. it drains my mental effort. It has never been quite like this before. also happens if I see specific thumbnails/content that have specific things which remind me of this person.
Hi everyone. 😊
As the title suggests, I’m hoping to hear from some others who have had to take sick leave during their OCD recovery.
For some context, I am currently feeling so guilty. This journey has been a long one and since December 2024 I have been signed off work 3 times by my GP. The first 2 times were for stress, anxiety and depression. The 3rd time was for adjusting to a new medication for those things. All this time, I have known deep down it was OCD symptoms that I was experiencing but I was just so embarrassed to admit it to the doctor, therapist and work. As many of you will understand, it is ruining my life and I knew I had to just take the step to recovering. I opened up honestly about how I was feeling and my manager has been so supportive. I took some short notice annual leave a few weeks ago because I was really struggling and didn’t want to worry about the process of calling in sick each day. Fast forward, yesterday at work I was back to feeling low. I contacted my GP to request a sick note to sign me off work and I am calling in sick today until I hear back from them. I feel so guilty about this which is why I’ve come here to hear some advice. This is the first time I have requested sick leave for the time to focus on my OCD recovery. I am currently on a waiting list for therapy and I am going to discuss medication adjustments with my doctor as my current medication is not helping. I just worry about what my team will think about all this time off I have taken and am still taking. It is so hard to not feel guilty when this illness is not visible and it is my mind.
I hope each of you are doing well today and I’m sending so much love to you all during this recovery. ❤️
For context I’m on Zoloft (100mg) and have been for almost 2 years. Even with fluctuations in my dosage I have felt no improvement in my symptoms. In December I saw a psychologist, but it turnt out to be the worst experience EVER. She basically was trying to convince me through repeatedly interrupting me, that I wasn’t experiencing was OCD and that something else really horrible was wrong with me, even though I had been diagnosed prior to this appt with OCD presenting the same symptoms. So obviously that sent me into a spiral because that is literally one of my themes, and since then I absolutely refuse to see another psych. How would I be able to ask my regular doctor to switch to another medication? I get scared that when I ask them they will think I’m like addicted or something😭.
Im sorry if this is a stupid question. To be honest I’m young and quite new to handling my medical situations.
almost every OCD therapist and patient says that OCD-specific recovery requires ERP. my main theme (or the one that hinders my life the most) is contamination. the only thing is, majority of my contaminations don’t come from believing i’ll get ill.
because most themes change tone over time based on various things, i have in fact had times when i thought i was being infected or infecting others, but now that that’s no longer an issue to me and my brain is over it, my OCD is ofc latching onto something new as a major issue …
lately, my brain keeps feeling as though there’s a film of dust or germs or whatever on my things (mainly door handles, light switches, my electronics, etc—for some reason it’s only ever my own spaces and not the public despite frequent examples/misconceptions lol), and it makes me feel so disgusting even though i know that nothing will spread. i’ve tried to dissect it and i think it’s partially because i convince myself -other people- can see it the same way my brain does and they’ll find me dirty. like, if my phone is slightly dusty or has finger prints and i wipe it on my top instead of sanitizing, i feel like people can see it or that i’m spreading dust everywhere, even though i’m not worried about getting ill by it or anything. i can never tell if my fears are genuine or not because it seems as though i can always convince myself that normal people do them too, which is true (like sanitizing your phone), but i can never perform them in moderation without panic in between.
i keep trying to perform ERP in the way it’s helped other fears of mine, but it doesn’t seem to be helping the same because there’s nothing to ‘prove’? i just keeping spiraling with the anxiety and having panic attacks.
for example, from 2023-2025, one of the biggest fears i had was touching door handles at my parents house because i convinced myself i would contract something for whatever reason—but i challenged myself one day in oct. and kept doing it, and nothing ever happening trained my brain that it was alright and i was safe. i can’t do that with my current fear because i’m not afraid of anything physically happening - i’m just uncomfortable.
how are non-provable compulsions fixed? how do i train my brain to know i’m safe if idk what i’m fearing so badly?
I’m 4 months deep into this hell and literally EVERY single thought is a taboo intrusive thought. I never even had OCD until this happened to one random day, 4 months ago. 🥺
Ive been exercising, sauna, eating an anti-inflammatory diet, started ERP (although I feel like my entire day is exposure since the thoughts are always there), sleeping, SSRI’s, etc. And I’ve seen zero improvement.
I get into what I call “jhaw jhaw,” where my mind gets really hyperalert and starts going through random memories on its own. I end up analyzing why a certain memory or thought came up, looking for some meaning or evidence, and paying too much attention to what my mind is doing. It happens most often at night or when I'm switching between activities, and sometimes it makes studying really difficult. I remember i used to loop on statement - "You are, were and will remain stupid" (actually in hindi) but it escalated into continuous random memory scanning suddenly.
My psychologist told me to follow **“no detective work → back to behaviour.”** I'm trying to practise that, but it's honestly hard when the memories just keep coming. Chess/flow state, talking with my family, and getting involved with what's happening around me can sometimes reduce it a lot.
I'm mainly trying to get better at **returning to what I'm doing without getting pulled into the mental scanning**. Has anyone with OCD, Pure-O, rumination, or hyperawareness/sensorimotor OCD dealt with something similar? What actually helped you, and how did you stop your coping strategies from becoming compulsions? Can I use subliminals available on YT?
TW: vomit
I just like literally less than a couple minutes ago stepped in what I think was my dogs vomit (I had socks on thank God) and am freaking out right now I know I am thirsty and am really thirsty and I want to drink after but any time I put the water in my mouth or imagine drinking the water I feel like my mouth is full of the vomit can anyone help please I just want some water idk what to do
I don’t know if I’m supposed to post this here if it goes against the rules I’m sorry
I worry about the same thing over and over again that I get panic attacks from it. They diagnose me with GAD. I contact other doctors because I feel I wasn't getting any help, so The other doctors said I might have OCD because my symptoms match like it.