My main goal for OCD this year is to taper on my medication and keep my mental distance from my OCD thoughts. During this time I need to be mindful of nutrition, sleep and physical activity to give myself the best chance of success. Some areas I'm doing really well with, and some need some work.
I also want to reach out to my brother. I haven't been in communication with him for several years, and now I think that he has OCD as well, but I don't think that he has an actual diagnosis of it yet. I can offer him some hope that you can improve and fight back against OCD and not just continually shrink your world smaller and smaller in a futile search for safety and certainty. I don't think that he has done ERP, and it could be so useful for him.
Rather than focus on my specific fears, I am choosing to focus on what I want to accomplish and where OCD is holding me back. In thinking of goals, I can reach for desired positive outcomes and focus on what is important to me, not on the OCD-fueled (and largely irrational) fears. Focusing on the fears is giving them more power than they deserve and trying to play by OCD's rules. I am in charge. OCD is there along the way shouting out potential dangers and trying to be helpful, but I can choose to ignore it.
I have found my local OCD support group really useful. I hope that it continues to thrive even as the therapists that founded it are starting to take less of a role in running it, and handing the group over to those of us with OCD to be more of a peer support model.
Thank you so much for sharing. I love the plan on connecting with your brother and trying to be there for him as he struggles with OCD. I wish ayou all the success in your goals this year!
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