Feedback on ocd in young adults?

[Inneedofcommunity]

Does anyone have experience of bad intrusive thoughts and ocd from ages 19-25? I just turned 25 last week and my ocd is still kicking my butt. It's better but sometimes I feel like it'll never get better and I lose hope to keep trying (ideation). Essentially has anyone had a similar experience and noticed their symptoms started to die down at an older age? Any insight is helpful! I just feel kinda alone in this. Anecdotes are appreciated. Also perhaps some advice on therapeutic methods? I take Zoloft and Risperdal already

[BlackOnyx]

Are you in ERP therapy?

[Inneedofcommunity in reply to BlackOnyx]

I'm not, what's that?

[BlackOnyx in reply to Inneedofcommunity]

Its what I see most often when researching OCD as the highest recommended therapy for it. Exposure therapy and response prevention. Its basically doing things that make you uncomfortable and not engaging in a compulsion afterwards.

[sligoguy]

hi mate.keep with the community on this forum and it will.help you through ....we all need each other.This horrible buzz can act up at any time but remember you are definatly not alone everyone here has had and still have. shit days with it ....the age group does not make any odds ....its just the same ...you will get better and have less flare ups .so keep interactive with fellow people on here .'...when you learn more about this ocd thing you will come to recognise its sneeky sneaky ways ..and how to put it in its box

[MothFir]

I've had OCD a long time and I recommend therapy (ERP), preferably with an OCD therapist, but on your own with self-help materials if a personal therapist is absolutely not an option now. Don't wait for it to go away on its own. It may come and go over the years but if you learn what's going on in your brain, why you have the thoughts, and how you can retrain your brain so the thoughts no longer bother you, you can have peace of mind.

[TheStars]

You are definitely NOT ALONE. I had a very difficult time during those years, especially as a teenager. I have had a great deal of stress and anxiety and feel like I have missed living my life fully in the many years since then, because I did not know enough about OCD, and also felt alone and beyond help. What I have learned, and has helped me, is that it is very important to get help with a therapist who specializes in OCD, and one who you feel comfortable with. It is important to stick to it and do all you can NOW, so you can live the rest of your life more fully and more enjoyably. I have been to a few therapists over the years, starting with a non-OCD specialist (because I did not know better at the time), and that did not help, but I later found ones who knew how to treat OCD properly; namely, with Exposure and Response Prevention, which is a form of CBT or Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. There are complimentary things like ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy), Mindfulness practice, and others that may also help in conjunction with ERP. I have found mindfulness helpful for me, and like what I know of ACT and want to learn more about it.

I have used ERP successfully and have experienced disbelief/thrill in how quickly effective it was, and was very happy to have some relief and a feeling of success, though it was a small success; the first time I tried ERP was for a lower distress issue, but I have the feeling of success in me from that and it gives me confidence in working on higher stress issues. I am getting back into therapy now and am excited for the possibilities of improving my life, as well as the lives of those I love by being more present and less annoying with my behaviors. It is never too late to get help, and there IS hope.

If you have not already, please investigate the IOCDF (International OCD Foundation) website to learn more about OCD, treatments, and even to search their listings of specialists in your area (hopefully). Keep in mind that therapists are doing teletherapy now because of the pandemic, so if you are looking for one in your insurance plan, they could be a far distance from you, but still in your state and on your insurance plan; i.e. they do not need to be very close by, in case this situation applies to you (and assuming you are in the U.S.).

Also, check out the IOCDF YouTube or FaceBook page (your preference) to see the Town Hall and Just Ethan live videos they have been doing since March. There is a wealth of information and insight that are very valuable. Also, the Peace of Mind Foundation.

Good luck!

[AlmostFreeofOCD]

Such great advice already given previously. And I totally empathize with you! I had terribly harmful/sexual intrusive thoughts from the age of 11-25 before I even knew OCD was a thing! (before the internet was "invented", lol). Michelle Kraske was my very first therapist at UCLA (where I was studying at the time) and I was SOOOO lucky to have fallen into such a specialist at the time as she helped me IMMENSELY! She explained how OCD and the brain worked so that I could understand it better, and then she had me do lots of ERP - which helped tremendously. But it didn't go away instantaneously as my brain had grooved in neuralpathways for 14 years already.

So, once I left UCLA and moved to NY, I found another OCD specialist (it is incredibly important that your therapist specialize in it as many "say" they do, but they really don't have the expertise), and this amazing therapist, bless his heart, had me do an "exposure" which was to hold a knife to his throat for 5 minutes at a time, until I was absolutely bored to death. Before that exercise, however, he made me write out the most gruesome things I could think of, and tape record it on a looped tape, and listen to it every night for an hour - every night, for 21 days. Talk about boredom! The thoughts about stabbing my loved ones eventually went away, and if any other bizarre thoughts came my way, I had the skills to "desenstize myself" to them (write it down on paper, then in a looped tape, then listen daily until you are bored to tears).

I feel TOTALLY blessed to have had BOTH those therapists in my life at such a young age, as it's been incredibly difficult to find OCD speacialists in my neighborhood of San Francisco in the 3 decades since! The Pandemic is going to change that for OCD sufferers, I imagine, now that all therapists will have set themselves up to work from home and sufferers can reach OCD specialists around the world.

One other thing that helped INCREDIBLY at that young age was that I did a 5 day silent retreat, where I just welcomed and accepted all my thoughts. I would welcome all my gruesome horrifying thoughts and say "hello, come have a cup of tea" and watch what they did. The more I searched for gruesome thoughts and welcomed them in, the longer I would have to wait for a new thought to pop in. And eventually, my mind got tired.

What we resists, persists. So when I stopped resisting (and actually just let my mind do what it wanted), the energy of the "bad" thoughts subsided.

Of course, OCD is tricky, and it can morph, so be prepared Mine morphed itself into HOCD for many years (which I tried to get treatment for by a therapist who was horrible, and then just let it go as it wasn't as urgent). Fortunately, I knew I never wanted to harm or kill anyone, but with HOCD you can never be "certain" that we aren't gay or bi-sexual or straight, so my mind would loop and trick itself into believing it wasn't OCD... Fun stuff! And then there is ROCD - which I just learned was a "thing" and I believe I've had that for decades (hence I'm still single)... But both of those are much less horrifying than having gruesome images of killing loved ones, so the urgency to get treatment for those has been much much slower. It's on my to do list for 2020!

Ah - one last thing which helped me a TON recently, was listening obsessively (lol) to the OCD Stories Podcast. It helped me feel SO much less alone about my early and current struggles, and helped me realize I still have some remnants of OCD (albeint less and less with awareness and some microdosing).

You are lucky to be battling this during an era when so many are "OUT of the OCD closet". I'd say half of my healing was knowing there were so many of us battling this disorder, and learning that my thoughts are not all that unique and bizarre.

Wait, wait, one other thing that helped me in my 40's. I signed up for Improv Classes and learned how other poeples brains worked! I called it "Laugh your BUTT OFF" therapy! There is nothing like keeing you on your toes than Improv (and I have stage fright, but beginners Improv is like for kindergardeners). The absurd violent and sexual ideas that would come out of "Normal" people's mouths when not censored - and made people LAUGH - made me realize I took my braid WAYYYY too seriously! It really helped me to bring levity to the absurdity of the human mind.

I hope this has helped you a little bit.

Big vitual hug to you, and best wishes.