Getting over an obsession

[pinkpenguins5]

Has anyone else struggled to feel like themselves again after getting over one of their obsessions? The obsessive thoughts come less and less but I still can’t seem to feel like myself again. Sometimes I get so exhausted with thinking and I just wanna feel normal

[Luna-blade]

I have been suffering with pure ocd since I was a teenager. I never seem to win over my obsessions even though I’m on meds. Pure ocd is eternal suffering ..

[3BirdLover]

Thinking constantly about an obsession is hard to stop,but it's important to work on stopping that behavior. I have learned this. I realized (with more knowledge about OCD) is the more you try to figure it out, figure out if it's "real", or to make sense of it, just makes it worse. I had to come to the conclusion that it is OCD, therefore it will NEVER make sense, so I needed to stop.

Try telling yourself "OK, this is OCD...it's OK for me to stop trying to figure it out". Give yourself permission to stop. Then try to get busy with your brain focusing on something else immediately. Give yourself a break.... your brain is just going around in a loop. This helped me alot. Something about having permission to not figure it out has helped. I think for me it has alot to do with the fact that I feel like I have to be perfect and any 'weird thought' was not acceptable. Learning that everyone has thoughts going in and out is human. We don't have to analyze them all and panic. We have to learn to let it go.....

Even in my worries about past events, if I think to myself "hey, this is a great time to practice ERP. I'm going to not worry about this because I'm practicing 'exposure therapy', it helps in a huge way. Again, it is giving myself permission to stop...somehow it makes me feel like it's ok.

I hope this helps you.

[pinkpenguins5 in reply to 3BirdLover]

Thank you! This did help Especially the bit about “it’s okay to try to stop figuring it out” I often over analyze my feelings and why I feel that way. I didn’t realize that it could just be the OCD talking. Did ERP really help you? I’m in the process of trying to find someone for that but I don’t really know what to expect.

[3BirdLover in reply to pinkpenguins5]

I have never been in ERP therapy, however I have learned so much about OCD, how it will bully us, and tips to overcome my compulsions by watching Int'l OCD foundation videos, especially the ones called "Just Ethan". He regularly offers great advice since he himself suffers from OCD. He also regularly has a panel of specialists join him on the webinars. If you watch them LIVE streaming, we can ask questions online and they do a great job at answering them; plus I learn so much from other people's questions, and also that others are struggling just like I am...they have had similar thoughts too!!!. I have been doing very well lately, but when I get triggered, or have an OCD obsessive thought, I can draw from the tips I have learned. Also as I mentioned to you, I have learned to use those triggered times to "apply ERP" and it has REALLY helped so much to be able to drop it quickly.

It's so important for me to remember:

* OCD will never be satisfied

* OCD wants me to be miserable

* OCD is a bully

* I am NOT my OCD. I have learned to set aside the OCD from who I really am. Some of us actually give it a 'name' to separate it from the real us. Because an intrusive thought crosses my mind (such as harming someone), I am able now to realize that it's just a thought....it is NOT how I feel or anything I would ever do. Then "POOF" it is gone.

* So many other things I could go on forever....

If I ever get really bad again, I would definitely seek out an OCD specialist near me. I have had OCD since I was 6 years old and will not give this thing another minute of torturing me!!

[pinkpenguins5 in reply to 3BirdLover]

Thank you so much ! I will definitely look into some of those videos and I’m glad you have some positive outcomes in battling OCD. Again thank you so so much for your advice and I wish you the best

[Mamatired in reply to 3BirdLover]

This is very helpful. I am going to try some of these. That’s the thing, it’s a constant loop. When my mind is not distracted or consumed by something, my automatic thoughts go on loop and I don’t even know where to start to figure it out. Then when I’m feeling ok from being distracted, I feel like my thoughts beforehand aren’t real and get stuck in trying to figure out why/what. Oftentimes too some of the thoughts or obsessions are things my parents said to each other when fighting/accusing each other and then I can’t separate them from my relationship with my partner or my reality. It’s so frustrating

[Mamatired in reply to Mamatired]

Even my depressive thoughts go on loop and I don’t know if I really feel them anymore or if it’s just all in my head. Is dealing with ocd constantly just distracting yourself from your mind? It’s so hard. Someone in this thread mentioned that it’ll never go away. If it never does, I feel a little relief in that because then I won’t keep fighting it. It’s kind of like I need something definite to tell me just what to expect.

[Mamatired in reply to Mamatired]

Sorry I’m just venting now.

[Mamatired in reply to Mamatired]

I don’t even know if I have ocd now. Now I’m doubting it. I wish someone could crack open my head and just tell me what’s going on in there

[3BirdLover in reply to Mamatired]

Learning to sit with uncertainty is a huge part of living with OCD. "Maybe, maybe not" is something we live with. Accept it. Sit with it. Let it be there. Don't try to figure it out. It won't work. I now have an OCD therapist and it has helped greatly.

[3BirdLover in reply to Mamatired]

Learning that we cannot control thoughts is part of learning about OCD. Automatic thoughts are just that....automatic. Those of us who have OCD try to 'figure them out' and there is no figuring them out. We have to learn that we just need to let it go. The more you ruminate about thoughts, the worse OCD will torture you. I learned that the hard way.

[MedLibMI]

Don't have a solution, but same. I'm terrified that my best friend will die or not talk to me. I melt down about it. It's not healthy for her or me--at this point she's kind of close to done with me. (It's particularly hard because even when I manage to make small bits of progress, it doesn't mean I don't melt down or even melt down less frequently, so the impact on her is the same, and she's just as sick of it).

[pinkpenguins5 in reply to MedLibMI]

I’m so sorry /: I hope this gets better , this is all really new to me so I don’t have much advice but just keep in mind “it’s just a thought” sometimes that helps me

[HHeerssen]

Don't exhaust yourself by trying to be normal. It will come naturally, just give it some time.

[pinkpenguins5 in reply to HHeerssen]

Thank you. I think I have been over analyzing how I feel.

[123ST3 in reply to HHeerssen]

That is so freaking true. One of the best things about OCD is the feeling I get when it lets up. Incredible gratitude flows once you're outta the valley

[ibal]

I can completely relate. It's getting overwhelming.