What to do in moment of peace.

[Islande_King]

I have these moments, brief as they may be, where everything feels normal again and my mind feels at peace, I have regained energy and joy. I'm questioning what to do in these moments, even though I'm in the midst of this battle. Do I take full advantage and live it up, do my dance and have a mental party or do I relax and let it pass like I'm supposed to do with my negative thoughts? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Eli_E]

Thank you for asking this because I have the same question! It's like I have brief moments of just being in a nice free-feeling state, but once I recognize it, I'm like shoot - how do I react? Like you, I wonder if I should just let it pass as I would an intrusive thought or throw my hands in the air and say hell yes! I want to do the latter, but I worry that doing that will just cause my OCD to get louder again. This cycle can be so perplexing

[Islande_King in reply to Eli_E]

Right! It can be so confusing.

So far, I've just been trying my best not to get too invested in it, however, I still enjoy the peaceful moments, while still being ready for any thought that may literally pop up. For me so far its like frolicking in a castle thats at peace and blossoming but still having soldiers on guard for any oncoming threats.

[MothFir in reply to Islande_King]

I think that castle analogy is really good and reflects what I have experienced. I have done ERP for about a year and I have had times where the "mental noise" of OCD has almost disappeared and I have a lot of mental peace. That is when I've noticed I have to be careful, because when I do get an obsession I am very tempted to just do a compulsion to make it go away and feel peace again. Of course that leads to another obsession and compulsion and starts a cycle.

So I agree, when you are feeling good you should enjoy it and take all the opportunities you can to act like a non-OCD person would act, because (as I understand it) that is what teaches your brain how it should behave. But be ready to resist compulsions and put up with the anxiety in case you are triggered, or else you will go back to playing OCD's game.

I hope and expect that with time and practice the obsessions will become fewer and the moments of peace easier to maintain.

[Eli_E in reply to Islande_King]

Oh I love that imagery! thank you!