Comic I posted about OCD

[MissBowLady]

It’s funny how I’m sharing this link, but maybe it can help anyone here:

instagram.com/p/CM8t1jSJLMJ...

instagram.com/p/CM8uklHpZJJ...

[Wes8]

Thanks for the post! I also deal with symptoms of ocd that make me feel like I must ruminate on some obsessive thought or fear. It can be hard to just dismiss these thoughts because I can't shake the feeling that it may be something that I need to attend to. I fear that I will be missing something important. I'm learning that to help get past these constant obsessions, I must be comfortable with having some uncertainty. This can be kind of terrifying. Just placing hope for a more positive future I believe can help.

[DeathtoOCD]

It was a little hard to read what you had actually wrote, but it's fine. I will say that OCD make you think that your reasoning is sound, it's a tough thing to accept it is not. If you don't mind can you explain a little bit more about what your OCD focuses on or obsessions, if not that's okay to.

Slightly off topic, and more to be discussed in PM's but you must be a My Hero Academia fan hehe

😄.

[DeathtoOCD]

Also, your draws are good. You know, art can be an amazing way to express your anxiety and help deal with OCD.

[OrchidKoi15]

Sorry your going through this but I am surprised at what your therapists response is to your issues. I feel they should try to get to the bottom of why these things are such triggers for you and therefore obsess about everything you said. Idk. My current issues are turning into severe ptsd from childhood being the cause of alot of them so now I relate everything.

[GreenLeaf28]

Really great work on this comic. I could see my own OCD mirrored in the things you discussed in the topic. As I sit here typing this I am thinking about the very similar anxieties I've gone through with my OCD so I can completely relate. I think your therapist has a point about the positive and negative things balancing out on those platforms. I think it's worthwhile to try to see things as not being so black and white, but that most (if not all) things have some good and bad within them. I can relate in the thought line of "if there is any bad part of it, I should just not associate with it at all", but I think there are very few things in the world that are entirely "good". Instead, what might be a better way to frame your thoughts is to think of the impact of those things as a whole. Another good thing (at least for people) is to think that even if people are bad or do bad things, people can grow and change, and you continuing to use those platforms that might have bad things doesn't necessarily mean you agree with them, but that you are giving them the opportunity to grow and change away from the bad parts. It's really tough, I know. But it does get easier to deal with. It sounds like you have a really great therapist too, so I believe that you will find some peace in your mind with these worries

[MissBowLady in reply to GreenLeaf28]

I’m trying to say more things do good than bad, but now my ocd is saying “shouldn’t we try our best to do the most good while doing the least harm?” And like my ocd is telling me because my mom and family roam on YouTube or hbo Max and don’t choose a film immediately they are causing more harm, or are not caring as much as I am and therefore they are “bad” despite if I know everything else they do is good or fine. My ocd is making me judge them on intent and what I said above.

[GreenLeaf28 in reply to MissBowLady]

I do agree that we should try to do the most good that we can. If it is any consolation to you, I don't think your family are bad people for using YouTube or HBO Max. I think if you look hard enough you can find issues with just about anything. For example, I am a very environmentally conscious person, but I also have to eat, and many of the foods that we eat come with excess packaging. I try to avoid excess packaging when I can, but I try to forgive myself if I do eat some food that has a fair amount of plastic wrap or whatnot. I don't think that a person has to live a 100% no waste life to be an environmentalist (or at least environmentally conscious), and in the same way I don't think you or your family are bad people if you watch movies or TV shows on a platform that might have some content you don't agree with or like. I think you have to look at the context of the situation as well. We're still in the pandemic, and streaming services are providing people with a lot of stress relief and entertainment that can be hard to find elsewhere right now. As well, it sounds like you and your family are not watching the content you disagree with/don't like, just using the same platform, so it helps to keep in mind the degrees of separation there too. For example, if you have a friend who makes racist remarks, you probably wouldn't be friends with them, but if they have a friend who has a friend who makes racist remarks but the original friend doesn't, I don't think you need to cut the original friend out of your life. I hope that helps a bit.

[MissBowLady in reply to GreenLeaf28]

Yeah. But my ocd is making me focus on why my mom isn’t caring about the connections I’ve made. And my ocd is like “she isn’t being fast with her choices and is just supporting the platform the more she roams and doesn’t pick a movie, she doesn’t care about the point you made.” My mom said that she wasn’t going to try to explain herself again so it wouldn’t feed my ocd, but my ocd is making me paranoid again and anxious all over my body. I wish I could go back to not making this connection and just roaming on stuff and picking without pressure, but even if I’m not clicking on stuff that’s weird I’m still doing something bad.

My mom pointed out that in therapy I have to find out why ocd is focused on making me think I’m a bad person. That I’m focusing on myself. And I guess that’s true so I have to think in the context of what are they doing that’s hurting others? But it’s still kind of the same points of like her not choosing things fast enough and hbomax still getting money or data the seconds she is roaming and not picking a movie to watch

[MissBowLady in reply to MissBowLady]

And my ocd tells me because I don’t necessarily “need” streaming services or social media I shouldn’t use them. Or that if I used them it’s more on making sure that not weird stuff is on the front page and less about my own enjoyment

[GreenLeaf28 in reply to MissBowLady]

Can I message you directly about this? I have a lot of things I want to type to try to help but it's hard to put into just one reply haha

[MissBowLady in reply to GreenLeaf28]

Sure!