Hello 👋

[ILove2Garden]

Hey, I'm new here. At 66 years of age, OCD is still busting down my door, it came barging in a couple of days ago, and it's left me crippled emotionally and given me severe insomnia.

That's how it is for me. I can go several months, maybe even a year, but despite medication, CBT, and ERP my OCD is always lurking around the corner. I wish I could scare it away for good, but so far no luck.

OCD - (mine is contamination) just wears one out. I'm trying my best to fight back, i.e. engaging in ERP, so hopefully with time this incident will pass to and the sun will shine again.

Nice to meet you online. I look forward to chatting.

[IStillHaveHope]

Hello, I'm sorry your having a difficult time right now. I know how difficult OCD can be. I too know the feeling of thinking you have it "beat" only to have it come crashing back into your life. I think it's important to remember that the goal isn't to "beat" the OCD, but to coexist with it. In my experience it will always be there and it's always important to challenge it when it comes up.

I've noticed too that it can be very sneaky. I have issues with putting things away. I'm afraid if I put something away "wrong" it may cause a fire or something. I find that I sometimes get a tinge of anxiety when I put my car keys into a bowl we use to store thing. If I notice it, I try to put it down in what I think is the "worst" location. At first this was really difficult for me to do, but I had to accept the risk and listen to the "smaller" voice that was telling me that that this is fine and everything is okay. I think that's been a big development for me. I've noticed that OCD is very loud and usually screams, "YOU HAVE TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS RIGHT NOW OR SOMETHING BAD WILL HAPPEN". However, there is usually a smaller voice saying, "I know this is silly. It will be alright.". I've been trying to listen to that smaller voice. It's been hard learning to trust it, but elevating it has allowed me to lower the OCD one.

Again I'm truly sorry you're having trouble right now. I really am. I know how hard OCD can be and how isolating it can make you feel. The good news is that there are literally millions of people who want (and can) help. All you need to do is ask.

I hope you find the peace you deserve my friend. God bless.

[Precious2023 in reply to IStillHaveHope]

God help too to listen to the small voice instead of the OCD voice.The consciousness of having OCD is creating so many triggers for me after giving birth....like anything on the roof,wall and ground get me scared now (responsibility OCD) with the compulsion of letting whoever found near such to be aware otherwise I will be feeling guilty and my anxiety will be heightening. I feel so exhausted and hopeless

How can I overcome this?

[IStillHaveHope in reply to Precious2023]

Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner. For some reason your response didn't come up in my feed.

Are you seeing a therapist? If not you should, and make sure it's one who specializes in OCD treatment. I'm so sorry that you're dealing with this. I know how OCD can consume your life and reality. I know what was hard for me was that I had to "risk" the OCD thoughts being "correct". I actually told myself, "I'm pretty confident that this thought is OCD. I have to take the risk that it is and that there is no danger in this thought".

I don't know if this will help, but I put together a list of things I've learned on my OCD journey. I put it together for people just starting out, but maybe there is something in there that may be helpful?

healthunlocked.com/my-ocd/p...

I don't think OCD can ever fully be "overcome" but it is possible to learn to live with it and be happy and healthy. Myself and so many others on this site are proof of that.

[Precious2023 in reply to IStillHaveHope]

Thanks so much for your helpful response

[NoNameBlues]

mine is severe contamination too. Do you think the contamination spreads and gets out of control? Do you clean to stop from spreading? That’s what do.

[IStillHaveHope in reply to NoNameBlues]

I understand how you feel. The problem is the more you do your compulsions the more affect OCD has on you. It is hard, but you need to learn to resist the compulsions. ERP is typically used to do this and a therapist can help you come up with exercises to increase your tolerance to the OCD feelings. It definitely is hard in the beginning, but over time your brain "rewires" yourself and you no longer feel the emotions as intensely.

[good2accept]

you are not alone. Medication helped me a lot. My Dad used to tell me “you may have IT, but it doesn’t have YOU”. I’m in your age group, it can get better !