Feeling so alone in this journey

[JustMe_123]

I’ve been feeling so alone in this journey of dealing with my OCD. I feel everyone has left me and nobody loves me any longer.

[LuvSun]

Well you won’t feel alone anymore. Welcome to the forum!

[JustMe_123 in reply to LuvSun]

Thanks! Wish there was a live chat for this group so one could at least text in it to share how other people deal with it etc.

[deValentin]

It looks like you're faced with a difficult situation, and now, like everybody else in a similar situation, you're faced with a choice. Either you give in to the temptation of wallowing in self-pity the rest of your life or you try to do something positive about your situation. It's a gradual process that requires some efforts. You may not feel up to it at the present time because OCD has shaken you self-confidence and, because of it, you may be feeling somewhat depressed. It's very common for people with OCD to feel sad because that disorder is debilitating. It consumes a lot of time.

To try to find ways to feel less alone and more in control of your life, it's important to realize that you're not facing the same challenges than an OCD-free person. You're not sure you can live OCD-free whereas a person who has been living OCD-free for a long time knows from experience that it's possible. So, your attempts to make tough choices and tolerate some uncertainties in your life will be more difficult.

There are tough choices to be made because between 5 minutes of ruminating or ritualizing and 5 minutes of disorder-free behavior, it's tempting to choose the first option. But things add up, and 5 minutes of ruminating or ritualizing easily become 10 minutes, and so on. So, it's necessary to look at the big picture, and decide how you want to spend the rest of your life. Likewise with friends. Unsought social isolation breeds itself. If you try to be more socially inclined and involved, you're bound sooner or later to find people you can connect with because there are many diverse personalities in this world.

At any rate, whatever the future holds, to make efforts towards improving one's quality of life is a source of satisfaction by itself. I wish you a fresh start in life.

[beth196 in reply to deValentin]

my OCD which I had at 31 returned with a vengance I use to get away with just proza c80mg but i now need 1mg clonazepam with it to be happy. It's a sucky disorder but there is hope; Join a support group.

[JustMe_123 in reply to beth196]

I am in therapy for the last 2 years but it’s been hard.

[JoeS00]

I won't lie to you it is a very lonely and sad experience especially with severe symptoms. Remember that it's always about finding something to fight for in this life something that means to you there is always such a thing. What type of therapy are you doing?

[JustMe_123 in reply to JoeS00]

Thanks for your message. I’m doing exposure therapy but it doesn’t come easy. My biggest issue is that even though my therapist and I try to educate people around me about this, they think I can just fix it or they just don’t get how I could feel so much fear of germs etc. They think I’m making their life difficult or just want to give everyone a hard time and some even think I’m trying to control people around me through my ocd behaviors or I’m seeking attention and it is all just so disturbing.

[JoeS00 in reply to JustMe_123]

Oh never expect people to understand they won't.

Always keep in your mind the goal of not doing the compulsion which will so much help with therapy and always do relaxing activities like meditation and exercise.

You can dm me whenever you like

[Mcfly64]

You always have support here 🙏

[Natureloverpeace]

It’s not your fault that you have OCD and OCD is not a character defect. It takes courage, hard work and usually a very skilled OCD specialist to have freedom from OCD. A support group is a big plus too. It’s not unusual for family members to not understand what you’re dealing with. Some won’t even try. I don’t know if your asking or insisting that family members accommodate your OCD but if you are that can cause relationship issues because the other person feels like the person with OCD is trying to control them. I encourage you to join an OCD support group that is professionally led. Another place where people support and encourage each other is Community Conversations and Town Hall which are livestreams on most Tuesdays at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time on several platforms including YouTube and Facebook Live. It can be found under IOCDF.

[LiveOutLove_22]

I hope that this community can give you guidance. I often feel alone on my journey through navigating OCD but hoping that you can find peace in this forum to help you on your journey as well.