Ocd themes

[Missblackforest]

Hello,guys I am new to this community. Having mental health issues is hard.I feel like I cannot relate to anyone around me because they are 'normal'.I have ocd .My themes tends to change according to different situations in my life.Its like I try to overcome a certain theme but in return I get another theme with my already existing theme. I am pretty depressed too.Does this happen with you guys too?

[RUtalkingtome]

You'd be surprised how crazy "normal" people are. I know a guy whose parents were both psychiatrists. He is an effing mess.

Are you bipolar?

[Downinil in reply to RUtalkingtome]

Hi RUralkingtome! Ohhh isn’t that the truth!

[Missblackforest in reply to RUtalkingtome]

No I am not bipolar. It is difficult to manage my ocd and go through the daily life struggles.I have a college entrance coming up and I definitely can't study but my peers are studying and doing well in life.I feel behind.

[Downinil]

Hi and welcome Missblackforest! It is a true challenge tying to manage the severity of symptoms so many people don’t understand so they form judgments. If they only knew! I’m here if you’d like to chat as I struggle with this.

[Missblackforest in reply to Downinil]

Thank you ❤️.I would definitely like to chat because it is difficult to find people to relate

[Downinil]

The intrusive repetitive intrusive thoughts are my biggest problem with it. Also irrational contamination anxiety. I call it emotional contamination. Idk if that’s a thing in psychology or not but it’s how I think of it. Feel free to message me anytime.

[Lauragbr]

welcome! I hope you will find this board as helpful as I have. As for the themes, I have learned it does not matter what the OCD theme is. You treat the thoughts the same, let them be there ( I actually label them background noise) but do NOT engage with them. Engaging, figuring out, rumination is the compulsion. OCD gives you false narratives that feel real and it’s hard to sit with the thoughts and the feelings, but the more you do it and don’t engage the easier it becomes and the weaker the disorder becomes . I hope you are working with an OCD therapist.

[Missblackforest in reply to Lauragbr]

Thank you❤️

[Natureloverpeace]

The goal of OCD treatment isn’t to get rid of or reduce intrusive thoughts. It’s to accept uncertainty ( acceptance doesn’t equal approval) and to realize that you are capable of handling whatever may come up. Doing this does reduce the intrusive thoughts for most people though and helps build distress tolerance. Doing compulsions may provide temporary relief but strengthens the OCD in the long-term by reinforcing the obsessions and teaching distress intolerance. Heads up- people sometimes don’t realize that things like reassurance seeking such as excessive googling about something, rumination and avoidance are compulsions. Some people can live well despite having their OCD well-managed and others can have freedom from OCD (not cured). The difference between the two would take another post to explain but just doing old school ERP probably won’t get a person to freedom. That usually comes with an OCD specialist with advanced knowledge and skills who is up to date with the evolution of ERP.

Emotional contamination is a theme but as Lauragbr said, the theme doesn’t really matter. OCD is OCD that can appear many different ways. It’s very common for someone to switch themes or have multiple themes. OCD is the doubting disease and it takes advantage of positive and negative things in a person’s life to try to create more trouble. It attacks what we value dearly and tries to exploit doubt a person has. ERP, and any add-ons like ACT and Mindfulness, need to be custom-fit to the individual, not the theme. People with the same theme often have different factors that lead to their theme.

The core fear needs to be addressed as well. If it isn’t, OCD will play a game of whack-a-mole and show up as another theme or persist as the same theme. Often times, therapists without sufficient knowledge and skill, although they mean well, just address the superficial fear and not the core fear. The core fear can also underlie other mental health conditions a person may have so addressing this can help the other conditions as well.

Overcoming OCD is empowering and a confidence builder. You can overcome it!

[Missblackforest in reply to Natureloverpeace]

Thank you so much❤️.This really helps.