Food and Future

[lrdfnk]

Hello,

New to the community, but I am wondering if anyone has had similar thoughts as mine and different ways they have found relief or have been able to relieve themselves from obsessive thoughts about food or future plans.

I seem as if all I ever think about or focus my energy on is what I am going to either be doing for food or plans, never actually focusing on and enjoying what I am doing in the present. I feel as if I need to script out my every exact move like a chess player, which is also taken the joy of spontaneoty and going with the flow. I can’t tell if it is that I am obsessed over food, always wanting to have plans, if it is based around money, or a cesspool of all three. Any advice or insight is very much appreciated

[deValentin]

It's normal to some extent that our thoughts revolve around food (grocery shopping, meal preparation, finding a good restaurant, etc.) and making plans for the future. The key element is psychological flexibility. If those thoughts occupy all our mind at all times and prevent us from enjoying other things, then there is a problem.

At one point of my life, I became obsessed with the need to choose my direction in life (field of study, career path, where to live, etc.). I could spend hours and hours pondering over that issue to the point of neglecting other important aspects of my present life and feeling distressed over it. I couldn’t find satisfying results and couldn’t give up searching for answers. In other words, I was stuck.

Then I finally understood that I was not choosing to torture my mind that way. I was letting the mood of the moment decide in my place, and I was mistakenly counting on a successful search to justify my present behavior. I felt like a gambler who is relying on winning big to compensate for all the money he lost gambling. Once I decided to spend so much time making plans for the future, but no more, I regained reasonable self-control. It wasn’t always easy, but it was worth it in the end.

[lrdfnk in reply to deValentin]

What were some techniques or practices you utilized in the process?

[deValentin in reply to lrdfnk]

It was all based on exposure and response prevention or ERP, and acceptance and commitment therapy or ACT, even if at the time I was not aware of those therapies. However, I realized two things:

1. If I waited long enough, what was extremely important in the moment to me became less important. So, I decided to explore paths for the future in an orderly fashion, not in a haphazard fashion like I was doing before.

2. If I didn't wait too long to do what a responsible person would do in my place, I built momentum and became motivated to do it. "The first step is always the hardest" kind of approach.

So, I relied on habituation to let irrational urges die (basic ERP principle), and commitment and sunk costs to revive my desire to live a life in line with my values (basic ACT principle).

That enabled me to understand that the impact on our mind of the possibility of making mistakes depends partly on one’s actions and self-confidence . However, I wasn't completely out of the woods yet. I only felt I was on the right track. It took a long time for those ideas to sink in. Recovery isn't linear, like they say.

[Natureloverpeace]

Welcome to My OCD Community!

[IStillHaveHope]

Hello and welcome!

I haven't had that specific OCD theme, but OCD can cause us to obsess over pretty much anything. It becomes a problem if these unwanted thoughts cause intense anxiety or other uncomfortable emotions. If it is OCD, your best bet is ERP and/or medicine. The medicine is typically an SSRI or SNRI which tamp down the anxiety and allow you to perform the ERP better. ERP stands for Exposure Response Prevention and is a therapy in which you will gradually face what you fear. Over time this re-wires your brain to not find the trigger/topic a threat. With this type of approach most people see a significant reduction in their OCD symptoms (some even as complete remission).

I would suggest if you're interested in this to find a doctor/therapist who specializes in OCD treatment. I know for me things started to get better when I found the right people who could help me. I worked through my PCP, who referred me to a psychiatrist's office. I also had some good luck with finding an OCD therapist in my area.

OCD is difficult, but there is always hope. You are not alone in this and there are many of people on this site who have recovered. I hope you find the peace you deserve my friend

[reinhar]

Yes it's normal. Are you medicated, may I ask?

[lrdfnk in reply to reinhar]

I was taking a small dosage of Escitalopram for a bit, but stopped as I felt it was bit doing much. Thinking about discussing with my Doc / therapist about maybe topping dosage as I have felt it now being off medication worse off.