Hello, has anyone got any advice on how to calm down this ocd symptom. I tend to count in order of number in which goes 1,2,3.... 2,3,4....3,4,5 however I do it on my fingers and HAVE to tap my fingers down. I have tried counselling and nothing helped. I don’t want to take medicine as I am so scared of the symptoms as I am only 17 and attend college therefore do not want to fall behind. I have many other rituals that I complete throughout the day and gain new ones every couple of weeks. Although it is stressful those three patterns of numbers drive me crazy as I’ve been doing it as long as I can remember.
Counting: Hello, has anyone got any advice on... - OCD Support
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Counting
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jessicacripps_x
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Hey how are you I’m Matthew I’ve got sort of the same thing as you I hate it I do it on my fingers but I write it down too if that makes sense
I also draw patterns such as I don’t know if you played in when you were young but drawing on your friends back with your fingertip however in your head you can see the pattern. Well I draw things and I have to try and turn it upside down, each side and each diagonal possibility
Aww yh I know Yh and like the pattern you draw in the back u then have to like draw it every which way and yh I’m at college
How do you cope?
Not sure really lol I’m not on any meds and honestly don’t want to be on any cause I’ve read about side affects and things wbu
Health professionals don't usually prescribe antidepressants to young people under 18 but often make exceptions for OCD. Modern antidepressants can be tolerated by many people with few if any side effects. It might be worth investigating this.
Counting rituals are very common in OCD. I developed a complicated one when I was ten or eleven and had to count and touch different parts of me while I did it. I did it every day and got fed up with it, and managed to whittle it down, and got rid of it altogether after I'd been doing it a couple of years. Such a feeling of freedom!
I'm not sure what you mean by 'counselling'. Just talking it over doesn't do much good, if that's what you've had, and pouring out your feelings doesn't help much with OCD. The best treatment is cognitive behavioural therapy, which isn't necessarily easy but it is effective when done properly. Taking medication can help, both with taking off the worst of the OCD and putting you in a stronger frame of mind for the therapy.
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