I'm not really sure if I'm looking for advice here or just getting my thoughts out in the hope they will make some kind of sense, but I have been experiencing constant false memories and intrusive thoughts that I obsess over a lot recently. I posted a couple of weeks back saying I had an appointment with my doctor and the diagnosis I was given was severe depression and anxiety with obsessive features and have been given medication to help with that, but the false memories and intrusive thoughts have been quite exhausting recently, from dawn until dusk, always just moving from one to the next as I 'solve' what I think the problem is in my mind at the time.
I have a follow up appointment with the doctor in a couple of days to discuss my experience but please feel free to add in your thoughts.
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hopeful2204
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It can help just to write things down! It could take another couple of weeks for the medication to kick in. But I do know how exhausting OCD can be.
Things could settle down once you've got the medication working, but meanwhile take it easy, do what you can when you can, but don't demand too much of yourself. Things that occupy your mind and distract you can help, as OCD likes to fill in for an unoccupied mind. If concentrating on anything is a problem, just do things for a little while and then rest or do something else. And do let us know how you get on.
Whoa, this is kind of what I’ve been experiencing recently! I hope that your appointment goes well and that you know you’re not alone. I should probably get this checked out by my doctor. I’ve gotten diagnosed with depression, anxiety, and OCD, but i think I have illness anxiety disorder. I also might go on treatment soon and I really hope that it helps. Best of luck to you!
Firstly your not crazy. The fact you worry and obsess over your thoughts is a given fact your a good person with strong beliefs.
Doctors as I have found are not qualified for ocd. CBT therapists are.
Thoughts are normal, odd strange thought's are normal.
There is one major difference between strange thought's and intrusive thoughts and that's how much they upset/disturb you.
Someone with ocd clings on to those thoughts, where as someone without OCD dismisses those thoughts as quick as they arrive.
OCD is a caring disease.
Anyone without OCD is a "don't give a s**t" about anyone else" disease.
Please bare in mind I'm taking the last 2 comments to extreme, but, if more people had OCD on this planet, well, nature would be better off, people would care for their neighbours more and maybe we'd all be to worried about killing each other.
I really wish that people would talk about this more often with OCD. The false memories can be absolutely terrifying and debilitating. At my worst, I felt such guilt over things OCD tried to convince me I had done that I could hardly eat or sleep. I felt like a monster because that’s what OCD wanted me to believe I was. All my obsessions and thoughts were focused on the possibility that I had harmed others in the past and was going to continue to cause harm. It was the darkest time in my life. But I’m telling you this because despite the hours I spent googling, watching the news, and trying to recall every single memory I’ve had since birth I can say that as of today - I am better. And the reason I am better is because I was able to seek and receive the proper treatment. Any doctor who is not a trained psychologist specializing in OCD is not equipped to provide you with the help that you deserve. There is a reason that so many of us go undiagnosed for years or receive improper treatment, and that is because OCD is widely misunderstood and misinterpreted (even in the medical community). The iocdf.org has a page on their website where you can find your nearest specialist. I would urge you to take the step to speak to someone who is well versed in this disease. I won’t sugar coat - OCD sucks and the treatment is challenging and at times tormenting. But it is worth every second of pain and discomfort you feel. Four months ago I was begging my mom to hospitalize me and asking for daily reassurance that I was a good person. Now as I write this I have my life back. It’s not perfect, but nothing ever is. I made the choice to stop trying to figure out if I had done something bad and it was excruciating to let go of my compulsions and embrace uncertainty. Recovery isn’t about never having an obsessive thought or false memory again. It’s about how you will choose to react to those thoughts and obsessions when they pop into your mind. I know right now it probably doesn’t feel like you have much of a choice in how you react, but I promise you that if you invest your time in ERP you will be able to make the choice for yourself. Just remember this - OCD will do everything it can to keep you in its cage and if you continue to engage in compulsions you will still never obtain the reassurance OCD is so desperately seeking. This disease is ugly, cruel, and unfair but there is hope and I believe in you and your ability to overcome this monster. I promise, the fight is worth it.
**Wow sorry if I started rambling but I just get passionate about OCD! 😂😂
Thank you for sharing these words. Many points you have written have hit home to me.
With regards to your statement “but I promise you that if you invest your time in ERP you will be able to make the choice for yourself” please would you define ERP? (My definition of this is Enterprise Resource Planning)
Unless I am mistaken, in this context ERP is Exposure Response Prevention, the idea of gradual exposure to fears with the idea of learning not to respond with fears and / or obsessions and compulsions.
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