Why am I getting worse?: I am sweating and... - OCD Support

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Why am I getting worse?

4 years ago•3 Replies

I am sweating and getting anxious more every time I do my mental rituals and I end up doing even more rituals to calm myself. I don't know whats happened to me! I feel like this pandemic and being locked up in the house all the time has affected me in some way! Does anybody know? Thanks

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Marc0133

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EverythingWillBeOK4 years ago

Mmm, you're getting worse precisely because you are doing more and more rituals. You are following and obeying the OCD and of course it gets stronger. Try to delay the performance of rituals when you get the urge, resist them as much as you can. And slowly your tension will diminish. But probably very slightly, since it has developed so much. It's best you look for professional help, don't waste time because a real professional can really help you instead of you on your own suffering in your head. Good luck!

Sallyskins4 years ago

The coronavirus has affected us in lots of different ways. I haven't minded it too much, but I feel for those who have lost work or businesses, or people they care about, to this horrible virus. I've felt the isolation, but I try to keep in touch with family and friends as much as I can. I have found, though, that going out shopping is more difficult, particularly as I also have agoraphobia. Going out where there are fewer people isn't so difficult.

So it wouldn't surprise me if your OCD has got worse. But the more you do the rituals, the worse it becomes. It's the doubting disease. It likes to put little doubts into your head, 'did I do that ritual properly? Do I need to do it again? ' - that sort of thing, until your life consists mainly of rituals! It doesn't matter whether they're external or mental, they're still rituals.

My first experience of OCD (though I didn't know what it was then) occurred at the age of about 10 or 11. I found myself doing a complicated counting ritual, while tapping different parts of my body in turn. It became such a chore that I worked ways out of whittling it down.

First I stopped the tapping, and confined it to the mental ritual. Then I gradually cut it down until it was no more than a token gesture. Then I managed to get rid of it altogether.

The feeling of relief! I can remember so clearly, the feeling that I was free of it! As though a weight had been lifted.

Instead of doing and redoing the rituals, try whittling them down. The more you do them, the more you feel you need to do them. Rituals heighten your anxiety in themselves.

Chip away at them the best you can. Take five or ten minutes out before repeating them or doing another ritual. Try to keep busy (I know it's difficult when you're in lockdown) - a creative hobby here can help, that keeps mind and hands occupied.

And if possible, get out of the house. If there's anywhere nice near where you live, go for a walk and enjoy the surroundings! That can lift your spirits.

Marc0133• in reply toSallyskins4 years ago

Thanks.

However it seems really hard to let go though! I've been doing these rituals for years now but I was at least able to manage them better pre-pandemic. But I'm still in my house all the time unemployed and its make it all the more difficult to cope with. I don't know if its just lockdown fatigue or something.

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Why am I getting worse?

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