I get so stuck when making decisions. I guess it’s called executive functioning and before my OCD diagnosis I just thought I was a perfectionist and needed to make sure everything would be perfect before making the decision. Turns out it’s part of OCD?
Omg yasssss I like to think of it as having choice paralysis! I’m glad I’m not alone because it’s become a running joke in family to keep the choices simple and make decisions in chunks so that I’m not overwhelmed and overstimulated
OCD affect the brain’s ability to prioritize in multiple ways. Due to stress and hypervigilance, our working memory is limited and we can only hold so many details in mind at a time. OCD also creates false senses of urgency, which do not reflect the external world accurately and don’t align with out core values. There are a ton of resources available on how to support decision-making for neurodivergent people, especially in the ADHD realm.
I can relate. It’s extremely stressful.
totally. as much as you can tolerate, i would practice building up your comfortability with everything not being perfect (or you not knowing all the information) before you make a decision. you can start by making little decisions in your day that dont really matter and working your way up to bigger ones. or you could always just write down the phrase "i might have made the wrong decision" and practice saying that out loud while sitting with any anxiety that comes up. decision-ocd is something ive struggled with too but oh my god its so freeing when you get comfortable ignoring it
I have executive function difficulties due to ADHD. Decision-making can be a challenge in that regard because I don’t always have enough working memory to keep track of all the moving parts in a complicated situation, so it can become overwhelming in my mind. With perfectionism OCD, I think my difficulty with decision-making is all about fear. I imagine horrible outcomes for each decision and then look for another way, only to be met with another scary outcome. I exhaust myself looking for the option that feels right and therefore safe, that couldn’t possibly lead to anything bad. Eventually I’m so emotionally drained I just want to give up. Idk I’m new to OCD but that’s how I see it.
Hey guys just wondering if anyone suffers from this type of OCD. I feel a big struggle to even begin things because it doesn’t feel right or if I resume things it doesn’t feel right. Anyone have any advice ? Thank you
I never heard about people with OCD who have messy living conditions. Maybe this is why it took so long to accept my diagnosis. Although I really dont like how OCD is percieved at by the majority of people, I feel like Im weird or something because I dont fit into that stereotype. I understand that a lot of people with OCD have this issue, but why do I feel so different? If anybody else has/had this belief, what helps with feeling more comfortable? Everytime my mom points out my room, and how its messy- Its like I feel so lazy and useless. So then I often plan out everything I was going to do, step by step, always having a reasoning behind everything, because logic always comforts me. When I start tidying up my room, I go full out (Sheets, Laundry, Clorox, Candles, Vaccuming, Then I start going through the guinea pigs cage to rearranging all of their stuff) Yet always somewhere after doing a few things, I start feeling disgusting and almost shameful of myself. 99% of the time I end up laying on my floor sobbing, noting every little thing about my room. How my furiniture doesnt match, how i would rather have solid floor like hardwood or vinyl instead of the carpet, usually things i cant change… and then barely anything gets done in my room. I start to have a meltdown and often dont take care of myself even more afterwards. A piece of me feels like my thoughts are just me being a spoiled brat and wanting everything i dont have- meanwhile others dont even have a roof over their head. The other piece of me is just tired, just emotionally exaughsted. Please comment any thoughts or recomendations to maybe improve motovation and attitude towards doing long tasks.
Does anyone ever feel like you know you have OCD, but at the same time you think it might actually be you connecting to a higher consciousness or vibration that is trying to control your decisions so that the outcome does not turn out bad kind of like the butterfly effect. It drives me crazy because I know I’m conscious that it’s OCD but at the same time I overthink and feel like it might be a higher power trying to warn me that I’m not doing something right, like example; if I flip the trash can lid a couple more times it’s going to pervert something bad from happening and that why I’m sensing I’m not doing it right, because if I spent a little more time there and if I would have left earlier the outcome would’ve been different. Or say I just fight through it and choose to ignore it, but then I’ll carry that negativity/worry of not feeling like I did it right and will project it out into existence because the thought won’t leave my head and in a way your seeking it out into existence since you keep thinking about it, kind of like an affirmation?
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