A therapist recently told me that I should just 'embrace my ocd', because it would make my symptoms go away or something. I just can't embrace it. I hate my ocd too bad to do that. Is there anyone who did embrace their ocd and can tell me whether it helped them cure their symptoms?
OCD is there. That’s a fact. The sooner you are to accept that, the happier you’ll be. OCD is trying to look out for you. Its saying “this needs your attention”, its almost trying to save you by making sure you aren’t this or that. See it as a hurt friend that’s misguided instead of an enemy
Thank you, sometimes I see it like someone I have to teach the difference between an actually important problem and just an ocd problem
@Jasmijn Oh you can’t logic with OCD. You can never teach it anything. You have to let it do its thing and you do yours. Fighting it with make it worse
This is an awkward way of describing OCD treatment, but, yes, that's the general idea. I lived in an OCD treatment facility for three months, and, I can confidently say that after going through the OCD treatment gauntlet, that it really does work. My symptoms are now mostly in the "annoying" category apposed to "debilitating", and I find a lot of it silly now. Feel free to ask any questions!
@sophea How did you make it seem silly??
@Anonymous Hindsight is 20/20. Have you ever looked back on an old compulsion and realized how absurd it all is? It's absurd that I can't write an essay because I'm scared it reflects poorly on me on a cosmic level, and the absurd is often funny.
Well, there’s sadly no cure for OCD but the frequency and intensity of the symptoms go down with ERP and/or medication. 👍 I try to embrace my OCD by being accepting that it will always be a part of me and what doesn’t kill me makes me stronger. If I can handle the torture of OCD, I can handle anything. That helps a ton with my self-confidence. Embracing that I have OCD- can’t make most of my symptoms go away (only removing compulsions can) but it decreases my self-pity and my “why me” mindset
UGH I could literally hug you for this right now. Thank you so much
@BritDealzzz Very glad I could help! 😇👏 You’re so welcome
Thanks for this! I've accepted parts of it, but the thought of having it for the rest of my life, while my friends and family don't, feels just so unfair. But I think I'll have to live with that.
@Jasmijn I totally relate to that! <3 It is extremelyyy unfair. Sometimes I imagine that I was burdened with the worst problem in the world but then I try to remind myself that everyone has problems, even worse problems than me. For example, many people don’t have friends or family while you and I are fortunate to have that. Many have abusive family members. And yes it definitely sounds terrible that we’ll have Ocd for the rest of our lives. The good news is that Ocd is highly treatable so you can go many years without it debilitating your life, if you’re consistent with ERP. I try to be thankful that at least I got Ocd and not an even worse illness that can’t be treated as effectively or can’t be treated at all ❤️🩹
@Love1another<3 That's true! I do think comparing yourself to others isn't fair, because a small headache can frustrate someone just as much as an ocd thought. It's all about how you view your life and that influences the way you experience things, and that's different for everyone, no matter how problematic something is. Unfortunately I've tried many ocd therapy's, and none of them lasted for more than a year. So I'm currently on a waiting list for medication. Ocd won't kill me physically but mentally I am destroyed.
@Jasmijn That’s a great perspective so thanks for sharing ❤️ I’m so sorry to hear about your suffering and I really hope things will get better for you. Many people have success with medication so I think you have a chance to feel relief with it too 👍
Something that might help is to reframe your relationship with OCD. Your therapist should be able to help you with this. Getting down to the nitty gritty of OCD being more of a “flawed defense mechanism” that is really just trying to protect you is one way of looking at it. A faulty alarm is another. When you welcome it by acknowledging it like an annoying sibling that will always be popping up randomly in your life, it can also help. 🩷
Hi Jasmijn, It is my hope that the therapist will provide you ways that enable you to learn "how" to embrace your OCD and explain what that means. There are so many ways to embrace OCD and it can be very healing when you are taught how to do that!
Thank you, I'm not so sure when I'll talk to her again because she will be my therapist, but when she said that, I was only meeting her with my current therapist to see if we were a match. I'm from the Netherlands so idk if that works the same in the USA. I'm sure I will find a way to embrace my ocd but it just sounded so surreal because she said right after I finished telling her how much I hate my ocd. After reading these reactions, I can understand why she said it and what she meant.
@Jasmijn - I am so glad this community has provided you support in your journey!
Can people tell me what meds they’re on? I’ve been on Paxil for years. It worked for a long time but now (coupled with hormonal changes I believe) it seems to be flooring up in a bad way.
I'm writing today as a concerned sibling. I respect you all for your hard work, sharing and the guidance everyone provides. I've been reading comments about how helpful OCD therapy is, but have yet to convince my sibling that it can help. They respond that they probably wont learn more than what they've already realized and that they can't actually stop the OCD behaviors for them.. I say that there are professionals with tips and would help to consult on ways to battle OCD. My sibling has realized that they cant give into the thoughts, but from that realization to action, is hard, as folks know. I've been taking note of people's reviews of getting better and plan to share those with my sibling, but does anyone else have other advice how to help them get more help? It seems the issue may be Contamination OCD and general (heavy) anxieties and depression (which has been around for most of their life). Thank you in advance for any more guidance.
One of my best coping mechanisms somedays is to remember that while my OCD causes a lot of mental distress, it also can be a strength of mine. OCD has allowed me to thrive in my job, I tend to pay attention to small details and be in very good control of my work. I know exactly what is going on and often think before I say or jump to anger. I tend to apologize when something is truly wrong and be more genuine. I just know we all get in the habit of OCD being this absolutely terrible thing,,; and often it is,, but it also can be a strength in some. It shows I have empathy, am loyal, and a hard worker based on my attention to detail and want for control (even with my thoughts) ♥️♥️
Hi everyone! For those of you who have overcome OCD, did you find the initial feelings, emotions, and thoughts kind of become less and less consuming as it got better? In the beginning, I feel like I was crying, sick to my stomach, had a nervous/scared “blah” feeling, etc.. now, Im not crying like that, i still get a blah nervous belly feeling which kinda scares me into thinking its because the thoughts are true and maybe I was just in denial? Idk.. help lol
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