A little help for OCD..

It's hard, very hard. I live with OCD everyday; mainly the intrusive thoughts and severe irrational fears. But right now I'm in CBT, and doing very well. Do I slip up and give into my compulsions at times? Sure, but the more we resist the urge; the less our anxiety will be in the long run. I see OCD as a "waiting game." Wait out the fear, and the anxiety will have less and less power over you as it comes. Here some things to help.

• OCD recovery is like a diet. When we act on a compulsion (to eat or perform a ritual) we are practicing avoidance of (anxiety). The result is for the anxiety to grow stronger (or our stomach to grow bigger!).
• You can't put out fire with gasoline.
• Serenity Prayer: "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."
• Remember that OCD and spectrum disorders are diseases in the brain not of character. We all have within us a "good dog" and a "bad dog". The one we feed is the one that becomes the strongest. Don't feed the OCD dog and it will grow weaker.
• To beat OCD is to choose to live with uncertainty.
• Good and bad things will happen in life and, yes, we all die eventually. The only choice for those of us with OCD is whether to spend the life we have as a slave to OCD - or as a free, spontaneous person.
• See that your OCD can potentially connect you to a greater spirituality and provide an opening for self discovery.
• Trust God...and tie your camel! Know the difference between what you can do something about and what it is best to let go of.
• Surrender to the anxiety feeling. Feel it and it will get tired of bothering you.
• Recovery is about trust. The antidote for the holding-on-fear-of-everything-syndrome is really trusting (God, the Universe, your Higher Power).
• Notice how you do something and then think "Oh, I did that without OCD. Maybe..." and then the OCD starts. Stop before you get to that point.
• Don't do the behavior AND trigger your relaxation response (explore ways of doing this).
• Get anxiety under control before OCD happens!
• Thoughts do not make reality and feelings aren't facts.
• If your magical thinking was real then the rest of the world's population would be dead!
• Giving in to "shoulds" leads to OCD.
• Admitting powerlessness over OCD is the1st Step.
• Obsessions live in the future and the past. Keep your mind in the Now!
• Validation and affirmation are needed and important.
• What works one time may not the next. You may have to alternate interventions.
• Find a neutral zone, or safe place you can recenter in and use it.
• Remember, OCD is the anxiety part of the pie and has nothing to do with real illness or real death or real disasters.
• You can't stop bad things with your rituals. Life is inherently risky.
• Live on the Universe's plan - which is always simple.
• Too much compulsive control leads to being out of control. If you fear suffering you are already suffering.
• OCD is a guide to learning about self-ownership.
• OCD is not related to illness. You have a disease and it's OCD. You also have a body and it has both health and ill health. OCD does not protect you from illness. There is no connection.
• If you give in to the OCD it ruins the time you do have to live your life.
• You can NEVER do ANY "good" OCD behaviors - half measures avail nothing.
• It cannot be that ALL the compulsions are real can it?
• It's SELF-CARE+BEHAVIOR THERAPY+BIOLOGY that creates healing.
• Say, "It's a brain disorder. It's a false message coming from my brain"
• Do not resist. Develop a "spectator" approach. Say "It's not me it's the OCD." Call it what it really is - an obsessive symptom. It's not a real feeling, or need.
• OCD is just a medical symptom. It's too strong to resist unless you know what it really is. It doesn't go away because it is medical.
• ENJOY breaking the OCD barriers deliberately!
• Remember some of us get manic-like when we come out from under the OCD-depression and start to feel our spontaneous energy again. At such times - go slow and stay connected.
• Say "I can do it in 15 minutes if I still need to." Then move on. Do something else instead.
• Others around you do not have to do these rituals to be ok so you don't either!
• You didn't always have to do these rituals so why should you now?
• Don't wait to feel like the desire is gone to not do the behavior! Your behavior will never change if you wait for the urge to change first.
• Change your behavior so that the feeling/urge will change.
• Temporary discomfort is the price of freedom. Keep going forward.
• OCD does not protect against bad results. Self-care and relaxation does.
• There is no quick easy solution. Take the long-term road of not giving in versus the quick fix that OCD offers.
• Escaping risk leads to greater (real) risk. There is often less danger in the things we fear than in the things we desire.
• Refuse to act on an obsession and it will die of inaction.
• You can't have your symptoms and behaviors and have your life.
• Paradoxes are the major reason for getting stuck in OCD.
• OCD recovery is measured by living according to your values.
• Change occurs when one loves what one is not when one becomes what one is not.
• OCD will isolate you. You have to choose between OCD and a happy life and relationships. Treat OCD as an opponent in your pursuit of happiness and fight against it daily.
• Trust God...and tie your camel! Know the difference between what you can do something about, and what it is best to let go of.
• You cannot control what thoughts pop into your head. You can control what happens next.
• If you ever doubt what to do - ask what the average person would do.
• If nothing changes, nothing changes.
• If we keep one foot in tomorrow and one foot in yesterday we step over today.
• Never trust OCD. It always lies.
• Things turn out for the best to people who play the cards they got.
• Pain may be inevitable, but misery is not.
• If you want to make God laugh, make plans.
• The life tools you pay most dearly for are the ones you don't use.
• If you must suffer, suffer for a purpose.
• Just because you think is doesn't mean you did it (or want to do it). Actions are actions and thoughts are thoughts.
• It only looks risky. Only risks will bring rewards.
• Progress always has detours.
• If you want to think about it less - Think about it more!
• Easy does it - But do it!
• Don't stop a minute before a miracle.
• Where there is life there is hope.
• If all else fails, lower your standards.
• If it's not broken, don't fix it.
• Let go and let God.
• Keep it simple.
• First things first.
• One day at a time.
• Easy does it.
• Progress not perfection.
• Avoid H.A.L.T. (Hungry, Angry , Lonely, Tired)
• The disease is not fair and life is not fair.
• You cannot perfect your symptoms.
• We all have within us a "good dog" and a "bad dog". The one we feed is the one that becomes the strongest. Don't feed the OCD dog and it will grow weaker.
• Worry does not empty tomorrow of it's sorrow. It empties today of it's strength! - Corrie TenBoom (nazi concentration camp survivor)

[scaredtodeath17]

wow, thank you

[rocky7814]

No prob. I wish we could sticky this.

[Binsta]

thank you so much Rocky, its just what I needed to read right know after a bad day with the stupid evil OCD.

[rocky7814]

No problem. If anyone needs any support, IM me at LouDean3x. ANY TIME.

[TEACHEROFSIX]

This was AWESOME. I printed it. I cannot tell you enough about how great this
write up is and you ROCK Sister. I  am going to print a copy for my therapist.
He rocks too.
Teacherofsix

[colleen39]

That is really awesome on what you said. What is cbt?

[hmf099]

cognative behavioral therapy

[anxious207]

Great advice and very helpful

[giru]

hey guys i need some advice... I deal with ocd every day only a few people know i have it because its so difficult for me to talk about. every time i try I just cant help breaking down and crying. this is really ruining my life but I have trouble with going to the doctor because I cant face it , what do you guys think? id really appreciate any adivice. by the way rocky thanks for this i think ill print it too and put it on the wall in my room or something :)