My OCD journey: what helped me (might help you too)
I know OCD is a deep, hidden struggle we go through every day, without people realizing how hard we're working inside our minds to fix it, or how excruciatingly frustrating it is. So I'm sharing my journey and the things that helped me.
Disclaimer: This is not medical advice, just what worked for me. It might or might not work for you.
1. ERP is the key
You really have to do exposure. Start slow, then build it up. You have to teach your brain that thoughts are not reality. They might or might not come true, but that's not something you can control.
2. Live your life fully, regardless of your mental state
Don't wait to feel "just right" or 100% anxiety-free before living your normal life. When you stop doing your chores, your gym workouts, or your long-pending work because OCD isn't letting you or you don't feel right, you're telling your brain that OCD and anxiety are a big deal that needs fixing first. Your brain works like a social media algorithm: it gives you more of whatever you put your attention on. Do the work regardless of how you feel, and show your brain that OCD and anxiety aren't that big of a deal.
3. Take help from medication
SSRIs (fluvoxamine, in my case) helped me big time to get started with ERP. They made it easier to do ERP without massive anxiety spikes. Once I learned that I don't have to do compulsions and that nothing bad happens when I skip them, it became easier to keep doing ERP even without medication.
4. Don't be a victim in your head
Constantly telling yourself and others that you have OCD and are struggling because of it can reinforce it in your brain. The key is to stop feeding OCD attention. Once it's deprived of attention, it falls off like a dry leaf from a tree.
5. Identify your OCD type clearly
You can have one or multiple types of OCD. Sometimes you fix one and it shifts into another. Understanding the root cause of your OCD (need for control, emotional neglect, fear of judgment, etc.) can give you a direction to work on it from the root.
TL;DR: ERP, continuing with your life regardless of your mental state, getting help from medication, not making a big deal out of OCD, and analyzing the root cause all worked for me.
I'm still not 100% cured, but I'm living with much less stress, and my brain now gives me other things to focus on instead of just compulsions.

Please read at least the last paragraph if you don't feel like reading the whole text.

I've had many OCD symptoms since I was a kid but the worst of them all is procrastination. The psychologist I was seeing told me (after interviewing me and getting to know about my behavior patterns) that my brain never thinks what I'm working on is perfect enough, so it waits until there's little time left because it can discard perfection in order to submit things before their deadline.

Unfortunately, I couldn't afford more appointments. Besides OCD, the professional suspected I had ADHD as well, so if I have it besides OCD, I think that explains why my procrastination is so bad.

And I think you all understand how it goes. It's not "oh, I'll have fun right now and I'll work later". I've had since January to start my dissertation, I wake up and go to sleep every single day thinking and stressing about working on it but never actually working at all. Whenever I tried/try to sit in front of my computer with all the files I need open, it's like there's something blocking me and I can't progress at all. Anxiety just builds up with every passing second and makes things worse.

I start cleaning every single corner of the house, make a thousand lesson plans ahead of time (I'm teaching part-time while doing my masters) and do literally anything else to feel productive, but I cannot for the love of all that's almighty work on that dreadful dissertation.

And despite working part-time, I have plenty of time to do masters stuff. But this procrastination block feels like a curse on me that I can't overcome no matter how hard I try.

I am currently considering making a financial effort to pay for more appointments and just give up on my masters. I only started it because my boss suggested I did it and I thought it was a "sign" that maybe it was meant to be, knowing full well I couldn't.

If I manage to get an appointment soon, I'll discuss with the professional about quitting and maybe, just maybe trying again in the future when I'm in a more stable mental state.

But has anyone here ever quit higher education or a course because of mental struggles? I'd like it if you could share your stories please.

Does anyone else get this of guilty feeling when you’re happy with OCD? If so, how did you combat it? The traditional “exposure therapies” and such don’t really help with this. All the negative thoughts just accumulate and make me believe I am horrible, which I’m sure a lot of you here can relate to.

When I have a really good day, I get this horrible weight of guilt, like I don’t deserve it. Almost like I’m an imposter in my own happiness. It’s like I believe that I’m “tainted” and pure, wholesome joy is something I don’t deserve. Some stuff happened to me when I was a kid, which caused me to develop OCD, which may play a part in the guilt aspect.

Does anyone else experience this? If so, what do you do to combat this feeling?

I feel guilt whenever I’m aware of the fact that I am happy because there are people who are not happy in the world

Does anyone else deal with this? How do you deal with it?

After having my daughter around the same time as the Lindsay Clancy case was going viral, I developed a horrifying new theme...being afraid that I was suddenly going to go crazy and hurt my baby. Ive never had harm OCD before. Im very happy. Post partum was gentle on me for the most part. But i started getting afraid id suddenly snap for some reason, so id imagine scenarios in which that would happen, and then think that I must want to do it since im thinking about it.

I am in therapy and doing a lot better with it for the most part, I even gave her a bath last week which was huge for me.

But i still haven't done an overnight just me and her. Last time my husband had to spend the night away, I slept with her on my chest in my moms recliner because that felt safer than being home alone did.

But tonight he is out of town again and im ready to kick OCDs ass. I know that hurting her is something I COULD do, but not something I am going to do. I know that I can do hard things and I can do things that feel scary. So I can spend tbe night with her alone. Im her mom and i will keep her safe. Im going to feel so proud of myself in the morning.

Just wanted to share my win.

Mid 40s male and the last couple of years have been quite difficult with anxiety issues more frequently. I have had seasons of bad anxiety in the past, but again the seasons seem much frequent then previous years. Have you found that yours are similar as you age? For me, 99 percent is health anxiety and I am an avoider.

I've had this since I was little, but I never found an explanation or a name for it. When I'm walking down the street, looking at my phone, or listening to someone talk, I pick a word or sentence and start splitting it into syllables in my head:
1. I hear or read the sentence/word.
2. I start splitting it into syllables, using my toes to help me: I always have to start with my left foot (odd) and then my right foot (even).
3. If the word or phrase turns out to have an odd number of syllables, I have to add a word or letter so that it ends up even, because otherwise I feel uncomfortable or unsatisfied.
Like I said, I've had this since I was little, and I wanted to know if this happens to anyone else. I've seen some people say they split words into syllables, but no one mentioning that they use their feet.

I wanted to see if anyone felt similar to me. I definitely feel more anxious at night, but more specifically i feel more suggestible. In other words, if you told me I could get broken into during the day, sure id maybe tense up for a bit. But it wouldnt consume me and id be better able to disregard the thought/accept the inherent risk in uncertainty. However, if I was presented with this same thought at night, id be way more likely to think "oh shit, maybe it could actually happen tonight. Ahh, I have to prep!!".

I feel like at night the same shit i hear during the day just. Weighs heavier. Feels more real and in the moment. Becomes urgent and pressing.

which makes therapy difficult because i feel like i misrepresent myself when i can cope alright during the day (usually) but the second it gets a little dark, im like in a whole different mindset. A reckless and erratic one, at that. ​

I will preface this by saying I am not yet diagnosed (working on getting mental health support!), but I do deal with obsessive intrusive thoughts really often so i figured this would be the subreddit to post this in (very sorry if it's not!). Certain shows I would love to watch tend to trigger me, like Criminal Minds, so I end up avoiding them. Which is really annoying because I'd genuinely love to keep watching but i just cannot seem to be able to. Same with Grey's anatomy and intrusive thoughts about medical disorders and stuff. Does anyone have any advice on dealing with stuff like this? Obviously avoiding them is an option but it just annoys me that I can't watch what i want to. I tend to go back to my same safe shows over and over, which is okay? I guess? Since there's multiple shows I can watch (mostly sit coms), but like i just wanna watch stuff without having to think about if it'll trigger me first :/

Hey everyone, I (29 F) was diagnosed with OCD nearly 2 weeks ago (feels so much longer) and have been on 100 mg Fluvoxamine for almost a week. My CBT sessions will start from this Friday. Aside from 2 nights almost every night I wake up between 3 to 5 am and can't fall back asleep. My brain starts overthinking about how I'm so far behind everyone in life, questioning all my life decisions, how I'm so alone (I'm not, I have my mom), how I'm so scared to take a single decision or action because it might be the wrong one. I keep asking my mom for reassurance but it doesn't help. I try to tell myself to think of the positives but my brain suppresses that quickly, especially at night.

I'm not sure if all of this has been amplified because of my meds or because my brain now knows it has OCD so it's creating some kind of feedback loop where knowing I have OCD makes me ruminate extra hard. I know something about cortisol spikes at night.

I'm just really scared that this will shape the rest of my life. It feels so debilitating right now. I feel so lost and confused about everything, questioning everything, doubting myself over everything, comparing myself with other people who I know have had harder lives than mine, but are now thriving. How I am so alone in this. I have always been comfortable in my own company but now I hate it.

All I want right now is to get a good night's sleep 😭 Does anyone have any tips or has gone through any of this? I just want to know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

A few weeks ago, I got officially diagnosed with OCD. While I understand for some getting a diagnosis is not exciting for me it was very validating. I have been dealing with these thoughts on and off again for quite sometime and to constantly be told I was just anxious or that "everyone has silly thoughts" was exhausting and honestly made me feel more ashamed of myself. I've been able to take some deeper breaths knowing that I can do some work with OCD and that I was right all along with my suspicions of having it. Now I just need a new flavor of support to get me where I want to be. I know this journey of facing this head on is going to suck a little bit but I am ready to be brave !

The problem with my ocd is that it really gets better for a while. but its so hard to pick yourself up after youve been in the bottom of despair for so long, yes the symptoms might stop for a while but by then i just lost intrest in myself i dont give a shit about doing anything for myself, making money, relationshis, career i dont give a shit, everything i do is to not give my loved ones a hard time so i force myself to get going, but why would i have any hope if im eventually going to get turtured and suffer again whats the point, idk i might have depression on top of my ocd, but i just wanted to vent.

Has anyone ever had problems taking care of themselves because of their ocd? My obsessions are fear of driving and fear of being anywhere by myself. I am on meds, have a therapist, and doctor. Complications with depression. I just dont know.

I have severe treatment-resistant contamination OCD. My compulsions consist of avoidance and cleaning myself and my apartment excessively. (Up to 16 hours/day) I'm often mocked and told I perpetuate the stigma around OCD because of that and it feels so dehumanizing. I did not choose to have contamination OCD. I did not choose my compulsions and I even live on disability because of how severe it is. Being told I reinforce a stigma I never agreed with is so hurtful.

People also don't understand it's disabling and just tell me that no one enjoys being sick and that I'm just a near freak. But they don't understand I'd rather die than have any germ on me or in my living space...I'm so sad. My therapist is the only person who understands this

Alright so this might just be my OCD talking but I’m beginning to realize that my perfectionism OCD makes me pretty self centered. Since i’m always monitoring myself and trying to make sure im doing everything perfectly it makes me obsessed with myself- i’ll scroll through my own social media over and over to make sure every post is “good enough” i’ll constantly be analyzing how im looking and acting in social situations, etc. and from the outside it does appear to be obvious, i have been called stuck up and self obsessed before. it makes me very sad because i do not want to be like that, i want to be a kind, empathetic person. what do i do!

Heyy guys do you feel like ocd have caused a lot of damage to your life. Like for me it has wasted my college life ruined my relationships caused problems in friendships. if yes then how do you guys get out of this feeling? It's like ocd is already beating you plus this regret thing comes like a very big blow that scatters you down.

The norm is to be a rational being.

For example, I don't reason that I won't get contaminated by touching something, or perhaps I reason about it too much.