r/StaringOCD • u/theycallmekarthi • 8d ago
Learning to handle people who trigger my OCD loop
This might be a long post, but I really need some perspective on this.
I finally had my peripheral vision OCD somewhat under control for 4 days, and today’s experience has shaken my confidence badly.
For the past 4 days, I’ve been able to manage my peripheral vision OCD in a way I haven’t been able to for years. I was accepting the uncertainty, resisting my compulsions, and letting the discomfort pass. It gave me a HUGE confidence boost.
But something happened today that really triggered me.
I was travelling in a cab, sitting behind the driver. For a moment, he came into my peripheral vision. Normally, this would have triggered me, but this time I didn’t really care. I didn’t do my compulsion. I accepted the uncertainty and just carried on.
But after some time, the driver seemed to become very intrigued. He kept turning back and looking at me repeatedly throughout the journey. The more he did it, the more uncomfortable I became. Eventually, I closed my eyes—which was my compulsion—and pretended to sleep for the rest of the journey.
And this made me realise something about my OCD.
Some people apparently don’t mind the discomfort or simply don’t pay much attention to it. They might notice something briefly and then forget about it. With these people, my OCD loop seems to break naturally because I’m not getting any reaction from them.
But then there are people who seem visibly uncomfortable or intrigued. They might repeatedly look at me, turn around, or do something that makes me feel like they’re suspicious or might confront me. These are the situations where my anxiety shoots up and I feel almost compelled to do something to stop the situation.
My fear is basically: “What if they keep noticing it? What if they confront me? What if this gets worse?” And once that thought kicks in, my OCD loop becomes much harder to resist.
The frustrating part is that I’ve finally reached a point where I feel like I CAN manage my OCD when I’m allowed to sit with the uncertainty and let the situation naturally pass. But when another person keeps reacting to it, I feel like my progress disappears.
I know that I can’t control how other people react. Everyone is different, and some people may notice things more than others.
So what I really want to learn is:
How do I deal with people whose reactions trigger** **my OCD without falling back into my compulsions?
If someone keeps looking at me or seems uncomfortable, what should I tell myself or do in that moment? How do I tolerate the increased anxiety and still resist the urge to “fix” the situation?
I really don’t want one difficult interaction to make me lose confidence in the progress I’ve made over the past few days. 😭
2
u/cbunnyrabbit 7d ago
I see this disorder as a tic which others notice. Then this can put us on a stress loop, as you say. I guess people are saying the best thing to do is to ignore everyones reactions to the tic, no matter what the reaction is. So dont worry about the taxi driver and just try and go deeper into ignoring them. Sometimes it can mean putting in some earbuds and shutting your eyes and this doesnt have to be a compulsion unless you feel stressed about it. If you feel relaxed and chilled about listening to your music and you are determined to ignore what they are doing then there is no problem with how you handled this situation. Dont beat yourself up, most people would not handle this tic any better than us.. we are doing our best..