rocd.co.uk

It's like being trapped at the bottom of a deep dark well and trying to think yourself out of the situation…   Here I am in the dark, just thinking and thinking and thinking a bit more. Surely I will work out how to help myself sooner or later, I just need to think about it some more. I know, I’ll get some rest and then have a think about it once I’ve woken up. Hey guess what, I’m still thinking very hard about how to solve my problem but I’m also still at the bottom of the well in the dark.  Well, there is some light coming from up there somewhere. I guess I could start trying to get there but then again I could always just sit here, at the bottom of the well and do some more thinking. The more I think about it, the more I think I wasn’t thinking about it properly last time. Yes, this time I will think about it   differently.  This time I will think positively, because after all a good attitude is everything! I was being way too negative before, yes I’ll think diffe...

Here some excellent tips taken from 25 tips from  Fred Penzel, PhD taken from the International OCD Foundation  about getting over OCD. Always expect the unexpected.   You can have an obsessive thought at any time or any place.  Don’t be surprised when old or even new ones occur.  Don‘t let it throw you.   Be willing to accept risk.  Risk is an integral part of life, and as such it cannot be completely gotten rid of.   Never seek reassurance from yourself or others.    Instead, tell yourself the worst will happen, is happening, or has already happened.  Reassurance will cancel out the effects of any therapy homework you use it on and prevent you from improving.  Reassurance-seeking is a compulsion, no matter how you may try to justify it. Always try hard to agree with all obsessive thoughts  — never analyze, question, or argue with them.  The questions they raise are not real questions, and there are no real...

Over the next few weeks I will be explaining how I have overcome ROCD and I have broken it down into 10 different actions (or steps). I used to think that if I could just explain and uncover where my OCD came from then I would be on the road to healing. But I can tell you from experience that (1) you will never know for sure (and there is almost certainly a genetic element to it and (2) even if you could it wouldn't help you with managing it from day to day.  I will say though, that when I read the latest science papers and they were saying that there is a hereditary angle to it (with certain life events triggering the faulty gene expression) then I did find it comforting.  The reason why I found it comforting it I always believed it was my fault. It was something I was doing wrong or at least something that I wasn't doing right. It's an intangible puzzle that I just need to figure out and then I will start feeling better. (It's very curious for me as I didn't use t...

I phoned into a OCD group meeting on Tuesday night and it reminded me just how important and powerful ‘group therapy’ or just ‘meeting up in groups’ really is. There is no one on earth who truly understands what OCD is…. unless you happen to be one of those people with it. The truths that are told in the virtual or real room are incredibly powerful.  Photo by  Andrea Lightfoot  on  Unsplash No longer are you alone in the fight with one of mental health’s most insidious opponents.  Now you belong to a group of people going through the same thing and are all 'in it together'. When you say ‘I just can’t bear this ‘ever-ending feeling that something isn’t quite right’ is fully understood just as, ‘I know what I should be doing to help myself feel better, but I somehow just don’t get round to it. I’m sort of sabotaging myself’. Feeling alone with an anxiety disorder like OCD is a horrible cross to bear and so to hear from others for an hour or two...