I found this diary entry that I had written from about 5 or 6 years ago. It's kind of like a one page emergency go to that I used to read whenever I was feeling quite ill with OCD. I thought it would be interesting to share with you....
It’s OK – you’ve spiked thousands of times and its ALWAYS the same – you spike with whoever you’re with as YOU HAVE ROCD – once the panic / spiking / mis-leading thoughts and weird sensations have gone and they will eventually, you will see it for what it is again – its AN OCD SPIKE – you are safe and whilst they are all really uncomfortable the sensations, they will pass and you will feel good again. You will feel healthy and normal again. This process has been repeating itself for thousands if not hundreds of thousands of times in your life and will undoubtedly continue to do so for the rest of your life as you have a chronic OCD condition.
Accept it. That’s the first thing ; try really hard to resist taking the thoughts as real – they are not (Trevor) . Be the observer to what ‘Trevor’ is up to – trying to bully you into something you don’t want. Listen to him but don’t fuse with him – don’t reify his thoughts – and you know its Trevor not you as you feel really distressed and anxious when there is no reason to!
CHECKING
COMPARING
RESEARCHING
THINKING ABOUT WHETHER ITS TRUE
(– it feels true yes BUT IT IS NOT! )
These are all compulsions and you must resist them like hell.
AGREE WITH THE THOUGHTS - THEY WILL THEN DISAPPEAR LIKE MAGIC!
Just accept that you have weird thoughts and agree them – yes that’s right I'm about to freak out and it will be hideous – just accept them and go with the idea that the thoughts can't hurt you – its only when you try and push them away or do a mental compulsion that they start becoming a problem as your mind puts a marker on them to tell you it needs investigating more and to generate more of the same kind of thoughts.
Be confident ;
You are an adult and run your own business – you will look after yourself no matter what happens – no matter how bad it could get, you have always looked after yourself (and others around you) – because you are brave and will ALWAYS keep trying and fighting it – you have never given up and YOU NEVER WILL. There are other treatment options.
Are you feeling distressed? Then your having an OCD spike – and if you’re reading this – YOU ARE HAVING AN OCD SPIKE NOTHING MORE NOTHING LESS. As you calm down you will start spiking less, you will go back and forth between the 2 states of normality and OCD- sur-reality. Eventually you will come back down to reality. Then after a few days you probably wont even be able to generate the state and think you are totally cured again. You’re not and never likely to be – you will just have arrested it and need to put in behaviours that are going to help you. Early to bed, water, exercise, diet , these are all your tools.
PRACTICAL ADVICE ;
Get outside
Go for a walk
Do a meditation – there are loads online – just do it
Concentrate on something for as long as possible – a piece of work, a project,
The quicker you can get into something – the quicker the brain will realise that there’s nothing to worry about – lying around and thinking about it is a TERRIBLE idea and will make recovery longer – yes its hard but get up and get on with stuff – you’ve got lots to be getting on with!
Exercise – go for a run –
Go for a cup of coffee
Do an errand
Watch a comedy
AND DO YOUR BLINKING ERP SCRIPTS _: every day – these really help!!!
Comments
Post a Comment