OCD has been acting up...

It's so annoying. I HAVE to check if a door is closed five times. I HAVE to make sure my hands are clean all the time. I HAVE to keep my hand on my pocket all the time to make sure my money doesn't fall out. Etc. Etc. Etc.

Any tips for over-coming this?

 

keep the door closed...keep pockets empty and wear gloves 24/7


problem solved,,,thank me later

 

Count to 30 next time you go to check the door. You'll slowly start to rationalize your thoughts. I have OCD too, but as a child I had to deal with it on my own because my parents never really noticed. So you make your own coping mechanisms. It really started for me when I was about 9 or 10. Atleast when I started to notice it. I'm 20 now, and it's gotten alot better. You know you can rationalize in your head a different coping mechanism or tic. Instead of checking the door 5 times you could find something else like looking at something and then looking away and repeating that 5 times. It works over time. When i'm stressed I often feel helpless, because it gets alot worse when i'am. And sometimes you just can't control it so it's better to just get it over with and then relax. It's unconfortable but you cope.

 

The best way to overcome it is by forcing yourself not to do your "rituaL"... when you worry about the door, try to wait a little bit longer every time you check until you skip it and eventually stop. It will be very hard, but as long as you keep at it, it will go away. The MORE you check, the worse it will get.

 

This is useful advice, but I hope you meant that the stress of this one ocd outburst will go away and not ocd in general. Ocd doesn't go away ever. It's for life. It's a disorder LOL... You learn to cope better.

 

That sounds similar to a friend I know. It started when she was about 12 and it's usually worse when she is stressed out.

.

 

I dont agree with the ocd for life

I get certain compulsive ticks that come and go...varying intensity

everyone is different

 

Ocd is for life.
I don't care what you believe.
I have this disorder.
I deal with it every single day.

 

Ya well it was only noticeable for me when I was 10 or 12. But my parents after my diagnosis told me things they had never told me about that I did when I was in kindergarten and growing up that were relative to this disorder. I wish your friend didn't have it tho man, it really can be a nightmare.

 

I'm sorry to hear that. I have periods where mine comes and goes, it hasn't been nearly as bad since I started smoking weed, but that's the only explanation I have as to why it's not so bad these days. I have obsessive thoughts and superstitions (that don't exactly coincide with common superstitions...) mostly these days, not so many compulsions. I used to be an organization freak but that didn't last long past moving out of my parents' house for whatever reason. The best way I learned to deal with most of it was to use what I call my "quirks" to my advantage or see them as positive things. I agree with wild-flowers, you should try to turn your tics onto other things that are less time-consuming or distracting. The weird thing I've learned about being obsessive-compulsive is that it's an ever-evolving thing and something you're tripping out about today may be gone tomorrow. You can learn to live with it and how to use it to your advantage, you just have to find what works for you.

Maybe try cutting down the amount of times you check things, try it in baby steps, for awhile instead of checking five times, try four, then three, until you get to the point where you only have to check it once. And your money thing, ever considered a wallet with a chain? You might have to check to make sure your chain is still there, but you won't have to constantly have your hand on your pocket. And germs...all I can tell you on that is to try to remember the more you try to get rid of them, the worse they will hit you when they do. Germs aren't a bad thing in small doses, if you live your life in a bubble the one time you do get exposed to something, it'll probably kill you. Our immune systems need practice. It's always a good thing to try to remember to keep your hands fairly clean, but remember you need a little bit of germs to keep the really bad ones away.

Good luck, though, I know how awful it can be to feel like some crazy thoughts are ruling your life.

 

so do I..

but I respect your opinion even if it's different than mine

 

I guess you're just lucky then.
Every case of ocd is different.
Just like it isn't all hand washing, and door checking.

 

My doctors told me it isn't cureable.
Maybe that's just for me.

 

doctors are idiots who get paid by pharm companies to keep the prescriptions mill going

 

That's true. It's one of the reasons I haven't been to a medical doctor since I was 18 (aside from the dentist once), and haven't been to a shrink since I was 11. I am terrified to go to a psychologist or a psychiatrist because I want nothing to do with the medicines they'd try to pump me full of if I told them what goes on in my head. I'd rather learn to live with it and smoke a little pot than EVER be put on any of those drugs. I don't like not being able to distinguish dreams from reality.

 

I know what you mean, the intrusive thoughts are terrible. They really can make you question who you are.

 

I obsess over the idea of people close to me dying. I've always been like that, but it never got so bad as it is now until my best friend died. That was so hard I'm terrified of having to deal with that again, even though I know one day I'll have to. And then I start freaking out because I feel like if I think too much about bad things, bad things will happen as a result. I know that it's silly but it doesn't change the fact I feel that way. And I have to check on my boyfriend all the time when he's sleeping to make sure he's still alive, even though there's no reason to think he wouldn't be. It all feels silly and I consciously know that nothing I'm doing will likely change the outcome of life itself, but there's always that "What if?" nagging at the pit of my soul. And I never want to take chances...so I tell everyone to be careful when they say goodbye as though my good wishes will protect them from harm , I tell everyone I love that I love them as much as possible for the same reason. And I'm always fighting the bad thoughts because I don't want something I thought to come true.

 

I used to do that alot, especially as a child. I was always in this obsessive fear that something would happen to my parents.

 

I missed almost a whole semester of fifth grade because I couldn't force myself to stay at school. Something would set me off and I'd have a full blown panic attack and be in hysterics within the first two hours of the day and I'd always have to go home because I had to check on things. My mom was a stay at home mom, so there wasn't really any thing to worry about, but I was always scared the house would catch on fire or someone would rob it or something crazy and me being there would keep that from happening. That's when my parents finally took me to a shrink. Who diagnosed me with depression. Yeah...not a fan of the shrinks.

 

your doors open and your hands are dirty

Im a little obssesive about driving people nutz