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Jude17
New Contributor

OCD- reassurance

Hi I’m new to Sane and grateful to have found this, 

 

I’ve had severe OCD anxiety and Asperger’s for over 14 years. I have medication for ADHD and OCD, recently diagnosed with ADHD this year. I use cognitive behaviour therapy (evidence based thinking), exposure therapy and self care strategies (good sleep, spending time with animals, self love, good nutrition, exercise and avoiding alcohol). 

The thing I struggle with is trying to trust my own reassurance, so I try to think logically and attempt to trust my own reassurance however I get overwhelmed with the anxiety and fear of the uncertainty, so I end up asking for reassurance. I understand this may make the rituals worse but I was wondering if there’s another way? If anyone has advice or more strategies please feel free to share 

 

I would love some information 😊 thank you


I’m also interested in finding a support group face to face, I would like to find a community of peer support, does sane do these regularly? I can do Telehealth if not face to face. 

4 REPLIES 4

Re: OCD- reassurance

i also have adhd struggle to trust my own decision making and looking after myself i spend alot oftime qiuet hiding in my house afraid of people coming to attack me when im not sure but i dont think there is any coming tonight atleast i worry everyday im guna get stabbed again  sorry to winge but i think your doin well

Re: OCD- reassurance

Hey @Jude17, welcome to the forums! I'm TuxedoCat, one of the peer workers here on the forums. I'm looking forward to seeing you around the forums ❤️

 

Firstly, great questions! Peer support and groups are so important in my own recovery journey! Sane only provides digital services and I'll give a few dot-points of the info

Does any of this fit into what you are looking for? 

 

Secondly, I don't know a lot about OCD and rituals. And thank you for sharing your experiences. I thought I'd tag some of our community guides to see if they know other members with experiences of OCD @Anastasia  @AussieRecharger  @BPDSurvivor  @Faith-and-Hope  @HenryX  @jem80  @Judi9877  @NatureLover  @outlander  @Shaz51  @ShiningStar  @Snowie  @Hams  @wellwellwellnez  @Zoe7  @Aniela  @Boo13  @maddison  @pinklollipop15  @Eve7 

You can also scroll to the bottom of the lived experience forum and look for the posts tagged posts related. I've added a picture below.

Screen Shot 2022-06-20 at 9.09.31 pm.png

 

Re: OCD- reassurance

Hi there @Jude17 

Welcome to the forums, I'm also a peer worker here at Sane. @TuxedoCat pointed you toward some great information. I don't have any wise words but just want to say I can related so much to getting overwhelmed with anxiety and fear for the future. As I've gotten older I have learned to worry about what I can control and not worry so much about what I can't. It's not easy but I do get better as more time goes by. I don't have OCD but I do have little rituals that I stick to in order to stop bad things from happening. Mine are just little rituals that don't impact my day too much but I can go into panic mode at just the thought of doing something spontaneously! Anyway, just want to say I relate to some of how you're feeling and wanted to share my own experience. 

 

Sending strength and positivity

Hanami

 

he thing I struggle with is trying to trust my own reassurance, so I try to think logically and attempt to trust my own reassurance however I get overwhelmed with the anxiety and fear of the uncertainty, 

Re: OCD- reassurance

Hi @Jude17 

 

I just wanted to reach out and welcome you to the forums - it’s great to have you here 💜

 

Thank you so much for sharing this part of your story with us 💜

 

As I sat here listening to you, so much of what you shared resonated with me - especially when you said, ‘I get overwhelmed with the anxiety and fear of the uncertainty and so I end up asking for reassurance.’

 

I also live with anxiety and OCD and over the years, I’ve lost count of the number of times when I’ve repeatedly asked for reassurance in relation to the same issues! There have also been numerous times in my life when my anxiety has been so high, that I’ve asked for reassurance in relation to the same issue every few minutes!

 

Just the other day, I found myself in a situation where I could feel my anxiety starting to rise and I desperately needed some reassurance. However, instead of asking someone else to reassure me (which is what I usually do) I decided to try something else instead 💜

 

Over the years, not only have I asked people directly for reassurance - but I’ve also sent them emails and text messages too! I’m not sure what made me think of this, but as my anxiety began to rise, I went back through my emails and I found some of the responses that people had sent to me.

 

As I read through people’s responses (I read them numerous times 😊) I could feel my anxiety starting to decrease, which was such a huge relief! I also noticed that I felt a little bit more in control - as in that moment, I had managed to find a different way to comfort and reassure myself 😊

 

However, although this strategy worked well on that particular day, I’ve realised that if my anxiety escalated to the point where I start to panic, it would be incredibly difficult for me to find the emails when I need them. As such, I was thinking about writing the questions that I repeatedly ask (and the responses that people give me) on small cards, so that when I need reassurance, help will be close at hand 😊

 

Although this particular strategy won’t completely stop the compulsions, it did prevent me from asking someone else for reassurance - which is something that I really want to change!

 

I really love how you’re searching for some additional support for yourself and as such, I just wanted to share a few resources with you - in the hope that these may be helpful 💜

 

The first resource that I thought may be of interest to you, is an organisation called Mental Health Foundation Australia 😊

 

They provide a variety of different services, one of which is a support group for people who are living with OCD 😊

 

Although this particular support group meets face to face in Victoria, people are also welcome to participate via zoom 😊

 

I’ve just shared the link to this particular group below, in case you would like to take a look:

 

https://www.mhfa.org.au/SRG/obsessive-compulsive-disorder-support-group

 

I also wondered if one of our special events known as Topic Tuesday may be of interest to you 😊

 

Basically, Topic Tuesday is a live online discussion that’s facilitated by a guest speaker who has expertise in the topic that’s being discussed.

 

In March of last year our Topic Tuesday focused on ‘Living With OCD’ and as such, the conversations were guided by a guest speaker from an organisation called The Anxiety Recovery Centre in Victoria 😊

 

During this time, our Community Manager and our guest speaker created a safe and respectful space where they gently invited members of the community to share their experiences.

 

Although this particular event was held last year, I just wondered if you may like to read through the conversations and the information provided by our guest speaker.

I’ve included the link to this event below, just in case you would like to explore this further:

 

https://saneforums.org/t5/Special-Events/Topic-Tuesday-OCD-Behind-The-Mask-Tues-13th-April-7-00-8-30...

 

We also had a Topic Tuesday in 2017, that focused on ‘Managing Compulsions’ which I thought may also be of interest to you 😊

 

I’ve included the link to this event below, just in case you would like to read through some of these conversations:

 

https://saneforums.org/t5/Special-Events/Topic-Tuesday-OCD-Managing-compulsions-25-Jul-7pm-AEST/m-p/...

 

Also, just while I remember, one of the things that really helped me when I was new to the forums and still finding my way around, was that if you would like to chat with another forum member, or reply to one of their posts, place @ in front of their username just like I did at the start of my post to you i.e. @Jude17 that way, they will receive a message that you have contacted them 😊

 

Please know that you’re always welcome to reach out here whenever you need to 💜

 

Take kind and gentle care of yourself,

 

ShiningStar 💜             

 

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