Help How to manage OCD?

[snuffcore]

I don't know how many people here have OCD, or if any advice will even be helpful, but I'm tired of the ever "stay positive" attitude in other forums or subreddits and the refusal to give any semblance of actual help because "we're not medical professionals".Like yeah no shit but what if all my meds do is prevent panic attacks instead of addressing the illness itself.

So I was wondering how do y'all cope with OCD, especially those who obsess over themselves (sexuality, gender identity, existence) because frankly I'm going insane.

 

[KleinerWolf]

I'm not sure how helpful this is because I presume my OCD is be quite mild.
I don't have medication for it, though i probably should have but I hate the "drowsiness' of medications in general.

I have routine to things like checking door/water tap/bank cards those sort of thing
It helps gives me a sense of control and contentment

I still do these routines to some extent from time to time,
but people has commented that perhaps it helps to say to yourself out loud "STOP"
because OCD is sort of internal at first it helps to vocalise things to give yourself a perspective if that makes sense.

Otherwise, I do reassure myself "I'm fine. It's okay"
it kinda helps in my situation but I don't know if this is something resourceful to you.

I do have a counsellor however and I schedule appointment with her especially more often if I feel like general life events are not going well.

 

[Bruces]

I have ocd it drives me crazy

 

[rhiino]

Firstly it is important that you deem your OCD behaviour as wrong. You need to know that it is not right way to handle things and that it hurts you. Some people with OCD think their way of doing things is right and that everybody should do it like this. That contradicts recovery.
Secondly you have to have some energy to fight OCD. You have to always be at least on the edge of being uncomfortable, not giving in to OCD but instead always teasing it at least. This is especially hard when you also have other problems like anxiety and depression.

 

[Bruces]

ocd has ruined my life

 

[Fullof pain]

OCD is a demanding bitch who never gives up ! I try to distance myself from all the obsessive thoughts, by hearing them and acknowledging them, and then choosing not to act on them. It sometimes works other times doesn't. If I need a career change, i'd make a great burglar......as my hands are in such a mess I've barely got any finger prints left, seriously !!

 

[ocd is bad]

I never took any medications for ocd because I don't think I'll be able to afford them. One of the things I noticed though was that I do a lot less ocd shit in public or when someone can see me. So to allievate some of my ocd impulsions sometimes I try to make myself think that someone is watching me. And I have such a deteriorated mental state that sometimes I can trick myself into thinking this, and not do as much ocd rituals.

Idk if this would work for other people too, if it doesn't I'm sorry. I'm pretty sure it's unhealthy too, but sometimes it beats having ocd control your life.

 

[littlelady774]

I obsess over past conversations I've had with people. I always to document everything so I can go "check" them to see if there was any alternate meaning I may have missed or the worst possible scenario I can think of. Then that freaks me out so I have to go inside my mind, get my "documentation" out and check past scenarios to convince myself that it wasn't the bad alternate meaning.
I guess SSRIs work best for me

 

[mathieu]

I have intrusive thoughts which is an obsessive symptom. High doses of antidepressants help.