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Alishia88
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Member Since: Jun 2012
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10 yr Member
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Default Dec 31, 2019 at 07:55 AM
  #1
I have had OCD to a small extent ever since I was a child, but it only got bothersome about 4 years ago.



I think it was brought on by some sleep problems that I was experiencing and I was OCD behaviors to tire me out before bed to help me deal with that (for some time, effectively).


Over time the behaviors though got worse and worse, more and more exhausting and bothersome and at some time they stopped working so not only was I overtired but, I think, BECAUSE of them and being overtired, not able to sleep.



At this point I decided to just stop ALL behaviors at once. I set a time and date and actually, it worked. It was strange going to bed without them, but, I was able to fall asleep without them, much earlier (because the OCD took up SO much time before) and I ended up getting better and more sleep this way.


Unfortunately it only lasted 2 or 3 days, then I started again and other tries to again stop all at once, did not work. I think because the "now or never" pressure was not there anymore, since I knew now that theoretically, I could stop if I wanted to so I could also "stop a little later".


Anyway, what I want to say is,
I am thinking that if it was possible to do it once, it must be possible to do it again.


New year´s is as good as time as any to try and start.


I have had people tell me before it is not possible, but I HAVE examples of other people (and myself, even just for a few days) that it is possible.


If you think you have even the slightest chance of doing it, I encourage you to try with me



O, and on a very important note!!!:

I have much proof from experience that whatever catastrophic events OCD is telling you will happen if you don´t do a behavior (e.g. my plane crashing if I do not climb over the person sitting next to me to go to the toilet ), is a LIE. And whatever you think terrible will happen, will not. At least not because you failed to give into a behavior. (I am telling this to myself now also, to remember )


If you think about deciding to try, write to me here .


Good luck and happy new year everyone
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Bongo2015
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Default Dec 31, 2019 at 01:29 PM
  #2
Hey there great to read your message. First off I can totally relate to catastrophic OCD. I am constantly plagued with thoughts of 'If I do this action, then something bad will happen'. For example my OCD has made me think if I followed through with my action then a family member will die within x number of years. Recently I had to follow through with something despite my OCD telling me my mother would die within a year if I did it. It made me feel bloody horrible but the further I go away from this the more I realise its a catastrophic OCD coming into play and I shouldn't feel guilty. Its really limiting what I do and I need to learn to follow through with things despite my mind telling me otherwise.

Secondly I know from experience it is not always possible to go cold turkey on something. Give yourself short term goals such as I will make it through to the weekend without compulsive behaviours. Then halfway through the following week. If you relapse don't beat yourself up. This is a f***ing cruel condition we have and it will bite back so many times. Baby steps!
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oreoboreo
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Default Jan 11, 2020 at 03:49 PM
  #3
How is it going so far?

I have not considered cold turkey on my OCD because it is germ & cleaning related. Going cold turkey would mean I have to set up complicated rules about when I can wash my hands, when it's ok to clean truly dirty things, and such. It is too complicated for me to just stop, because it would pose a serious safety issue for my family. I have considered going cold turkey on a few of the compulsions which are truly not a safety issue though (like cleaning grocery carts).

I hope it's going well for you though!
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Alishia88
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Thumbs up Jan 13, 2020 at 03:43 PM
  #4
Thank you both for your responses.


Since its been close to 2 weeks I though I´d check back here.
So this is how it´s been going.


The first, I think, 4 days went really well. I was not able to stop 100 percent of all behaviors, but I´d say maybe 90 percent.. What was left were a few micro-compulsions like brushing back a hair or touching something once or things I just did automatically without thinking about it.



So these really did take none of my time. All the time consuming compulsions that I used to do over and over and over again, I stopped.


Then on the 5th/6th days I noticed some more behaviors returning, that someone else could be able to see as well, but maybe it was still only 70/80 percent of what I used to do.


Then in the second week some more returned and I saw that I repeated a few things as well (as opposed to doing them just once).


However, all in all, I´d say I´m still doing a lot better because the most time consuming things did not return.


I think what happens over time, is that you lose focus on not doing the compulsions and when it´s not a priority, they creep back in.


So I suppose its important to set new goals when this happens.


I also feel it helped me, that I wrote about my plans here.


Once again I will try to stop all including micro-compulsions this time, and my most difficult one: taking a shower without thinking about how and what I am doing but just taking a shower intuitively like I used to before.


Overall I can tell that when you tell yourself you won´t do any compulsions, I think the brain catches up on that after some time and to some extent stops making the obsessive thoughts because it understands "it´s not worth the effort", because you won´t give into them anyway.


Also I am happy to report I did not die in my sleep, even though not doing the compulsions I felt I needed to do before.



Yes, if you feel, you can stop just a couple of your regular compulsions, I say go for it. It does save a lot of time!
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