OCD/ Anxiety

[Puffinity]

I suffer from OCD and anxiety, which manifest themselves mainly through getting very very worried over relatively minor things and/ or intrusive thoughts. I have noticed that, although I have been feeling fine during the day, every evening the anxiety kicks in at around 9pm. It's almost freaky how regular it is - at first I just put it down to different things triggering it, but tonight there was no trigger and when I checked the time I saw it was 9.15. Just wondering if anyone else has noticed particular patterns with their MH problems kicking in. It is annoying me a little, because I now get extremely anxious every day, whereas before it would be fine for a while and then bother me for a few days. I do have an awful lot of things going on at the moment (all good but unfortunately that doesn't make much of a difference for me), so maybe it is not a normal week for me. Anyway, just curious to hear other people's opinions/ experiences. If you also have patterns, how do you deal with it?

PS: NC for this as I was a bit too open about myself under my previous name

Yes, my anxiety (off meds) always triggered off at about 5pm. Like clockwork with seemingly no trigger at all.

But, a year has gone by now and on reflection... 5pm was (and still is!) 'countdown to bedtime' for my little girl. I'd get tired around this time (a trigger) and would be clock watching wishing the time away, knowing I'd have to fill 2-3 hours with my DD before I could relax.

I'd also get hungry around this time (another trigger) but would always wait till DD was in bed before making dinner.

So I think, actually, there were triggers there, I just couldn't see them.

Could yours be tiredness?

Hi

Yes I was going to say the same as Bellyrub, maybe tiredness.

I suffer from OCD too and it always gets worse when I am tired or stressed.

I get worse in the evening….although this is 'wrong' for depressed people apparently but I find that it's the worrying about everything generally and then everything that's happened in the day, and the kids are in bed so there is time to think and everything. I suppose it's anxiety really. I think it's easy to get into a sort of pattern…dreading a particular time of day as you know it's going to be crap and then it all ends up being a self fulfilling prophesy.

I deal with it by knitting (keeps hands busy) and netflix. Exercise during the day helps a bit (though unfortunately not a huge amount) as it makes it easier to stay still. And taking medication that helps me fall asleep…therefore the evening WILL end (most of the time)

I get periods of days that are worse than others, so I've got a diary system so that I can write things that are relevant for the day (I do that bullet journal thing). It means that if I'm having a rubbish few days I can remind myself that the last period only lasted x days, and then I was ok for y days so it although it feels like it will last forever, I've got written evidence that it doesn't.