Ocd is taking over my brain

[obsessedanddepressed]

I've had ocd for around 25 years. I've seen countless therapists but unfortunately my ocd just doesn't seem to go. I have been through stages where it has eased but never gone. At the moment it is worse than ever.

I am constantly going through severe paranoia and catastrophising. I literally go from panicking about something one day to panicking about something completely different the next. Eg. One day I will panic I will lose my job to the next day I'll be panicking that I've got a disease.
I never ever have peace in my brain - I am constantly on guard and living my life in fear of 'what ifs'.

Does anyone else suffer from ocd to this extent? It is really destroying me ☹️

Can anybody relate to this?

Have you seen your gp?

@MrsTaytodarling

Yes I've had so many therapists - about 6. My gp has been no help at all unfortunately

I've had this....started meds and haven't looked back. You should think about this

I’m sorry this is happening to you. Are you on any medication?

@MrsTaytodarling which medication did you find helped?

Escitalopram. On it 10 yrs ago....game changer xxxxxx

Hello, yes I'm another plagued by OCD. I went on new meds two years ago and although it's still there, I'm able to cope better as it's much quieter in my head. I take Olanzapine. (I've tried many others during the years but this is the first one that massively has an impact on my anxiety)

I am constantly on guard and living my life in fear of 'what ifs'.

Your mind has lived in a state of high alert for so long it's become the default position. As well as being bad for your mental health it's not great for your physical health to be in the 'fight or flight' response state long term; your body needs down time for cell renewal, processing food and fighting infection.

So the first thing is to deal with the 'what ifs'. You have no idea when you wake in the morning what the day will bring but what is absolutely certain is that you will cope with it. How can you be sure of that? Because that's what you've done every single day of your life. Humans are incredibly resourceful, flexible and able to deal with anything that happens to them - even if that coping means removing yourself from a situation or challenge that is too much for you.

Every time we contemplate doing something our minds run a subconscious cognitive assessment to check that it's within our current capabilities. Could be anything from having the energy to change the beds to doing an career changing presentation. Being well rested is THE most important way of ensuring that we can deal with anything that we face during that day to the best of our abilities.

This is a really good guide to challenging and reframing unhelpful thoughts;

https://www.getselfhelp.co.uk/docs/ThoughtRecordSheet7.pdf

If you want to reframe your thought patterns permanently then consider remedial hypnosis.