OCD

[Nosleepclub13]

Not entirely sure what I'm after to be honest, maybe just a rant.

I've "officially" had OCD for about 4/5 years now, but it goes way further back. OCD for me is constantly overanalyzing every single situation, constant intrusive thoughts, everything in my mind is always "worst case scenario". I'm also a checker so I constantly check things are off or locked and to be honest it's exhausting.

I've been prescribed various medications, currently mirtazipine (hopefully spelled correctly) which helps to some extent however if this is as good as it's ever going to be I can't imaging living my life like this. I'm in my 30s and have two children, one in primary school and the other is 18 months. I will need to return to work soon as financially we can't afford for me to be off any longer, and I would love to return to work however I don't know how I will cope with the constant OCD 😭

Has anyone else been in this position? What helped? Does it ever get better? I'm currently having come counselling through the NHS which is great but it'll be coming to an end soon and I feel no better than when I started. We can't really afford any private therapy and I'm worried when it ends I'm on my own with it again.

Sorry for the rant and thank you if you made it to the end!

Can you recall when it started? And what was the trigger? Finding and dealing with the root cause is often the best way to resolve it.

Hi, unfortunately not! When I look back I realise some of the things I did even as a child weren't "normal" but no idea when it began 😞

Hi OP.
I can relate, I've suffered with severe health anxiety which has now turned into OCD and it's very severe. I've tried various medications over the years and had various therapies all to no avail. Its like it's engrained in my brain that this is how I am now.. I don't have a great deal of advice to offer unfortunately as I'm struggling right now especially with my intrusive obsessive thoughts mostly about my health and mortality. I think once you are back at work you will be surprised how you cope. I found that I was a lot more distracted and my OCD improved because I had less time on my hands to worry. I know where my OCD comes from, I had a very traumatic childhood into my teen years. Even though I know what the trigger is I still find it especially hard to get better when treat my OCD. I just wanted you to know your not alone.

I have ocd but it doesn’t impact me now unless I get very stressed, but it’s under control enough that I recognise it and can prevent the compulsions
I really didn’t know how I could carry on at one point though, it was just so draining and I couldn’t see a way out. I had Cbt and emdr. I realised that on some level I wanted the ocd because of the positives of it (I felt some relief, or control or something else) once I knew that, I could then rationally see that actually it wasn’t helping me and I could start working on it. Also with emdr I went back to how i felt with my earliest memories of it and realised I was no longer in that position, so the particular coping strategy (ocd) was no longer needed. I just wanted to comment to say It really can get better, for a long time it impacted every waking moment of my life and now I probably think about it briefly once a month or so. Tell your therapist it isn’t working, see if you can try something else and you need to get to the root imo. Good luck op.

Hey there .

I’m new too mumsnet & am looking for some advice .

I was diagnosed with OCD a few years back . I’m currently dealing with a flare up .

I have had a friends for about 10 years . He’s a male and I always kind of thought it was cool to be his friend as he was very popular and confident ! I always enjoyed talking to him & would sometimes find an excuse to contact him. I never over thought it. All our communication is completely plotanic & I’ve often tried to set him up with female friends . A few weeks back I was in bed and I created a story in my head that If my husband cheated on me I would reach out to this friend for support & maybe we’d end up kissing . Now I feel terribly guilty on my husband coz I feel like it means I must have feelings for this friend ! I have ABSOLUTELY no desire to be with this friend . I’m just overthinking why do I look for reasons to speak to him & why did I create that story in my head ! Do you think it means I must have feeling for him ?

are you sure your NHS therapy is coming to an end? I had NHS therapy for OCD on and off for a few years - if I did not make significant progress they escalated me to a more qualified therapist.