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Original poster

Advice OCD

5 replies

Tree25 · 10/03/2025 08:23

What would be your advice to someone who has the urge and compulsions to always change things when they don't seem 'right' or you don't know if you're happy with them anymore. So you feel the urge to keep going back to them and changing things but then you're going round in circles and all it does is just stress you out. I've struggled with my OCD since teens and the above is just one of the symptoms I struggle to stop doing. Any advice would be appreciated. Many thanks x

OP posts:
Eyesopenwideawake · 10/03/2025 10:02

It's a variation on the need to control everything; changing things prove you are in control, add in some perfectionism and you have the situation you describe - never happy.

Do you know what triggered the OCD? What was going on in your life around that time?

Original poster
Tree25 · 10/03/2025 16:31

Eyesopenwideawake · 10/03/2025 10:02

It's a variation on the need to control everything; changing things prove you are in control, add in some perfectionism and you have the situation you describe - never happy.

Do you know what triggered the OCD? What was going on in your life around that time?

Yeah exactly this! Everything is perfect so it should be okay right ? But it's really not. Not sure what triggered it i think it was just intrusive thoughts unwanted thoughts anxiety ..compulsions to do things 3 times or 5 times or something bad will happen x

OP posts:
Enderwhere · 10/03/2025 16:35

try to reframe it as "the problem isn't that things need to change the problem is that I feel that things need to change"
Then Exposure response prevention so
here the exposure would be not changing things that your compulsions are telling you to.
then the response prevention part essentially is to accept that you will feel anxious and ignore it basically, the more you do this the easier it will get. Even if at first you don't completely stop the compulsion but delay it by 10 minutes etc it will help

Eyesopenwideawake · 10/03/2025 17:03

Tree25 · 10/03/2025 16:31

Yeah exactly this! Everything is perfect so it should be okay right ? But it's really not. Not sure what triggered it i think it was just intrusive thoughts unwanted thoughts anxiety ..compulsions to do things 3 times or 5 times or something bad will happen x

Show quote history

Problem is, there's no such thing as 'perfect' so the compulsion to try and make it so will never be satisfied. Are you getting any professional help with this?

Original poster
Tree25 · 10/03/2025 17:05

Enderwhere · 10/03/2025 16:35

try to reframe it as "the problem isn't that things need to change the problem is that I feel that things need to change"
Then Exposure response prevention so
here the exposure would be not changing things that your compulsions are telling you to.
then the response prevention part essentially is to accept that you will feel anxious and ignore it basically, the more you do this the easier it will get. Even if at first you don't completely stop the compulsion but delay it by 10 minutes etc it will help

Thank you that's really good advice. It's like mentally training your brain and way of thinking isn't it. I feel that urges to do things and keep going back to things can be really powerful because the ocd controls you but you have to take the control back and control IT. Hence ignoring it not giving into it . The more you do it I suppose it'll make you stronger x

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