Recovery from OCD – TherapyTribe
I seem to be on a bit of a roll with these blogs, so why stop a good thing eh?
The other night I was talking to a friend on Facebook. The conversation seemed a bit off, not flowing like it usually did, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on why. Me being me, I decided to just ask him outright what the matter was, what was going on as I could tell he was stressed. He finally admitted that he’d been having trouble with intrusive thoughts of self harm. Knowing that I’d gone through the exact same thing and recovered he was trying to find a way to ask for my advice without letting me know because he felt shame and embarrassment about it. It turns out he’s been dealing with these intrusive thoughts silently for years, but this particular night he had reached a crisis point and his anxiety had spiked through the roof, leading him to finally reach out to someone he thought would understand.
I of course listened without judgment, told him that although I’m not a clinical psychologist, the symptoms he was describing sounding exactly like my OCD, and I told him it can get better, I’m living proof of that.
Like everyone with intrusive thoughts he tried to fight the thoughts, thinking that distraction and self medication with alcohol was the only way to control it and get a good nights sleep. In fact he admitted he’d not been able to sleep in 24 hours because as is usually the case with OCD, when you’re trying to get to sleep, that’s when the intrusive thoughts really take hold. I could tell he was absolutely exhausted.
So I talked him through it! Talked him through the vicious cycle, how I managed to break through the cycle and reevaluate my own thoughts using CBT. I talked to him about how I learned to sit with these thoughts and acknowledge them but then let them float away without reacting to them. I told him about techniques I’d used to help me like mindfulness and meditation, as well as exercise and being in nature. I even shared with him a helpful YouTube video of a guided meditation I found incredibly helpful, and still use on a daily basis as a sort of “mental health top up”.
Most of all though, I told him the truth, recovery is possible. Is it easy? No! It’s one of the hardest things you can do. It takes time, effort, patience and perseverance. Is it worth it? Hell yes it is! I am living proof of that!
People tend to look at me like a weirdo when I say how grateful I am for having OCD and having been through what I have. But I am. Let me explain. Transforming your mind with CBT, mindfulness and meditation isn’t just good for people with OCD, it’s good for everyone! Gaining greater focus in your mind and learning to be able to let intrusive thoughts and mind chatter just flow through your mind and bringing your attention back to the task in hand has far reaching benefits! Learning to use CBT tools to rationalise life’s problems, big or small, whatever they may be has power. Being able to use meditation to quiet the mind, and relax the body, creating that mental headspace to retreat to can help you stay calm in almost any situation, and therefore better able to focus and find solutions!
These skills I used every day of my life, to great effect! Although I initially picked up these skills to help with OCD, these skills have actually made me even stronger and more robust than most people I know. I started off with a messy and uncoordinated mind, and ended up with a well oiled machine! I once perceived myself as being weak for having intrusive thoughts until I learned that everyone has them, I still do, but I no longer place the emphasis on them that I once did. Over time with practice, my concentration and focus grew, and the intrusive thoughts sit in the background, without my mind placing any great significance on them. Some intrusive thoughts are actually quite helpful, like a burst of inspiration! I’ve trained my mind to place importance on helping intrusive thoughts and simply recognise and let go of intrusive thoughts that don’t serve me.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying this to brag, far from it. I have nothing to brag about. I had an army of people, professionals and friends to help my find and use all these techniques, and more importantly keep practicing them. I am simply the product of the work of others, I just watered the seed that they planted.
As for my friend, he is starting his path, he has an appointment with his GP to get a formal assessment and diagnosis, he is beginning to research CBT and in his own words, just knowing recovery is possible is liberating!
