OCD Action

tizzkins
Member

Hi all i am still having good days but mainly bad days. I am not sure if what has just happened to me in the supermarket is progress or not. See what you think. I was in the supermarket just to pick up a few items i went to look at the flowers and i turned a bunch around to see the price as i did so my hand caught and brushed against the flowers. Anyway my initial panic seemed shorter lived than normal or so i thought at the time. My initial reaction was to go and wash my hands and then i thought is there any real need to after all it was only my hand brushing against flowers. So beyond my better judgement i carried on with my shopping trying not to touch anything with my hand which is ok until i forgot and i picked up a loaf of bread. I still carried on thinking as i was going around the supermarket that even carrying a basket could be passing on some germs or whatever i could have picked up from the flowers. I went home panicking when i had to touch the door handle etc. Then i thought about what other people had had on their hands before they pick up a basket in the supermarket and handling food etc. At the end of the day i decided that it wasnt worth worrying about especially not as i normally would have done. I just seem to have got to the stage where i am 99% cent sure its not worth worrying about its just that last 1% thatis bugging me. Any ideas. Not sure if i made progress today or not i suppose at the end of the day if it was real progress i wouldnt be on here trying to rationalise my day. I hate this illness.

Hope you are all well.
Liz

Fri Jan 20 2012 16:17:29 #
Mike
Member

Liz -

That is great progress! You refused to ritualize by washing your hands, and in so you started on the path to living with uncertainty. Your sentence about the 1% still bugging you clearly shows what OCD really is. It is a disease of not being able to live with uncertainty. 99% on any topic is good enough, and the best we can ever do. Uncertainty and the potential for bad things to happen is a part of life. The best treatment for OCD is to learn to accept that we will never be certain about our fears, and that we have no choice but to accept and live with this uncertainty.

Mike

Fri Jan 20 2012 16:54:26 #
Aimboy
Member

Hey Liz

Surely it would count as progress, You seem to have prevented yourself from carrying out your compulsion which would of been to wash your hands. As a consequence of this you have experienced the inevitable anxiety and worked through it which is also a step in the right direction and it seems like your thought process has changed for the better. I suppose its just a matter of keeping it up now and being consistent then you will start to see a major change.

Well done

Joe

Fri Jan 20 2012 16:55:33 #
wannabefree
Member

I can only agree with Mike and Joe... WELL DONE! A really big achievement. It certainly is Progress with a capital P...As I read your post I was practically holding my breath! You did great!
Wannabe

Fri Jan 20 2012 20:51:29 #
Cuthbert ffoliott
Moderator

It's progress for sure. What I find especially encouraging: you applied rational thinking to assess the situation, and drew the conclusion that touching flowers isn't dangerous, and that others had used the shopping basket anyway... and managed to accept the uncertainty eventually. You rationalised your day, indeed, but just enjoy the total picture, Liz... the outcome is that you took a real hurdle!

My compliments, Cuthbert.

Sat Jan 21 2012 9:31:53 #