Conquering OCD is within your reach

It’s possible!

It’s possible to become an OCD Conquerer! This doesn’t mean I will never have challenges again, but it does mean I’ve made great strides in learning to live with and properly managing OCD. You can do it, too! Keep up the great work!

So proud of myself!

I can’t believe I’m here! It’s been a long journey and I’m so proud. This doesn’t mean my OCD has completely disappeared, I just have new tools on how to tackle it. I’m so thankful to my therapist, she has been amazing!!

A serious milestone

It's been two months since I started therapy. In that span of time, I have gone from being extremely depressed to being able to live life again. It took a lot of effort on my part to change how I think, change my relationship with my thoughts, change how I see life itself, in order to get to this place. I still have to deal with OCD everyday, but it's so much easier for me to resist performing compulsions now, and my acceptance of life is so much greater now. I am still far from where I want to be mentally, but the place I am in now is something I actually tolerate, even though I wouldn't want to remain like this forever if I can help it. I wish the best for all of you, and remember, it is always possible to get better. You just need to be willing to change.

What I can do now after I conquered OCD

I’m able to move on with my day/life after being triggered by Anxiety and OCD. And I’m able to watch certain things I wasn’t comfortable watching before.

It takes more than the “right” meds.

I took medication for my OCD, and everything that comes with it, for over twenty years. Things didn’t get easier until I started ERP therapy. Homework is hard, but that’s okay. When OCD, and all its angry friends come to test you, you’ll be so much more prepared, when you’ve put in the work ahead of time. Life can be scary, but you are never truly alone in it.

I know what it feels like...

When I rejoined NOCD after a year or so of remission from this disorder, I was in one of my worst spirals yet. I would see these "OCD Conqueror" posts & still feel no hope. I wanted to share mine for one reason, to tell others that I see them. I know what it feels like to not want to accept living like this. I understand how intrusive thoughts can make you feel like a monster. With therapy & time I'm doing a lot better. The hope I have for the future ebbs & flows. There are still days where OCD/anxiety wreck me. However, support exists. My therapist has helped me get to this point & realize there is a way to live with OCD. I won't sugar coat it, because recovery is difficult & never truly ends. Sometimes you have to accept it, then get out of your own way to start living again. "We've all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the part we choose to act on. That's who we really are." Sirius Black, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix 🐦‍🔥

I AM A CONQUERERRRRRRR🤘😝

still not where I want to be, but I’m so thankful to God that he has given me the strength to face hard and scary things.

Six months anniversary of my conquest of OCD

It’s been six months since I became an OCD Conqueror. I do feel very proud. Even if I don’t always know it.

I’m just starting to use the app. I got this badge

I’ve been in treatment for the recommended time. It went well but stressful. I struggled with contamination. Still do. I had to experience a precaution I was doing as not necessary to get the breakthrough. Be brave, simultaneously find the path of least resistance to start, and get that valuable hindsight. It works!

Everyday is progress and everyday is a gift !

Everyday is still a battle with your head.i made the post awhile back about having turrets a kid and how much I struggled with it in school biting tongue, head jolts, not focusing. I never really realize how much the two go hand in hand I sort of masked it my own way .my ocd focuses on the people who mean the most to me which I have learned along the way.it sucks believe it .but I always remind myself I’m becoming the best version of myself for my family and to help my kids and others work through there thoughts and remind them they are just thoughts nothing more.stay positive all

Surreal

The thoughts are still there and at times they’re still loud, but moving into a new phase of treatment feels so rewarding. The hard work truly does pay off.

Progress.

🥲 The gratitude I hold for the guidance won't easily translate to words. I am still doing the quiet, heavy lifting to rebuild myself, but I need you all to keep grinding on your end. We endure this together.

Tools encouragement and hope

When you get this badge NOCD invites you to look back on the changes you’ve noticed on your recovery journey and share them with our community. I want to share some things I’ve learned. I guess the change I want to share is I’ve done and am doing the hard things and can offer advice now rather than feeling hopeless alone scared and lost. I’m glad I’m still here if I’m brutally honest because at first I didn’t know what was going on and just knew I couldn’t continue to live like that. So thank you me, NOCD, this community, my wife and daughter, etc. First, you’re the expert on you - you’re the only one inside your body who knows what’s going on inside you - so advocate for yourself. I know trusting yourself at first feels impossible and with OCD is more complicated but it is a process so as you grow more confident know that you can change your therapist by contacting member advocates, your hierarchy - talk with your therapist, seek recovery information in support groups etc, medication under a provider’s guidance may need adjusting too. I thought these things were set in stone for a while but they’re dynamic and can change throughout the process just like you do. Second, when you reach conqueror status you’re going to have a lot of feelings and questions about it. For instance, I think we’re afraid sometimes to say feeling nervous about a big change is normal because we care about and don’t want to reassure each other. However I think it’s not ocd when it’s a normal thing to be nervous about, it’s human and it is a big change. OCD can latch onto it like anything else but being nervous isn’t always OCD. Remember to live in the gray not black and white. Third, living the B- (good enough not OCD perfect) ERP lifestyle is good for future you and to continue all the progress you’re making here. So when it gets hard ask yourself “is it worth facing the fear for you?” And I hope that answer is yes. I have come to think of it as a way of taking care of myself now as weird as it sounds (facing the fear). And therapists don’t all get trained in ACT but utilize the blog posts here like: https://www.treatmyocd.com/search/Value Because in my opinion ERP in it’s own without the values over fears piece is like climbing Mt. Everest without any climbing gear or a coat. Find your why for doing ERP. it helps you choose your values over your fears on those really tough daeys It’s been hard 2 take in this badge. I know it’s an accomplishment and I’m proud of myself. The reality is I’m having a bit of a spike this week so of course OCD has something to say about the truth and validity of this. It’s a little hard to take in also because I’m getting used to a new autism adhd late diagnosis and life stresses. But to myself and all of us I want to say congrats and keep up doing the hard work! “It’s a beautiful day to do hard things.” (Kimberly Quinlan) and like I learned from Mackenzie and Alex in support groups “you got this.”

🫧Life has its ups and downs but..

Since conquering OCD I can do so many things I never really saw myself as a person doing. I was really quite sad before; but my personality always shined through. 🌄Now- I am all personality! 🌅I can experience a range of emotions other than just anxiety. Even though life has its ups and downs and my OCD still flares, I am able to recognize what is happening and that itself is enough for me :)

Super proud! Still learning everyday!

I am noticing I am able to turn my OCD hit and run into just thoughts rather than fear and making myself think it’s reality. All they are is just thoughts!!! Can’t wait to keep my journey going!

Yay!

I still have a long way to go, but happy to say I can actually get out of the house, spend time with the people I love, and talk about OCD without feeling shame or fear.

🙏🏻 Truly life changing

Daily I hear my therapists voice saying, “Well, we just don’t know, do we?” when I’m facing uncertainty—big or small. I have taken more risks, put myself out there for opportunities in work and my social life, embraced this season of change I’m in, and found soooooooo many small ways I have been creating more stress and anxiety for myself than I realized. With pure ocd /just right ocd this happens so internally no one else around me has known how awful my internal world can feel. It’s so much brighter now. Not everything can be perfect, and that’s okay. Not everything turns out just right, and that’s okay. Therapy with Andrea at NOCD has consistently helped me make strides in living an imperfect, uncertain, and yet exponentially more fulfilling and rewarding life!

Yes!!!

Fear doesn’t have to have the final say!

😊

I'm very happy with this process and getting alot of progress in. My everyday life is so much better.

You are stronger than you could ever imagine

I have exhibited symptoms of OCD since I was 10 years old, but wasn’t diagnosed until I was in high school. I did ERP therapy for my severe contamination OCD, I got better and had techniques that allowed me to combat my OCD for years. Then this past December everything came falling apart when I endured the most severe flare up I’ve experienced in my life. And it began two days before my last law school final of the semester. I was presented with one of the darkest themes OCD has challenged me with. I felt like all my techniques went out the window and I was starting again from square one. OCD made it feel like it was different this time, this time I actually was in danger. I finished my last final paralyzed in fight or flight fear. I didn’t remember anything I wrote during the exam. After that, I went home for winter break to have some support from my family. During winter break my OCD convinced me that I had to be with people at all times to be safe, which was difficult because I lived alone in an apartment hours away from my support system. I know being alone isn’t scary to most, but I was more than terrified of it, I would sob just thinking about it. I didn’t think I could return for my next semester of law school in three weeks. At that point, I would go with my mother to get the mail, that’s how dependent I was. All I could think about was my theme. But the day came when I had to decide whether to go back to school or not. Law school was my dream, I never thought I’d ever consider leaving that behind. But the all enduring work of law school while being preoccupied by the bully in my brain and being away from my loved ones made me want to stop. Not listening was the best decision I have made to date. After speaking with my ERP therapist before I left home, she said that even though I was combating my biggest exposure very early on into treatment, I could handle it. Life doesn’t stop for an OCD spiral and usually it happens when you’re the most swamped. It tries to take advantage of you when you’re at your lowest and it’s a cowardly thing to do. OCD tried to take away my motivation and ambition for great things because that is what it knew I valued most. Don’t let something you didn’t choose, dictate what you can choose. Everyday is still a battle and I am relearning how to do things I used to do with a second thought. But each day I prove to myself, all the doubt is lies. Thinking you can is half the battle and I believe in all of you and think you can.