Anxiety Support Group
Anxiety is a physical condition marked by intense and persistent feelings of distress, fear, angst or dread. General anxiety caused by routine day-to-day stresses usually passes quickly and is experienced by almost everyone at one time or another. However, such feelings that linger over time and are very difficult to cope with, and which lack a clear cause, may indicate...
So in addition to anxiety and panic attacks, I have OCD.. It doesn't stop me from living my life normally.. But it's gotten worse I think lately with all the stress and emotional issues I've gone through.. I have a compulsion to knock on wood, I touch wood whenever I can, It has to be in a certain pattern though.. and that changes depending on what room I am in...
My room - I knock on windowsill 3 times, touch my wooden necklace (with both hands) and then knock on the bedside table three times
The Kitchen - I only usually do this one at night before bed.. I knock 3 times on each of these.. The cabinet, the drawer near the coffee machine, the drawer near the sink (It always has to be the VERY corner of the drawer or I have to redo it) and then I walk across the kitchen to knock on both windowsills 3 times..
The living room - This changed, I used to have a bookshelf near where I sit when I am in the living room but it was moved so now I normally just touch my necklace instead of knocking on anything
My computer desk - I knock three times on the underside of the table
The bathroom - I knock on the wooden door for the medicine chest and even on the fake wooden thing for the sink
So thats it for the compulsions, The obsessions though.. are another story altogether.. I have certain triggers for OCD/anxiety and one of the biggest ones is food poisoning or stomachache.. It's not that I avoid all food out of fear of getting poisoned, it;s just that I am extremely picky when it comes to what I eat.. to the point of I will not eat anything that has even a little bit of spices in it (I threw away a dinner last night because it had a faint taste of red bell peppers).. I don't know why I do this, It's really strange.
Speaking of food, this doesn't only have to do with food, but it's part of it.. I have to do things at a certain time each day ... Like I wake up at 12pm, I can't eat lunch until 3:30pm ... (I used to eat lunch at 1pm!) .. I can't eat dinner until 8:30pm (I used to eat it at 7:30pm :O).. It's really irritating me and I wish I knew how to fix it because I want to eat, But i'm too scared to do it.. I'm scared it'll mess everything up if i eat before i'm supposed to
Does anyone have any advice or any problems similar to these? I'd love to hear from you!
My room - I knock on windowsill 3 times, touch my wooden necklace (with both hands) and then knock on the bedside table three times
The Kitchen - I only usually do this one at night before bed.. I knock 3 times on each of these.. The cabinet, the drawer near the coffee machine, the drawer near the sink (It always has to be the VERY corner of the drawer or I have to redo it) and then I walk across the kitchen to knock on both windowsills 3 times..
The living room - This changed, I used to have a bookshelf near where I sit when I am in the living room but it was moved so now I normally just touch my necklace instead of knocking on anything
My computer desk - I knock three times on the underside of the table
The bathroom - I knock on the wooden door for the medicine chest and even on the fake wooden thing for the sink
So thats it for the compulsions, The obsessions though.. are another story altogether.. I have certain triggers for OCD/anxiety and one of the biggest ones is food poisoning or stomachache.. It's not that I avoid all food out of fear of getting poisoned, it;s just that I am extremely picky when it comes to what I eat.. to the point of I will not eat anything that has even a little bit of spices in it (I threw away a dinner last night because it had a faint taste of red bell peppers).. I don't know why I do this, It's really strange.
Speaking of food, this doesn't only have to do with food, but it's part of it.. I have to do things at a certain time each day ... Like I wake up at 12pm, I can't eat lunch until 3:30pm ... (I used to eat lunch at 1pm!) .. I can't eat dinner until 8:30pm (I used to eat it at 7:30pm :O).. It's really irritating me and I wish I knew how to fix it because I want to eat, But i'm too scared to do it.. I'm scared it'll mess everything up if i eat before i'm supposed to
Does anyone have any advice or any problems similar to these? I'd love to hear from you!
I've been a worrier for quite some time but recently developed OCD. My main trigger is food safety. My diet is getting more and more limited and I need to stop but don't know how. I am also washing my hands a lot, mostly to protect my family from figments of my imagination!
I don't really have advice but have heard that ERP is necessary to get over it. The more we avoid the worse it is. I try to take 'risks' (lol) every day so that I'm not avoiding everything. But they are not really risks they are so tiny.
Have you heard of EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique or tapping?) That can help anxiety and OCD. It works for me a bit but not always.
Let me know how you are doing. : )