In my last post I talked about the threat bucket metaphor and how it relates to our resilience levels – if you haven’t read that one you might want to go and check it out first – link to pervious post.
In this post we’re going to look closer at why it’s particularly bad for your bucket to overflow when you have OCD and why your self-care is of the upmost importance.
Why it’s so bad for OCD when your bucket overflows?
When we have OCD we want to do everything we can to keep our resilience as high as possible, why?
Well, when in fight-or-flight, our brain shifts into ‘survival mode’ this, like OCD, changes how you think, not just how you feel.
Our goals switch to speed and safety over accuracy, nuance and long-term reasoning – not what we want when dealing with OCD intrusive thoughts.
Here’s a summary of what’s happening in the brain when our resilience drops (bucket overflows).
1. Our brain’s “thinking centre” goes offline – The prefrontal cortex (responsible for reasoning, planning, empathy, and impulse control) becomes less active.
This means:
- We have a reduced ability to think logically
- Difficulty seeing multiple perspectives
- Poor working memory (“I can’t think straight”)
- And more impulsive reactions
You’re not choosing this—blood flow and neural activity are redirected away from this area.
2. Our threat-detection system takes over – our amygdala and related limbic structures start to dominate.
This means our thinking becomes:
- Threat-focused (“What’s wrong?”)
- Binary (safe vs dangerous, right vs wrong, black vs white)
- Fast and reactive
- Emotion-driven
Our brains are asking one question only: “How do I survive this?”
3. Cognitive narrowing occurs, Fight-or-flight (an overflowing bucket) causes tunnel thinking.
You may experience:
- Fixation on one detail or outcome
- Loss of creativity and flexibility
- Difficulty accessing learned skills – this is why prepping in advance for triggering situations is so important
- Overgeneralization (“This always happens”)
This is efficient for survival—but limiting for problem-solving and not where you want to be when experiencing intrusive thoughts.
4. Biases increase – in survival mode, the brain relies on shortcuts, common thinking patterns include:
- Catastrophizing
- Mind reading (“They’re against me”)
- Personalization
- Black-and-white thinking
These are not “bad habits”—they’re stress (OCD)-induced neural shortcuts.
Understanding all this helps you realise that you can’t reason or ruminate your way out of fight-or-flight (OCD)—you regulate your nervous system first. Thinking comes back after ‘safety’ is restored.
BUT…
…how do we know if we’re in fight or flight in the first place?
and
…how do we get out of it and stay out of it when our amygdala keeps letting off faulty signals all the time?
I hear you ask.
Honestly it can feel impossible at times, I get it!
First things first, the best way I’ve found to work out if I’m in fight or flight is from Martha Beck:
Ask yourself:
‘Am I suffering/struggling?’
If the answer is, ‘yes’ then you can almost guarantee you’re in fight or flight.
There’ll be no logic involved, you won’t be thinking rationally – you need to stop.
Our bodies are designed to move between rest and digest and fight or flight naturally and if you can recognise you’re dysregulated and sit with the uncomfortable feeling then great, do that.
I have however found some nice ways to speed up the process, so you can start to see things more rationally more quickly!
Here are some of the best tools I’ve found to come out of fight or flight when in it:
- Creativity – this will mean different things for different people but creativity is amazing at switching on a different part of the brain, drawing your attention away from the catastrophizing part. Quite often if you can focus on creating something, whether it be a piece of art, a yoga sequence, something in the kitchen, garden, workshop, on the computer, anything that gets you thinking outside the box, you will start to draw your attention back to a more balance place.
What’s your creative outlet? - Curiosity – This can be curiosity about anything, quite often when we become curious and interested in something it grounds us and pulls us away from that extreme black and white thinking. Try asking why? Maybe investigate how something works or why it’s the way it is.
Have you ever wondered about anything? - Humour – is fabulous for getting the brain to switch modes. It works because its unexpected, remember the brain is a prediction machine and it’s pretty good at it. When a joke comes along and it doesn’t end where the brain think it will, BAM! You’re out of default mode and the brain is switched on and listening.
Do you like any particular comedians? Go and look up one of their new sets online. - Awe – part of the joy of being human is our ability to find awe. It can really give you some perspective when you look at the stars, birds, clouds, landscape etc. Going out into the world and finding things that make you think, wow! Is very important to our wellbeing and it helps us reset.
What brings you that feeling of awe? - A Challenge – this can be tricky when you’re in fight or flight but something which I found fun – from Martha Becks book – was to try and write your signature backwards. It takes a huge amount of focus and is very grounding. Go on, give it a try!
- Foundations Work – movement, nutrition, sleep, relaxation & social connection. This takes an element of doing what you know is good for you, even when you don’t feel like it. We have to take action first, do the things we know make us feel better in the long run, your body and brain will thank you.
I really hope some of these methods are useful for you, give them a go and see what works. It can be very individual which is tricky but once you’ve found the thing that works it can be seriously life changing. Once back in rest and digest quite often we can let the thought go and see it as completely irrational, but if not, at this stage we can work through Byron Katies, questions.
Ask yourself:
Is it true?
Is it 100% true? If the answer is no – which it always is in the case of OCD as it is based in doubt and uncertainty – then:
YOU HAVE TO LET IT GO!!!!!!
As I said in one of my previous posts, why would you torture yourself over anything less than 100% certainty?
I really hope this post has helped you to understand the role the nervous system plays in OCD and why it’s so important to recognise when you’re in fight or flight and find useful ways to bring yourself back. Only when out of fight or flight can we rationalise, think clearly and see OCD thoughts for what they are, just thoughts.
And if you ever wanted a reason not to complete a compulsion in the first place then remember, every time you give into one of those unwanted, intrusive, and distressing thoughts, images, urges, or feelings you’re filling up your bucket a little bit more and getting closer and closer to fight or flight, where it all starts to fall apart!
Leave that thought be and carry on with your life aligning to your values.
I really hope this post helps, education and knowledge are so vital for OCD recovery,
As Always, you are not alone,
Stay Strong xxx
Conquering OCD 