Category: OCD Awareness Week

Overcoming OCD: The Role of Expectancy Violation

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In last weeks post I touched on the subject of expectancy violation and I thought it was such an important topic that it deserved its own post.   

What is Expectancy Violation I hear you ask?

It is a core mechanism in Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) therapy, where a patient’s obsession is disproven by facing the fear (obsession) without doing the compulsion. By violating this expectation, the patient learns that their fear (obsession) is manageable, and their obsessive beliefs are false, which promotes long-term recovery. 

ERP therapy is all about proving to your brain that your OCD obsessions are unfounded and based on dodgy data.  We can only prove this to our brains by sitting with the obsession when it comes in and not partaking in the compulsion. 

Sounds easy right?  Well last weeks post was all about how the brain can make, ‘just sitting with it’, feel like a life or death situation and no I’m not exaggerating, anyone suffering from OCD knows this first hand.

The brain believes what it sees and it’s only action or sometimes inaction that can rewire the ‘faulty OCD circuitry’, currently running.    

I realise ‘taking action’ can be hard and sometimes it can feel useful to sit and consume podcasts, books, blog posts and reels on OCD instead. This can make us feel like we’re ‘doing the work’, and don’t get me wrong I do truly believe psychoeducation plays a large part in OCD recovery but the real work is done out there in the real world, when you’re not making your life smaller to avoid triggers.

It’s only when you take part in your exposures, reframe from doing the compulsion and see that the ‘expected’ outcome doesn’t actually happen, that you receive this unbelievably important input – the expectancy violation – which then starts to rewire your brain with better more accurate data.

You have to remember to keep on pushing outwards so OCD can’t push you inwards. In my experience if you don’t continue to push yourself out of your comfort zone regularly then the ‘weeds’ (OCD obessions) start to sneak back in.

My advice therefore is to try and make ERP a lifestyle choice. When we accept our anxiety, knowing it’s a normal part of being human and carry on anyway we are winning against OCD. 

Are you still pushing out of your comfort zone each week? I’d love to know what you’ve been up to, let me know in the comments below so we can help inspire each other.

If you, like me, need a reminder now and again to keep on trying new challenges and exposures, then you might find one of my wellbeing journals useful. They have a weekly ‘Comfort Zone Cracker’, where you can set yourself small manageable targets to hit. It’s a fab companion for ERP therapy and life in general, they’re available from amazon and you can find the links to them here.

I really hope this post has been helpful,
As always, Stay Strong xxx

A Missing Piece in OCD Recovery

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Perhaps you’ve had OCD for a while or maybe you’ve recently been diagnosed and you’re looking for helpful information, either way I feel like the following can be useful going into OCD recovery and isn’t always highlighted by therapists.

If you receive therapy through the standard route then you’ll be advised to undertake a course of CBT therapy in the form of ERP (Exposure response prevention), which is the current gold standard for OCD treatment.  

Here you’ll be introduced to the OCD cycle

And then told the way to break this cycle is to create a hierarchy of your OCD obsessions and then slowly and in a controlled way, exposure yourself to these obsessions and sit with the associated anxiety, rather than complete your compulsion.

This is indeed a very successful treatment for OCD and sounds wonderfully simple, fantastic you think, I can do this, my OCD will be gone in a matter of weeks and yes this could well be true.  

You’ll hear about how you must ‘sit with the anxiety’ and ‘ride the wave’, because any amount of paying attention to the obsession or taking part in the compulsion will just feed the cycle and make it worse, again all true. 

You sit in the safety of your therapist’s office and think, ‘yes I can do this, it all makes sense’ and it does, I’m not debating the logic and success of ERP therapy, it really is the best way to get rid of OCD.  But what, in my opinion, they don’t pay enough attention to, is how unbelievably hard it is to sit with anxiety, particularly at the start.

Now I’m not trying to scare you or make you feel any worse than you probably already do but it’s important to understand the reality of ‘sitting with anxiety’ as it is, I believe, a life changing skill you have to learn. 

When you’re in your therapist’s office, away from your triggers, having a nice chat about anxiety and the OCD cycle, this is a whole different ball game to being out there in the real world and so you need to set yourself up for success. 

Picture this, you leave your therapists office full of optimism and hope for your OCD recovery. You get home and get yourself organised, you feel positive, confident and hopeful and then have a go at your first exposure, the anxiety sets in, you feel overwhelmed, all logic goes out the window and you complete the compulsion, after all, ‘just this once wont matter, I’ll sit with it next time’.

So why does it feel so manageable and make so much sense in the therapist’s office but then when you come to do, ‘the work’ it feels impossible?   

Well, when you get triggered by your obsessions, you are thrown into your sympathetic nervous system, (fight or flight), this system is there to keep you safe and alive from potential threats and for whatever reason your brain sees your OCD obsession as a threatening situation – OCD is actually a ‘fault’ in this system.
 
When in fight or flight your brain is designed to get you out and away from these situations asap and so ‘just sitting with it’ although good in theory, can feel unbelievably impossible.
This system is powerful and it overrides your thinking brain, you lose the ability to access logic, perspective taking, rational thinking and working memory among other things – I’ve talked more about this in a pervious post if you’d like more information here. 

Suddenly what made perfect sense in your therapists office, seems impossible to even access, let alone execute successfully.  Your brain is literally telling you to get out of this situation as quick as possible, do the compulsion, whatever it takes to relieve the anxiety and distress.      

Now I’m not telling you that you don’t have to find a way to sit with this survival mechanism, which by the way has kept the human species alive for thousands of years, it just means you need to have the knowledge and tools in place beforehand, so you’re prepared.  All this will help you to sit with that feeling when it comes and not complete the compulsion.

Know that your brain will think you’re in a life or death, all or nothing situation and that that is normal! 

It will feel like you’re about to jump out of a plane not knowing if your parachute is packed correctly. This might sound extreme, but this is what your brain thinks the OCD obsession means and it will do everything it can to keep you safe.    

Knowing this has helped me on numerous occasions to keep moving forward, take that next step and sit with it, it has given me the grit to move past OCD obsessions which in the moment have felt too much to handle. 

So how do you prepare yourself?

You need to have this information accessible for when you are triggered, it will confirm that how you’re feeling is normal, as when you’re in a dysregulated state of mind you won’t be able to remember. 

I can’t count how many times this has helped me sit with the anxiety and not complete the compulsion.

Ah but does this become a compulsion in itself? I hear you ask…

…I don’t believe so, as eventually, it WILL build a new pathway in the brain and you WON’T need the notes, you’ll notice you’re in fight or flight and you’ll have the knowledge and experience that this is normal and it will pass, I’m not in a life-or-death situation, it’s just my OCD. 

But you only get to this stage by sitting through it at least a few times and proving that to yourself.   Remember the brain learns from experience and expectancy violation (a core mechanism in Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) therapy, where a patient’s feared outcome is disproven by facing the fear without doing the compulsion. By violating this expectation, the patient learns that their fear is manageable, and their obsessive beliefs are false, which promotes long-term recovery. ) is unbelievably powerful in all aspects of our lives, not just OCD recovery. 

So use the notes to disprove the need for the compulsion and once your brain has enough evidence to know the compulsion is useless, you won’t need the notes anymore. 

I know it can feel impossible; it’s supposed to and that’s completely normal.  Know that when your therapist says, ‘just sit with it’, what they’re actually saying is:

‘your brain is going to tell you that the world is going to end and you have to do nothing about it’. 

The good news is that once you’ve sat through it a few times you start to see that the obsession didn’t happen and it was just OCD.  This is the moment you start to take your life back and boy what a feeling that is. 

Remember your brain is just trying to keep you safe from what it thinks is a life-or-death situation and it is going to do everything it can to stop you. You have to say:

‘thank you brain, I see that I’m having an OCD thought, I’m going to let it be and carry on with my day, aligning to my values’.    

Quite a tough one today but having confirmation of how hard it can be and what you’re up against is important for recovery.
I really hope it helps you as much as it has me,
As always, Stay Strong xxx

What’s the RAS and why it’s crucial for OCD recovery

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One of the greatest insights into the brain and how it functions for me was when I learnt about the reticular activating system or RAS for short. 

I first read about the RAS in Jim Kwik’s book, Limitless – which I would highly recommend. 

He states that:

‘Every second, your senses gather up to 11 million bits of information from the world around you….
…The conscious mind typically processes only 50 bits per second. ‘

The RAS system plays an important role, 11 million is a lot and would be completely overwhelming if it all got through to your conscious awareness, so the RAS, filters out most of the information coming in. 

How does it know what to let through and what to ignore? This is generally based on where you focus your attention!    

Have you ever noticed when you’re shopping for something new, like a car, you suddenly start seeing the one you’re interested in all over the place?

I remember when my husband and I were looking for a new front door. I’d never looked at anyone’s front door before in my life, but all of a sudden I knew what everyone’s front door on my entire street was like.  We’ve now purchased our front door, and since then I’ve had no interest whatsoever in anyone else’s – my brain has stopped drawing my attention to them.

Another interesting example of this was when my husband and I went for an anniversary meal one year.  We were sitting in a beautiful conservatory enjoying a wonderful meal and I made a comment about one of the flower displays and how interesting the vase was.  My husband – generally much less interested in flowers and much more interested in technology – commented that he hadn’t even noticed the flowers but was looking at how they had discreetly wired in the sound system speakers – something which I had little interest in, so hadn’t noticed. 

Isn’t it fascinating how two people in the exact same space and moment in time can be experiencing something completely different, depending on what their brain thinks they’re interested in and is therefore drawing their attention to!

Bringing us round to OCD we can see how this system can work against us.  When we’re overly focused on our obsessions (unwanted, intrusive, and distressing thoughts, images, urges, or feelings that repeatedly enter a person’s mind and cause significant anxiety.) our brain is going to see them as important and hijack that small stream of data coming through to our conscious awareness to bring our attention to them.  As it does this it blocks out all the other things we might very well have been interested in! 

Another great quote which I love is: ‘What am I missing by choosing to worry and be afraid?’

How much of your life are you missing out on? It can feel tough to hear all this, particularly, if like me, you’ve had OCD for a long time.  OCD thoughts consume so much of our mental space and energy that when other things come along, they could be right in front of us and we don’t see them!

So what do we need to do?

Well it doesn’t happen quickly, but we need to not engage with the OCD obsessions when they come in, any resistance to them shows the brain they are important and activates that filter.  I know it can feel impossible, but I have found, through 30 years of OCD experience, it is the only way to be rid of them. Just say: 

‘Thank you brain, that’s exactly what I want to hear right now’

and carry on with your day. This way you’re not pushing it away but you’re also not interacting with it.

Next, you need to check your inner dialogue. This will also effect what comes through your filter and quite often is running on auto pilot in an unhelpful way.

A great exercise is to sit for a moment and see how you talk to yourself.  I’m guessing if you have OCD you’re probably not being that kind.

From Jim Kiwk’s book, a quote from Dr Jennice Vilhauer

‘The inner critic isn’t harmless.  It inhibits you, limits you, and stops you from pursuing the life you truly want to live.  It robs you of peace of mind and emotional well-being and, if left unchecked long enough, it can even lead to serious mental health problems like depression and anxiety’ 

and I’d venture to add OCD to that list.    

Take a moment and write down what you hear yourself saying, then see if you can find a better more uplifting dialogue to tune into. Below are a couple of ideas for when OCD obsessions come in but you can apply this idea to all aspects of your life:

  • ‘I’m noticing my OCD is feeling overwhelming right now, but I’m working on letting it be and I know it will pass.  I am a strong and resilient person who can sit with this uncomfortable feeling’
  • ‘I know that giving into the OCD obsession will only make it worse in the future, I’m being strong now for my future freedom, I’m so proud of myself’
  • ‘When my OCD is triggered, I know I will be thrown into fight or flight, I can’t think rationally in that state so there is no point in interacting with the thought, I love that I can empower myself with this knowledge’.  

Next time you’re triggered have a go at using one of the above and see if it helps switch your mind away from negative thinking – which is going to be the focus of next week’s post.

Don’t forget to subscribe if you haven’t already so you don’t miss any of my upcoming posts. let me know your thoughts on the RAS in the comments below, I’d love to hear your experiences of it too.

I hope this insight has been helpful, As always, Stay Strong xxx

Understanding OCD as a Faulty Defence Mechanism

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I’ve talked in a previous post about how OCD is closely linked to our sympathetic nervous system, how when we get triggered by an obsession, if we pay attention to it, we get thrown into fight or flight – which is not where we want to be. 

This system has it’s uses and, in the past would have been responsible for keeping us alive and safe but when we have OCD, this mechanism – which is designed to be a temporary state – can become a permanent trait! 

I guess this is because the brain has seen that by keeping us stuck in an OCD loop we are ‘safe’ from the ‘perceived threat’ and even though we can logically see it’s not a useful mechanism, all the brain can see – who’s main job it is to keep us safe – is that we are still alive, so job done. 

It’s worth noting here that the brains top priority is keeping us alive.  Not happy, not living our best life, not being socially connected or prosperous, nope, just being alive and if it thinks there are risks and threats out there that need to be avoided – due to OCD’s faulty system – and it thinks the OCD spiral keeps you safe, then it is going to have you looping down that rabbit hole forever! 

It does seem that in OCD there is a ‘fault’ in the switch that allows us to dismiss obsessions when they come in, the threat system, seems ‘hot-wired’ but why? 

I personally believe (and current evidence seems to confirm) that the ‘fault’ comes from some sort of highly driven sympathetic time or event in a person’s life.  This person will most likely have a predisposition (genetic vulnerability) towards OCD; however I also believe that we don’t have to know what that time or event was, sometimes it’s obvious – birth of a child, prolonged periods of feeling unsafe or stressed but other times it’s not and that’s OK.    

Putting these two ideas together:

1. That OCD is a fault in the threat detection system
2. The brains top priority is to keep us safe,

we can see how OCD can be seen by the brain as ‘a useful tool’. It becomes a learned habit – ‘if I spend my time focused on OCD thoughts, then I’m safe’. 

Is OCD therefore a defence mechanism – albeit a faulty and unhealthy one – to ‘avoid life and keep us safe’?

It feels like quite a big question and something that people with OCD might object to but just stop and think for a second. 

Does your OCD stop you from living the life you’d love to live?  And in doing so does your brain – rightly or wrongly so – believe that it is keeping you safe?

Another interesting insight I had was that with OCD we tend to know that the obsession is unfounded, and logically not true but because we can’t be 100% sure we get stuck. 

Is this another, particularly clever, part of the mechanism?  We sit at home ruminating and so not venturing out into the ‘scary world’ with the ‘unpredictable uncertainty’ – but it’s never enough to ever fully convince us that the obsession is true. Therefore, we stay at home, where we are stuck but according to the brain safe, job done. 

It’s an uncomfortable theory right: is OCD a defence mechanism the brain uses to keep us safe? 

If we look at OCD this way, then we can start to see it for what it is – a badly calibrated, unhealthy and faulty protection system which for whatever reason can feel productive and useful – it’s not. 

We need to start to write a new story, remember the brain will always focus on the negative and try and find evidence to prove itself justified. 

I would bet for all the negative evidence it finds there’s just as much, if not more positive evidence to the contrary, your brain is just not seeing it – tunnel vision.  You need to widen the spotlight and make it a flood light. This way you can see the whole picture and realise everything OCD has been telling you is a very convincing LIE! 

This idea of OCD as a faulty safety mechanism has helped me to see that my brain is just trying to keep me safe, it has allowed me to be a lot kinder to myself and even laugh at the non-sensical nature of it. 

I hope it helps you too,  
As always stay strong xxx

OCD is Ego-Dystonic, but what does that mean?

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A super short one this week to highlight something important everyone suffering with OCD should know.  If you’ve had OCD for a while you’re probably already aware of it’s ego-dystonic nature but if not, it can be enlightening to understand what this means.

What do we mean when we say something is ego dystonic?

Ego-dystonic means: against the self or being inconsistent with one’s true beliefs and personality.

When it comes to OCD we can say that the obsessions – unwanted, and intrusive thoughts, urges, or images – are ego dystonic, as they directly contradict a person’s values, desires, and self-image.

In fact, someone with OCD will find the obsession so repugnant in nature that they often lead to the compulsive behaviours we see in OCD – which are an attempt to ‘neutralize’ the anxiety caused – despite the fact we often recognise the compulsion as unreasonable. 

A couple of examples of ego-dystonic content could be:

Harm OCD – A caring person having unwanted, persistent thoughts of harming someone.

Or

Contamination OCD – A clean and tidy person worrying that they’ll spread a disease or infection to someone they love.

As with intrusive thoughts, everyone will experience ego-dystonic thoughts at times.  The difference being that someone without OCD can immediately recognize the thought as untrue, and move on with their day.

When it comes to OCD however this is where the ‘glitch’ or ‘faulty signal’ in the system seems to trip us up. For whatever reason we get stuck worrying that the thought might mean something – it doesn’t, but by giving the thought time, the brain starts to see it as significant and so we can see where the OCD spiral into fight or flight begins.

In conclusion it’s our job to notice these thoughts when they come in for what they are – ego-dystonic – and let them go, taking the fact we find them so distressing as our sign that it’s OCD at play and nothing more. 

I really hope this one helps, it’s one I often have to remind myself of, but it’s always really helpful when I do.

Remember you are not alone,
As always, Stay Strong xxx

Overcoming OCD: Letting Go of the Rope

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I have had OCD for what is fast coming up to 30 years. As I quickly approach my 41st birthday it can sometimes feel like I’ve been fighting a war inside my brain for what feels like forever.  I’ve read all the books, listened to the podcasts, had a couple of rounds of therapy, trained as a yoga teacher and PT, I look after my nutritional and physical health, and choose to share what I’ve learnt in the hope of helping others through my blog, Instagram posts and workshops. 

So why I ask myself do I still struggle at times?  Why does the world still feel overwhelming & why won’t my nervous system just relax already? 

Maybe my expectations are too high?  I had a therapist once say to me that I might just have to ‘accept the fact that I’m an anxious person’, not really what you want to hear but then expecting to find total inner peace is probably a little unrealistic too I realise.     

I know Steven Phillipson says, ‘I don’t care how you feel, continue with your day aligning to your values’ and I try to do this. It is in fact how I’ve managed to achieve everything I have over the last 10 years but I do sometimes wonder how much noise is normal?

I wrote in a post a while back: ‘When we have OCD, Fight-or-flight can turn into a trait instead of a temporary state!’ and this is how I feel, like I’m stuck in fight or flight most of the time. My ability to relax, be in the moment and not feel overwhelmed is seriously lacking.    

I feel like I’ve been on a mission the last few years for answers – which I now realise may be a sneaky compulsion of mine, eek!   Maybe what I should have been doing is letting go of the rope – another ACT metaphor which I love.

This ACT metaphor illustrates how struggling against your obsessions (the monster) is a never-ending fight, but Letting go of the rope and not engaging with your intrusive thoughts, accepting the presence of them and carrying on with your life while aligning to you values is your way to freedom. 

Breaking it down a bit further:

  • The Monster: Represents your OCD obsessions.
  • The Rope: Represents your attempts to control, avoid, or eliminate these obsessions with compulsions.
  • The Pit: Represents the fear of being consumed by, or drowning in your obsessions.
  • Letting Go: Means dropping the rope (not completing the compulsions) and ceasing the battle, not necessarily defeating the monster (obsession). 

We need to recognise that fighting our obsessions is exhausting and ultimately ineffective, allowing our difficult thoughts and feelings to be present without fighting them is the key, this then frees up energy and attention to focus on what actually matters. 

I wonder then have I secretly been pulling on that rope and keeping my OCD alive with all my research and development?  Argh! Does it all actually come down to my inability to just stop and sit with the feelings?

As I head towards my 30 year anniversary with OCD, I need to acknowledge that some education with OCD is important but then try to recognise where the line is between being informed and it being a compulsion.  

Have you got any sneaky defaults which are keeping your OCD alive and kicking? Do you feel like you’re doing everything right but you’re still struggling too?  

Maybe try and keep a list this week, whenever you notice yourself doing something unnecessary because of your OCD, write it down, awareness is the first step to being able to change these traits, which we have unknowingly accepted into our lives. 

On a more positive note and bringing some hope back into the conversation. I do have the odd occasion when I come out of fight or flight and it feels so wonderful.  It feels like what life should be, I’m present, in the moment and experiencing life as it could be, full of opportunity and joy.  

If I have one target for the next 40 years it’s to spend as much time as possible out of fight or flight and if I can achieve this I will be a very happy soul. I want to be able to enjoy life without rushing through it, listen when people talk, take joy in the small things and the process of getting to them.      

Let me know if any of this resonates with you.  It can be very lonely at times to have OCD, and community can help us feel that less.
A bit of a heartfelt one this week as I approach that 30 year milestone but sometimes that’s what’s needed.

As always, you are not alone,
Stay Strong xxx

OCD: Your thoughts are NOT special! 

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A small idea with a big impact which I’d like to share with you today is a statement I heard on a podcast:

‘You’re not special’

It sounds kind of simple and maybe a bit mean but as humans we generally like to think of ourselves as being unique and different from everyone else. 

The reality of thinking in this way however is that it can make us feel that our problems/issues/intrusive thoughts are unique too.

This is an issue, if we think our problems are unique then we can believe them to be unsolvable.

When we have OCD we think, ‘no one else will have had these thoughts before’, this can lead to us becoming isolated and withdrawn.

The reality however is that we’re not that special and the more likely scenario is that multiple people will have experienced the same thoughts you have. 

Our brains like to keep us isolated and trapped believing it keeps us safe, but I’m here to tell you:

THIS IS RUBBISH!!

A side note here to say when it comes to OCD I would go to a OCD therapist, rather than a friend, as they will have the training to help you understand what is going on and see the thoughts for what they are – faulty signals being sent from your overactive amygdala. 

A short one today but such a powerful idea, which always helps me when I think of it. 

I really hope it helps,
Remember you are not alone and you’re not that special either! 
Stay Strong xxx

Expect and Accept: Overcoming OCD Thoughts

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‘Expect and accept’, is a new mantra I’ve been trying out recently. 

I’ve found It can be helpful when managing OCD thoughts day-to-day to have a mantra to act as a ‘switch’ for the brain, helping you to label the thoughts as OCD and move on. 

Obviously in an ideal world you wouldn’t need it but it can be so easy at times to get dragged into OCD thoughts and before you know it, you’re freefalling down a rumination rabbit hole and all sense of reality has gone.

Don’t be fooled by the cute bunny, he may appear to be your friend but believe me he isn’t!

At times like this it can be so helpful to have a little reminder, like a therapist in your ear, saying to you:

So let’s be clear here, by saying ‘expect it’, I’m not saying, lets invite those thoughts along or will them to be there.  It’s more about having an awareness that if you’re going into a triggering situation, a new environment or out of your comfort zone, then it’s highly likely that your OCD will want to come along for the ride. 

I’ve found at times that I can get frustrated with my OCD when it turns up and what I’ve learnt over the years is if you don’t want it to be there, then it’s almost guaranteed to be.

When it does, if it does, we need to accept it.  We can do this by saying, ‘Thank you, brain that’s exactly what I wanted to hear right now’.

After all OCD recovery is not about getting rid of the intrusive thoughts, this is a common mistake, remember everyone gets them. So it’s more about allowing them to be there and then carrying on with your day regardless, aligning with your values. 

I realise how hard this is, but know that you are not alone and that every time you carry on with your day, despite the thoughts, you are making progress and the brain is learning it doesn’t need to freak out at every thought that comes into your mind.  

Why not give the mantra a go this week and see if it helps you too. Let me know how you get on in the comments below.

Remember: ‘Expect it and Accept it’

As always,
Stay Strong xxx

The Role of Values in Overcoming OCD

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I’ve mentioned values in several posts to date, and I feel it’s time to take a closer at them and why they are so important in OCD recovery. 

What’s a value anyway? 

Lets start at the beginning, a value is: ‘a principle or standard of behaviour; one’s judgement of what is important in life’.

They are the standards we set for ourselves to live by, they outline the things that are most important to us and help guide us with our daily choices. 

If you’ve done any ACT (acceptance commitment thearpy), then you will know that values work is one of the 6 core principles

They describe values as something you, ‘do’ rather than ‘have’. They are verbs not nouns, general directions and guiders for life, a place you can never arrive at but are always striving towards.  

From this description they can feel quite nebulous, but they are the invisible building blocks of our lives. 

How do you work out your values?

There are lots of great exercises online that you can work through.  Here are a couple of links to try but a quick google will find you lots of information on the topic.

Values worksheet 1

Values worksheet 2

If you’ve never done this work before then I advise spending a bit of time working through one of the above activities. 

So why are values so important in OCD recovery? 

They become especially useful when you are struggling because you can align to your values and know that that’s the person you want to be. 

You can then take actions towards your values, regardless of the thoughts and how you feel, which is exactly what we need to do when OCD gets loud.

OCD has a nasty habit of making you think you’re the worst person in the world, capable of distressing and horrible things and when you’re spiralling it can be incredibly hard to pull yourself out.

Your values then become a superpower, acting as your anchor during these difficult times.  They remind you of who you truly want to be and allow you to proactively take action to align with them. 

Say for example that your values are to be an honest, trustworthy, reliable, kind and loving person, then when OCD is telling you otherwise you have the opportunity to say;

‘No OCD, I’m not who you’re telling me I am, I know my values and I’m going to carry on with my day aligning to them’. 

The brain believes what it sees, so if you live your life aligning to your values then you will be banking undisputable evidence of who you are. The OCD thoughts then become much easier to dismiss and don’t take hold as easily. 

In addition to this it’s worth remembering here that OCD thoughts are ego-dystonic, which refers to the fact that the obsessions and compulsions are inconsistent with a person’s values, beliefs, and self-image, understandably causing a lot of distress.  

When going through OCD therapy and recovery it can feel so tough at times and your values can act as your guiding light through the darkness. 

Every time it feels overwhelming and tough, you need to remind yourself of your values and ask yourself;

‘If I’m aligning with my values and the person I want to be then what would I do in this situation?’  

  • Would I drive back and check if that bump in the road was a person or would I carry on with my day?
  • Would I wash my hands again because they still feel dirty or would I just carry on with my day?
  • Would I spend hours ruminating over the nightmare I had last night and not make it into work, or would I just carry on with my day?

There are endless scenarios you could use here but ultimately you have to ask yourself, is your OCD holding you back from the values-based life you want to live? 

I’m guessing the answer is yes.   

The amazing thing about doing values work, is that once they’re in place they allow your life to become more focused and meaningful in all ways.  You become empowered to let anything that doesn’t align with them go, which quite often results in a lot less drama, mental health struggles and a lot more peace.

I’d love to know if you have also found ACT therapy and Values work helpful in your OCD recovery, please share your insights below.

As always,
Stay Strong xxx

Why Habituation is key to OCD Recovery

Posted in Mental Health, OCD, OCD Awareness Week, OCD GeneralTagged , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Last week I posted about choice and why it’s so important in OCD recovery.  Towards the end of that post, I mentioned habituation and I felt the topic so significant for me in my recovery that it deserved it’s own post, so here we are.

What is habituation?

According to google it is:

‘the process of making or becoming accustomed or used to something.’

In Psychology specifically it’s:

‘the diminishing of an innate response to a frequently repeated stimulus.’

When applying this to OCD specifically:

We can see ‘the innate response’ as the compulsion and ‘the repeated stimulus’ as the obsession. 

Applying habituation to OCD recovery

We learn in therapy that everyone gets intrusive thoughts and so the aim in OCD recovery is not to get rid of the thoughts (obsessions) but to see them as completely irrelevant. 

We do this by recognising the trigger (obsession) when it comes in and habituating (getting used) to it, so that we no longer feel the need to complete the compulsion – whether it be mental or physical. 

This was a big turning point for me, realising that the obsession is something you can ‘get used to’.  The result of this is that the brain eventually no longer brings your attention to it – as it starts to see it as insignificant. 

For a long time I saw OCD recovery as not having the obsessions but now I see that it’s my reaction to the obsession that is the key.  I have no control over whether the thought/image/whatever appears or not only my reaction to it.

The Reticular Activating system and habituation

You only have so much mental capacity each day and the brain has an unbelievably effective filtering system called the reticular activating system or RAS for short. 

According to Jim Kwik’s book Limitless,

‘every second your senses gather up to 11 million bits of information from the world around you…
…the conscious mind typically processes only 50 bits per second. ’

‘(The RAS) also acts as the gatekeeper of information through a process called habituation, which allows the brain to ignore meaningless and repetitive stimuli’  

So the brain takes in an unbelievable amount of information every second and then decides what it’s going to bring to your attention and what it’s going to discard, mostly down to what you’re telling it you feel is important!

When you are struggling with OCD and you see the obsessions as important the brain will prioritise these thoughts above all others. Once you start to habituate yourself to the OCD triggers the brain will no longer use its finite resources on information you’re telling it is irrelevant.  It will file it as a ‘meaningless and repetitive stimuli’ and no longer bring it to your attention.

Yes, this is habituation and it’s where OCD recovery happens!   

A note here to highlight that we shouldn’t expect our obsessions never to show up again.  Every now and then the brain will throw one to the forefront of your mind and say,  ‘Remember this?  You were really obsessed with this at one point, is it still important?’ and your only job is to do absolutely nothing.  This is how we break free from OCD. 

In summary, we need to habituate to our obsessions, show the brain that they’re insignificant and carry on with our day aligning with our values. This is how we live our lives in recovery. 

Not sure on your values? Then be sure to subscribe below as that’s what next weeks post is going to be all about.

As always,
Stay Strong xxx