Tag: Mental Health

Breaking the Cycle: Awareness in OCD Recovery

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Diagram of thought-feeling-behaviour cycle with three connected circles labeled Thoughts, Feelings/Emotions, and Behaviours/Actions

We learn in CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) that thoughts, feeling and behaviours are all linked and influence each other. 

We also learn that we have very little control over our thoughts and that we all definitely get thoughts which come in unbidden and randomly.

It always blows my mind that they don’t teach these lessons at school. How much suffering could be prevented if people we’re given even a small insight into the nature of thoughts.

As an example, if we’re not careful,

Automatic thoughts – potentially intrusive OCD ones – can come in and produce feelings – probably of unease, disgust, aversion or fear – which then influence our behaviours – driving things like avoidance, compulsions and irritability to name just a few. All from thoughts WE CANNOT CONTROL!!!!!

As we grow older we become more automated as people, the brain is clever and as it leans things it automates them for us. Things such as brushing our teeth, tying our shoes laces and even driving – which once required huge effort – over time require little to no mental challenge for us. 

Maybe less obvious then are the mental habits we form as we grow. The same thoughts tick round our heads daily, efficiently taking us about our normal routines. This is very appealing to the brain, who’s top priority is to keep you safe, which is does by predicting what you’re going to do next and so it has no huge incentive to change these automatic patterns.

When we suffer from OCD or anxiety these habitual thoughts may not be overly helpful, in fact they can be incredibly distressing but the brain doesn’t particularly care as it’s top priority is to keep you safe and it will happily pick a predictable hell over an unpredictable heaven. 

You see this again and again in life, people making the same mistakes even though they can see they’re not helpful.

In OCD we see this pattern too.  We know the thoughts are distressing and unhelpful, but all the brain sees is that you are safe and well if the OCD thoughts continue to come in and so it continues to throw them your way.  Why take the risk afterall that they’re not real, better to have you safe at home in your own head then thriving and living your best life. 

Awareness is the key. We have to be awake to our automated habits, becoming an observer so that we are able to see the ones that are useful – brushing your teeth – and the ones that aren’t – OCD loops. 

Ever had the experience where you wake up in the morning and for a second you feel calm and peaceful before all the OCD thoughts come rushing in and you feel yourself sinking into a spiral again?  Well that’s your automatic brain habits switching on, even just noticing this effect can be revolutionary and it really is the first step to changing them. 

I mentioned yoga a couple of posts ago and how it can be helpful for OCD recovery, yoga is all about action and reflection at it’s core.  We move, we observe and we change if necessary.  Modern life is chaotic and it’s only becoming more so as our attention is constantly being pulled here and there. Yoga gives you a space to breath, stop, slow down and observe, allowing you to make changes where needed and empowering you to take back control from those unhelpful automatic patterns.

Mindfulness is also an incredibly powerful tool here, how present are you in your life? How much of your time is spent thinking about the past, predicting the future or looping through OCD sprials? So little time is spent in the present moment and yet it’s all we have.

OCD and anxiety cannot live in the present, the more we train our minds to come back to the present moment, the happier we will all be.      

Do you have an mindfulness practice? It doesn’t have to be complicated, maybe just try slowing down and noticing what’s around you more throughout your day.

As Always,
Stay Strong xxx

OCD – All Smoke and Mirrors

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Wizard operating mirrors to create a large mystical face projection behind four watching characters.

Wow what a couple of weeks I’ve had, following my second dalliance with BPPV (Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo) I’ve been able to observe the nature of my OCD more clearly.

What I’ve noticed:

Your brain prioritises what it thinks is most important, filtering most other things out and when I say ‘most other things’, I mean out of 11 million bits of data coming your way each second, only 50 get through!

When you have OCD, can you tell what’s hogging that tiny highway?

Add text OCD on lorry front

I’ve mentioned, The Reticular Activating System or RAS for short, before in a previous post here if you’d like to read more about it.
The RAS is a system which works to bring to your awareness what it thinks is MOST important.

What I observed last week, whilst my anxiety increased and I was off balance, was that my OCD quietened down A LOT. With the possibility that I might fall because I was dizzy, all other concerns went away.

Not only that, I still noticed the odd OCD obsession getting through the filter BUT my brain quickly and pretty easily dismissed them as they weren’t a priority.  

This week as my anxiety has started to ebb, my OCD has started to get louder again. 

This highlights to me the ridiculous nature of OCD, it’s almost like a game my brain decides to play when its it has nothing better to do. Like it’s a bored child which can’t stand to be still, needing constant stimulation, thinking up problems and different horrific scenarios to distract me.

For whatever reason OCD can feel useful and productive but this couldn’t be further from the truth, it’s honestly the biggest most pointless waste of time I can think of. Hours wasted going down rabbit holes which always end in more worry and confusion.

And so if you can step back far enough to see OCD for what it is, the wizard of oz – all smoke and mirrors with nothing behind the curtain – then you can start to break free from the OCD noise.

Wizard operating mirrors to create a large mystical face projection behind four watching characters.

Easier said then done I realise, even sitting here now writing this post with all the knowledge and awareness I have of this non sensical disorder, I can STILL feel an intrusive thought trying to break through and take hold, pause to roll eyes and sigh. 

Ultimately your brain is just trying to keep you safe, whether that’s with anxiety and it’s overwhelming physical sensations stopping you from wanting to leave the house or with OCD and its compulsions and mental spirals, keeping you stuck.

Either way it’s doing it’s job and keeping you alive, regardless of whether you’re thriving – which it couldn’t care less about by the way.

As always,
Stay Strong xxx

OCD & Anxiety – An Illusion of Control

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Mage using magical powers to summon a swirling storm vortex on a cliff beside a turbulent sea

As humans we have the gift to be able to think about and analyse our thoughts, feelings and general experiences in life. 

This is a gift, which has enabled us to become the most dominant species on earth, even though we’re not the fasted or fiercest in the animal kingdom.

However, the world likes to be in balance and so we should expect that with such a great gift comes the potential for great pain and suffering.

Our ability as humans to plan, create, and rerun scenarios in our heads, can also be used for our own self-destruction if we’re not careful.

With this awareness comes the knowledge that we aren’t as in control of the world as we would like to be and this creates great discomfort for us. 

Our brains are designed to work out and fix problems to enable us to survive, it doesn’t care if we’re thriving and living your best lives it just wants us safe. Unfortunately the brain, as smart as it is, isn’t great at telling the difference between an imagined reality and our real one, here we can see how we can create suffering for ourselves, enter anxiety and OCD.

Quite often, in my experience, the onset of anxiety and OCD coincides with times of stress where we feel out of control or unsafe, throwing us into our sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight).

At these times the brain creates anxiety to stop us in our tracts, forcing us to pull back and OCD to keep us stuck inside our own heads. 

Both scenarios work to immobilise us, stop us living our lives, slowing us down and to be honest they’re generally pretty successful at it. 

They use our human gifts of imagination, memory (past experiences) and prediction (perceived future experiences) against us, creating at times unbearable feelings, doubts, fears and uncertainty. 

Having suffered from both OCD and anxiety in my time I know just how strong they can be.

I hear a lot of therapists saying, ‘feel the fear and do it anyway’ and even though this is great advice I also know, from lived experience, that if you push too hard when you’re anxious and don’t respect your need to rest as well, your nervous system will get louder, not quieter. 

There is a balance we must find between, sitting with it and respecting it, which can be incredibly tricky to do. 

This week I saw a return of my BPPV – a type of vertigo – in the past this has caused me huge anxiety and panic and so it’s been a tricky week, my brain has felt scared and I’ve had to pull back to respect that. 

My anxiety has made me feel tired, fatigued, off balance and like I’d like to do nothing more then stay at home and do nothing. 

As a result I’ve removed some of the extra activities I’d normally do when feeling my best, like my strength training, to allow my brain and body time to rest and see that it is safe to relax again. 

I’ve still taught my yoga classes but had to cue rather than partake, all while sitting with the uncomfortable anxious feelings my brain is sending my way.  This is the balance I am talking about, it is a tricky one and a life long skill which we need to master. 

Life is chaotic and unpredictable and as humans we hate this but the more we push against it the more we suffer.  OCD is an ultimate version of this, trying to eliminate all doubt is impossible, there will always be another, ‘What if?’ or ‘Maybe?’ and in the end you need to trust that when a situation arises you will make the right decision and be capable of handling it.

You got this, as always,
Stay Strong xxx 

Can Yoga Help OCD Recovery?

Posted in Keeping Active, Mental Health, Mental Wellbeing, OCD, OCD Awareness Week, OCD Coping Strategies, OCD GeneralTagged , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
Woman doing tree pose yoga in forest with joyful small creature dancing beside her

I feel I must be extremely careful when I speak about more holistic approaches to OCD recovery.  Ultimately there are lots of useful tools that can help us manage day to day life, build resilience and make us more psychologically flexible.  However, if any of these are used in a compulsive way it could be argued that they are not assisting with recovery but potentially delaying it. 

As with so many things in life there is incredible nuance here and I can only really go off my own personal experience.

I remember the first time I heard someone say that ‘breathwork is a coping mechanism’ and how completely outraged I felt about it.  Breathwork, in particular the physiological sigh, was completely life changing for me, but having thought about it some more I can see how in an ideal world we shouldn’t need to control our breathing to feel OK – I do believe it still has it’s place but that’s probably another post. 

So it’s not as simple as we’d like it to be but here are some things I know:

  1. Getting rid of the thoughts is not the aim in OCD recovery
  2. Managing and maintaining good mental health, as with good physical health, is a lifelong task. 
  3. If we take good care of ourselves, making sure we get good sleep, nutrition, movement, relaxation and social connections in our lives, we build higher resilience and are therefore better able to let the thoughts pass through more easily.
  4. Yoga is highly accessible for everyone – it meets you where you’re at
  5. Movement matters, when we can’t shift our minds moving our bodies helps move the chemicals through more quickly.
  6. If you find it hard to meditate but know you should, yoga can be a moving meditation.

I have personally practiced yoga for years and have taught it for the last 6.  I can honestly say, it has the potential to change the way you think and feel.  It brings me joy, the ability to help and connect with others and takes me out of my busy mind, if only for a short while.

At the heart of yoga is awareness and when we have OCD so many things can become automatic, yoga brings you back into the moment and asks you to question automatic habits and thoughts.

Now I’m not saying it’s a cure, I still have OCD, but like I said at the start it’s not about getting rid of the thoughts but being able to see them for what they are, just thoughts.  Yoga helps build the resilience and awareness to do this more easily. 

A lot of people when they think of yoga, think of Instagram reels of people doing crazy poses but once you start to dig a bit deeper you see that there is unbelievable depth and variance to the practice.  Yoga is most definitely for everyone, and I have seen it transform and change multiple people. I can safely say that you will not regret adding yoga in as a tool to your toolbox.

Not sure where to start?  Then check out my short course here – I did write this course a few years back now and I’m hoping to add some updates in the future but the basic practices are still a great place to get started.

I hope it helps, As always
Stay Strong xxx

OCD: Stop trying to Control your Obsessions!

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Gremlin peeking out from a partially open wooden crate labeled 'Property of Gremlin's Cave - Do Not Open'

Are you trying to control your obsessions? Are they based around things you have no control over? Is this then a completely fruitless task?

Some interesting questions but lets take a step back for a second and clarify a couple of things. What is an OCD obsession anyway?

An OCD obsession is:
‘… a recurring, unwanted thought, image, urge, or impulse that repeatedly enters a person’s mind and causes significant anxiety, distress, or discomfort.’

Things we can’t control include: feelings, emotions, thoughts, images & urges. 

Take a moment now and recognise whether your OCD has come from something you have NO control over!

Hopefully that was a lightbulb moment.    

Woman having a bright idea with a light bulb above her head while studying at a desk

So much of OCD is focused in on the things we can’t control.  It can feel so powerful, and overwhelming at times, as if it deserves our time and attention but as a human we need to learn that we’re not fully in control of our internal environment and to allow these automatic ‘features’ of the human condition to just be.

We don’t have to believe every thought, feeling etc that comes into our head. Most of the time the brain is just throwing things out there to see if they stick and we have to be like Teflon, letting the thoughts just float through, showing the brain that they are irrelevant. Only then will it go off to find something else to throw your way instead, which you then need to allow to float through, so the brain sees that as irrelevant too. Get the idea?

It’s when we give these normal, automatic thoughts time and energy that the brain perks up and thinks they’re important.  It takes it as a sign that you want to see more of that content and so we can see how spirals start to happen. 

On days when I don’t let the thoughts stick it is unbelievable how many different thoughts come my way, the brain is throwing them out there constantly and it’s your job to just do nothing, in the same way it’s the brains job to keep throwing random thoughts and ideas your way. Occasionally it comes up with good ones too remember, they’re not all intrusive and unwanted.  

Why do we give away our power, focus and attention to things outside of our control?

Basically because the limbic system – emotional part of the brain – is more powerful than the cognitive one.  Yes, our thinking brain is not actually the one in control most of the time. As a result we have to learn to work with our emotional brain, not against it – as this is pretty much impossible. 

There’s a famous metaphor called: ‘The Rider and the Elephant’, which helps to describe this idea. 

The rider represents our thinking brain, good at analytics and planning, but small relative to the enormous elephant.  The elephant, represents our emotional brain, it’s vast, powerful, and often driven by instinct.  The rider has the reins but needs to work with the elephant in harmony, as when the elephant gets stirred it has the ability to dislodge the rider if it wishes. 

Person riding an elephant on a dirt path at sunrise with misty landscape

And so we have to work with, not against our emotional brain.  It is powerful and has the ability to hijack our rational thinking. 

We work with it by accepting the obsessions when they come in.  It’s worth noting here that accepting the obsessions doesn’t mean you like, agree with or want them in any way, it just shows the brain that they are irrelevant to you and so it doesn’t need to give them any of your time, attention or awareness.

It can feel impossible at times I know but the more we push back/away the stronger they become.  Like a tug of war, we have to let go of the rope not pull harder.  

My favourite phrase to use is:

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

This way you are acknowledging the obsession but not pushing it away or investing any time in it.

‘But how do I know if it’s OCD or something that does need paying attemtion to?’ I hear you ask.

Ask yourself the following questions: ‘Am I struggling?’ 

If the answer is ‘Yes!’, then its your OCD and you need to step away from the content. 

I think it’s so important to remind ourselves of these basics, as at times, especially when triggered, it can feel hard to remember that you didn’t ask for the obsession and as a result it doesn’t mean anything!

I really hope this helps, as always,
Stay Strong xxx

My issue with ERP Therapists

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Young woman talking to therapist in cozy, warmly lit room

I’ve been having a bit of a moan recently about ERP therapists.  It’s not that they’re not well intentioned but it’s my belief that they don’t show much empathy for just how hard ERP (Exposure Response Prevention) therapy actually is and it irritates me. 

Of course in theory ERP is straight forward:

  • Write a list of exposures
  • Push yourself into those exposures/outside of your comfort zone
  • Don’t complete any compulsions
  • Sit with the associated anxiety 

Easy right?

The reality however is that you are asking someone to push into things that their brain – for whatever reason – has told them are dangerous and should be avoided/worked out/prioritised at all costs!  

This is a system which is designed to get people to ACT urgently.  A system which is so powerful it turns off the cognitive brain and takes over!! 

Our brains are designed to prioritise this system over all others to keep us safe.  It is instinctive, irrational and isn’t able to access the logical strategies that made complete sense in your therapists office.

Not only that but this system throws cortisol and adrenalin around our bodies, which is incredibly tiring, making ERP therapy exhausting! 

So what we’re really asking of someone with OCD, is for them to push themselves daily into a system which is designed to make you do the opposite.

Everyone has fears, things they don’t like/avoid and most people don’t have to push into them, maybe ever. 

So just know, when doing your exposures, you are being asked to do something that most other people avoid like the plague and you’re being asked to do it again and again and again by someone sitting comfortably in their office, probably not living the ERP lifestyle themselves. 

A lot of OCD therapists come from backgrounds with OCD so have some understanding BUT once you’ve done ERP for a while and you’re making good progress, it can be very easy to forget how hard it is. 

This happened to me recently when I started to learn to swim.  I’ve always had fears associated swimming, following an incident when I was younger, where I found myself out of my depth in a lake and basically freaked out. Since then I haven’t liked being out of my depth or putting my head under the water.

I was feeling pretty strong mentally so why not push further out of my comfort zone? Push into some of those long held fears, which start to become your identity!

We’ve all got them, finish this sentence for me: ‘I just don’t like________’


I’m great at this ERP malarky, I was thinking, little did I know what was coming my way!

To encourage myself to push into this one I signed myself up to a Sprint triathlon, the first part of which is a 400m swim. 
I started doing some lessons with one of my colleagues who’s a swim teacher and OMG putting my head under the water was completely terrifying.  I wanted nothing more than to get out of that water, go home and never get back in that pool again, not only that but the next day I was completely exhausted. Reality check for me and big reminder of how hard it can be.  

I knew I had to go back the following week and it was still hard, but maybe not 100%, perhaps 97%, my brain was still screaming at me to get out the whole time.

Honestly, I’m still making progress with this one, fears, especially ones held for a long time, do not disappear quickly and require continued exposure – sorry! 

Being able to recognise this and keep going is a skill we have to hone and it is extremely hard.  If you can master it, you are stronger mentally than 99% of the population. 
As people with OCD we’re already dealing with a fault in this system, alerting us unnecessarily daily and then we’re being asked to add more on top. 

Honestly, we deserve medals and more recognition for how tough this work is and it is work, HARD work! 

So here’s the biggest well done from me to you, for not giving up, for fighting every day for something you didn’t ask for and definitely don’t deserve. 

You are amazing, you are not alone,
Stay Strong xxx

Are You Falling into OCD’s Sneaky Trap?

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Two men labeled Reason and Logic pulling a large brain away from a creature labeled OCD

OCD can be so sneaky and when you’ve had it for a long time, if you’re not careful, you can start to form automatic habits around it. These can be so sneaky, you don’t even realise you’re doing them but these habits are actually sneaky compulsions keeping you stuck!!!!!

This has happened to me and probably still does when I don’t catch it in time.  One habit in particular stands out here, as I now realise it was/is a compulsion which has been keeping my OCD going, argh!!

What was I doing?

I was debating with my Pure O intrusive thoughts, here’s an example to show you what I mean:

An OCD intrusive thought/feeling/urge whatever comes in:

‘What if you picked up that knife now and hurt someone with it?’

What I should do:

‘Thanks OCD, that’s exactly what I wanted to hear right now’

And then carry on with my day, no more interaction, stopping it in it’s tracks. 

What I’ve been doing:

‘I wouldn’t do a thing like that, I’m a good person, look at all the kind things I’ve done which prove that – starts to list them off in my head.  I love my family/friend, why would I want to hurt them, that’s crazy.  This thought is obviously my OCD etc ect ect.’

What I’m doing here is engaging with the thought, even if its just to prove it wrong, its STILL a compulsion! 
I’m not directly worrying about the obsession or think I might action it but I’m trying to prove to myself with absolute certainty why it’s not something to worry about. This is a sneaky compulsion which I’ve been keeping going for YEARS! 

Initially I didn’t realise it was a compulsion at all and it was only when my OCD wasn’t getting better that I dug a bit deeper and realised that by trying to prove the OCD thought wrong, I was keeping it alive! 


Say it with me now:

Boy with brown hair wearing orange shirt and blue jeans shouting angrily with clenched fists outside

It wasn’t a great feeling when I worked this one out and I still find it really hard not to engage with the thoughts to this day.

For whatever reason I feel like I have to prove to my brain, beyond any shadow of doubt, that I’m a good person. I take myself off on a positivity spiral, desperately trying to affirm my character but of course this is fruitless when it comes to OCD, as I’ve proven to myself over the last few years. 

Remember OCD has imagination at its fingertips, where there will always be another ‘what if?’ or ‘maybe?’ coming your way.

This is how OCD’s sneaky trap keeps you stuck inside your head, distracted and not fully engaging in the real world. You’re trying to solve an unsolvable puzzle, debating with your own imagination – sneaky or what!

When I don’t do this compulsion, I have to leave the obsession ‘open’, which my brain hates. This is of course ERP (Exposure Response Prevention) therapy in action and exactly what we need to do.  

Do you find yourself doing this? 
I’d love to know if anyone else has fallen into this sneaky trap.

As always, Stay Strong xxx   

Overcoming OCD: A leap of Faith

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Make OCD words slightly darker

You could look at OCD as being a fault in the ‘good enough’ system.  For whatever reason in people with OCD the brain’s ability to dismiss thoughts which ‘normal’ people can, seems impossible. 

Thoughts are stickier, they hang around and as a result our fight or flight nervous system gets triggered, making the thoughts (obsessions) feel more visceral and real – they’re not of course but try telling yourself that when you’re triggered! 

When we’re stuck in an OCD spiral it can feel overwhelming, all consuming and urgent.  It feels like working out the thought is the only thing that matters but of course investing any time in the thought is always going to make it worse.

OCD asks us to take a leap of faith, and this is why recovery is so hard.  We’re basically saying to ourselves:

‘I know every instinct in your body is telling you to work this out right now but you need to do the exact opposite and have faith, not proof, not certainty but blind faith, that what your brain is telling you is wrong. ‘

Bring creepy character closer to foreground

I’ve had a few occasions over the years where I’ve been stuck in a spiral for days and eventually, I’ve just had to take that first step and trust that all will be OK.

It feels impossible I know, like jumping out of a plane not knowing whether your parachute is packed correctly but the alternative of being stuck is also not that appealing.

It’s only when we’re brave enough to keep going, letting the thoughts be, that the brain starts to see, ‘oh that thing I’ve been stressing about didn’t actually happen’ – this is called expectancy violation and it’s incredibly powerful. 

Each time we prove to our brain that what we thought might happen didn’t, the thoughts start to ease a bit and the next time it’s slightly easier and the time after that a bit easier again and so on. 

OCD recovery happens slowly, particularly when it’s been around for a while.  It’s needs a lot of proof that all is well before it starts to relax. 

This is why ERP – exposure response prevention – is that gold standard for OCD recovery, as it requires us to push into our OCD obsessions and carry on regardless of how we feel. It’s only through this action and continued exposures that the brain starts to chill. 

I do believe ERP needs to be supported with psychoeducation and nervous system support to give you the best opportunity for success.  Gaining knowledge and understanding of how OCD works has been so empowering for me and it’s why I write this blog.  It acts as a reminder for me to not give into compulsions but hopefully also helps others understand OCD better. 

I really hope it helps,
Stay Strong xxx   

6 Strategies to Combat OCD Spirals

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Person standing outdoors at night looking up at the Milky Way galaxy in the star-filled sky

This week I’ve been under the weather, nothing too extreme just a cold but the impact it’s had on my mental health and resilience levels I thought was worth highlighting. 

I’ve spoken before about the threat bucket and how each day we wake up with a base level of resilience.  This can change day-to-day depending on how we feel, how well we’ve taken care of ourselves, what’s going on with our health as well as what’s happening in the world around us. So many things can knock our resilience day to day, not to mention our OCD. 

Understandably then as I got slowly more poorly over the weekend my resilience levels got lower.

I observed as Saturday went on how the thoughts became stickier and by bedtime on Saturday an old theme had come in and had properly taken hold, as a result I did not sleep well. 

Sunday was tricky, already dysregulated because of my cold, add on top my bad night’s sleep and the ability to sit with the OCD thoughts as they came in became much more challenging.

What to do then when things are stacking up against you, despite your best efforts.

I found it useful once again to refer to my notebook, as I said in last weeks post, it’s vital to prepare for the hard times when you’re feeling good, try and make a compilation of all the things that help and uplift you, so you can refer to them when you’re not thinking as cognitively.

Anything that is going to switch your thinking brain back on, is going to be useful, become curious, be creative or find awe in the world. 

At 4am on Saturday morning the birds started singing outside and that bought me some peace, I have always found awe and wonder in birds, and this helps to pull me out of the depths of OCD spirals. 

I’ve written about these before, but I think they’re worth repeating.  Here are 6 of the best ways I know to pull yourself out of a spiral (fight or flight):

  1. 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?
  2. 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?
  3. 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 comedians? Go and look up one of their new sets online.
  4. 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?
  5. 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!
  6. 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 must take action first, do the things we know make us feel better in the long run, your body and brain will thank you.

 These have all been great for me at different times, give them a go and see if they help you too. 

But are these compulsions I hear you ask?  I would argue if you’re not doing them out of a desperate need, then no.  If you feel low and dysregulated then doing things to reregulate your system such as eating well, socialising or being creative are constructive and recommended by professionals, however if you find you’re doing them compulsively then step away!

I really hope it helps,
Stay Strong xxx

Navigating OCD: Essential Tips During Tough Times

Posted in Anxiety, Mental Health, Mental Wellbeing, OCD, OCD Coping Strategies, OCD GeneralTagged , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments
Books and notes about obsessive-compulsive disorder with highlighted coping strategies and sticky notes

Having had OCD for 30 years I’ve come to realise how important it is to have a few easily accessible resources and a plan of action in place for those times that, despite our best efforts, we end up spiralling.  

It’s very easy in the good times to forget how hard and dark it can be but when we are feeling good we should take a bit of time to get organised with what helps, just in case.

Let me try to explain in a bit more detail what I mean. 

In an ideal world we would learn how OCD works – a glitch in the good enough system – get really good at sitting with that uncomfortable feeling (doubt and uncertainty), let our nervous system do its thing and reset on its own back to base line and carry on with our day. 

And while this is all good in theory and doable a fair amount of the time, it is my experience that recovery isn’t a straight line and there will still be times when we get caught by an OCD obsession. 

Here are some examples of circumstances that can make OCD stickier;  Nighttime can be tricky, as well as when I’m particularly tired, if I’m already sitting with a trigger and then another one piles on top, time of the month for ladies, a new theme appears and takes you by surprise, or a difficult life circumstance such as illness, coping with loss, or stress to name a few. 

All of these will affect our resilience and ability to manage our OCD effectively; I’ve definitely noticed that the exact same thought can effect me differently depending on my resilience level.   

At these times, when we’re spiralling despite our best efforts to let things be, I’ve found it can be helpful to have a few resources to hand, they help remind me of OCD’s wicked and insidious ways and switch on the prefrontal cortex enough to pull me back. 

I personally have a notebook filled with all my favourite advice and information from a wealth of people and books I’ve read over the years.  Some of which I’ve shared below. 

As well as this I’ve finally started to populate my resources page, if you get a chance go and check it out and let me know what you think or if you know of any other useful resources I can add.  I will continue to update this page as time goes on.

I really hope it helps! 

Highlights from my notebook

A thought on Thought-Action-Fusion

Why would you torture yourself over anything less than 100% certainty?  Fear lives in the vague after all and it’s my guess, it’s just a thought (obsession), attached to a feeling of uncertainty, that you’re basing your rumination on, not facts. 
Your brain is probably desperately trying to work out whether there is something genuine to be concerned about, you should take this as your sign that there isn’t

A couple of quotes from Dr Stephen Phillipson

‘You can’t use feelings to make determinations based on whether a threat is real. Doing so is like asking the devil for directions to heaven’.

‘Why focus on something you have NO control over?’
‘It’s never going to not feel scary. ‘

An insight from Martha Beck

Ask yourself:  ‘Am I struggling?’  If the answer is ‘yes!’ then you’re spiralling, step away. 

Useful information from Prof. Steve Peters:

‘If you wake during the night, any thoughts or feelings you might have are from you chimp (emotional) brain and they are very often disturbing, catastrophic and lacking in perspective.  In the morning you are likely to regret engaging with these thoughts and feelings because you will see things differently. ‘

Some ponderings from me:

  1. At night time the rule I try to stick to is – Don’t engage between 10.30pm-6am – acknowledge the thought and set aside some ‘worry time’ the following day if needed, when the rational brain is switched on and working.
  • Know that giving into a compulsion will trigger your fight or flight response and once this happens all reason and logic will disappear.  There is no good outcome to giving into a compulsion, it just confirms to the brain there is something to be concerned about and keeps the OCD cycle going. 
  • There’s always another ‘what if?’ or ‘maybe?’, remember logic is limited but imagination isn’t.

There’s so much more from where these came from, so don’t forget to like and subscribe to make sure you don’t miss out! 

Let me know if any of these are useful to you too in the comments below. 

As always, you’re not alone, your thoughts are not special and you’re stronger than you know!
Stay Strong xxx