When one worry goes in pops another.

[Homer47]

Hi all. Would like to say thanks to receiving some feedback on my harm OCD. Much appreciated. But as this one slightly goes away for a while in pops another. Does anyone get this. Like now it's how I would react to be on the end of banter at work, like I do it. But when I get hypersensitive to things I can feel myself or trying to stop myself from biting. Or point scoring is that a compulsion. My head is saying just laugh it off don't bite. It's the part when I hate most is when I have to wait to go back to work. It's this part now that botheres me the waiting part until you see the individual's. Or the fear I will loose it. Anyone have this worry or some feedback. When I feel confident it doesn't bother me. Thanks

[MrDanny]

Hi all. Would like to say thanks to receiving some feedback on my harm OCD. Much appreciated. But as this one slightly goes away for a while in pops another. Does anyone get this. Like now it's how I would react to be on the end of banter at work, like I do it. But when I get hypersensitive to things I can feel myself or trying to stop myself from biting. Or point scoring is that a compulsion. My head is saying just laugh it off don't bite. It's the part when I hate most is when I have to wait to go back to work. It's this part now that botheres me the waiting part until you see the individual's. Or the fear I will loose it. Anyone have this worry or some feedback. When I feel confident it doesn't bother me. Thanks


Yes i get like this, its like our brain knows we are getting over one worry so goes on to something else to carry on the riturals etc.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Glad to hear you are getting some useful feedback, Homer. Intrusive thoughts seem to dominate the OCD board.

Yes, many will be finding this I bet. Some seem to have a very strong single theme and others find one goes & another pops in.

Like Bea says in this excellent post, theme is irrelevant, it's still OCD underneath and this needs the treatment:

http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=195010

If you look at exposure therapy, they seek to treat the root of the problem rather than what is attached to it (if you looked at it as a Vicious Flower formation). Take a "petal" away, the OCD is still there and may sprout something new. Treat the root and you wipe out everything attached to it.

The same is being achieved when you start tackling core beliefs. They can have "attached cores" which is like how the old telephone exchanges had plus & wires in & out of a switchboard. Fears build, associate with new things to be afraid off and this is why it's important to deal with the real issue rather than the symptom.

This doesn't mean to imply deep therapies going into things like childhood, which may be necessary (I wouldn't know, it;s very individual), but from a CBT point of view this is what they are dealing with.

So, we can't get too wrapped up in non medical terms like HOCD, ROCD, POCD, etc. These are sufferers terms, you won't find them in medical manuals. They serve their purpose in defining a theme in your OCD, but OCD underneath is determined by a much smaller category of names that focus on the cycles involved rather than their contexts.

[Homer47]

Thanks like all the worries have the same feeling of what ifs. The dreaded feeling of fear. This new worry is my fear thinking I will look stupid if I loose it with this guy at work when banter is happening. He is one of these guys that's loud and known in the past of bullying. I won't let anyone bully me. But o just want to feel confident in giving banter back rather than loosing it and looking stupid or get in trouble.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Feeling stupid in social situations is something everyone will worry about at some point. So, it's about not putting irrational levels of worry onto it.

Loosing it and turning to violence is about the intrusive thoughts and you have to remember that you are still the same you with the same controls based on your deeper moral beliefs e.g. right from wrong you learned early in life. Do you think someone who spent their life smacking people around would worry about giving another bloke a slap?

Losing it in terms of getting angry because you feel stupid, everyone has worries like that. But it's a massive leap from normal anger to physical violence.

Anxiety can make us have a short fuse. We may have outbursts. I've been through this myself. Lowering anxiety levels helps with this but it's worth looking towards traditional methods of self control in a situation too.

Navigating what is acceptable banter can be tricky. And what he might laugh at may offend others in listening distance too. Making mistakes is always a possibility but how you then deal with that is important in correcting a situation.

And if you make a mistake, which we are all going to do many times in life, it's important not to kick yourself too much over it.