Setbacks and OCD

Hi Guys,

Today I wanted to talk about setbacks and OCD. I recently received some bad news in my life.It was rather upsetting and as a result I'm now feeling quite a bit of stress and disappointment. In the past I have unintentionally turned to my OCD in times of crisis, as a way of redeeming a sense of control I guess? Who knows... However, this time I refuse to use my OCD as a coping mechanism. Don't get me wrong, its not as if I've purposefully sought refuge in my illness, it's more of a fallback or a knee-jerk reaction to my emotions.

I guess it goes a little something like this...

Feeling down or stressed=OCD behaviours become more dominant.

Having spoken with some of you, I think it's a fairly common issue. When thinking back across the years, I can definitely identify certain times in my life in which my OCD was more prevalent. For example,during a particularly troubling relationship, throughout my time at University and during bouts of depression, which in turn, fuelled the OCD even more.

The point of this post was basically to say that it's okay to feel when something bad happens in your life. You wouldn't be human if you didn't feel a sense of sorrow or disappointment, right? The point I wanted to make was that it's fine to feel, but know when this feeling is feeding into other areas of you mind, or life. For me, it's my OCD. I hide behind my illness and use it as an excuse to label everything in my life as negative. I have to remember that this recent bad news is a mere setback, it doesn't tarnish the rest of my life, it is an isolated event which I will amend, not sink into.

I think it's important to recognise that sometimes things in life go a bit off track. No one is particularly to blame, it's just life. But do try to not let this bring you down and don't hide within your illness, whether its OCD, and eating disorder or depression. Instead, choose to see all the positives, whether it be your family, friends, a shopping trip, a holiday, or even just an evening in watching your favourite show on Netflix with a pack of cookies.

Falling further into your illness won't rectify the situation, it will simply allow you to avoid the pain you're naturally entitled to feel via cleaning or hooking into intrusive thoughts. So let's try and  focus on the positives in life a little more and face setbacks HEAD ON.

Thanks for reading
Becca xoxo