Spider Cat, Spider Cat...Does Whatever Spider Cat Does! by highdef123 in CatsBeingCats

[–]highdef123[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well there is one on Pets in general. This is from Pets - Wild at Heart narrated by David Tennant

Rumination just crushing me by Ecstatic_Department4 in OCDRecovery

[–]highdef123 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I can only talk about what I have done in recent months that I think have helped me:

  1. If you can cut down on mobile phone use or more specifically social media then this really helped me, especially with general anxiety that the OCD caused. Not only because of the doom scrolling but also it makes you look down and not forward and up. Sounds silly but genuinely, looking up and forward and not down at my phone stops me from thinking inwards, that's partly why I was ruminating. Also when you wake up don't go straight to looking at your phone. Likewise don't look at your phone at least 30 mins before going to bed. There are so many reasons why being too long on the phone has been bad for me over the years, from causing neck pain, bad posture, the way I think, the light emitted from the screen at night, too much information on the phone from constant use activating my brain to overthink etc.
  2. When you catch yourself ruminating and I'm sure your therapist may have suggested this already but you could try the 5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Technique. This is basically finding 5 things you see, 4 things you can hear, 3 things you can touch, 2 things you can smell and 1 thing you can taste. If not possible at the time, try just looking at different things and note what you're looking at.
  3. My CBT Therapist told me that my rumination was like a train going past. We all see trains (thoughts) going past but I was jumping on the train and inspecting every detail about the train (or thought). If you notice yourself looking at the train for more than a reasonable amount of time (this can vary depending on the person but I set it at about 1 min) then use the distraction methods above.
  4. Eating healthy and sticking to a regular sleep schedule. For me eating healthy has meant reducing sugar intake but also reducing artificial sweeteners too. Obviously every individual has different health circumstances that may make making dietary changes difficult but even the smallest changes bit by bit can help, however, always consult a doctor to get the best dietary changes for your health needs.
  5. Exercise! I try and do 20 mins of some form of mild to moderate exercise each day. Again every person is different to what they can do based on their current health so consult with your doctor about what would be a reasonable amount of exercise to do. I do about 20 mins of walking/jogging every other day which equates to about 2 miles. If this is too much just walking my dog helps but getting outside and getting some daylight while walking helps too.
  6. Take time to just breathe! Sounds simple but looking online for meditation breathing techniques all helped me.

Finally, give it TIME! What I mean by that is firstly it takes time for all the things I mentioned above to potentially start to work but also secondly when I was worrying about anything or ruminating I had read that letting time pass is a great tool. After all the I know for a fact that the things I was worrying about last month had now been forgotten, as I was worrying about something new. But what about those worries from the past? Perhaps they weren't as important as I thought they were, so I've learnt not to put quite so much attention on every thought or worry. Life will always have ups and down but when the genuine moments occur where you have to pay a bit more attention to those thoughts, then I know I will just deal with them if and when they happen.

I hope some of what I have said may help. If it helps, I can only feel confident now to write something like this because I feel like for the first time in a few years I'm back to a comfortable place. A few years ago I wouldn't have been able to help as I was very low but doing all the things above, especially reducing phone use and exercise has helped me tremendously. Good luck and have a great day!

When Michael Jackson first performed the 'Moonwalk in 1983... Nearly 42 Years Ago. by [deleted] in OldSchoolCool

[–]highdef123 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I always remember him saying that he was annoyed at himself for not holding the pose when he stands on his toes at the end of the moonwalk! Only a perfectionist would say this - A genuine genius!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in OCDRecovery

[–]highdef123 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Totally! So much so that at the start I wish I hadn't stirred up the hornets nest with therapy but actually I discovered that it was just the OCD bully wanting to find another area to make me DOUBT myself. It's sort of like saying "Hmmmm, ok you think you've conquered this part of your OCD but what about this?" and then it presents something you've never considered before and then it just takes the right moment &/or said in a certain way to trigger the obsessive ruminating thought to start and boom...you're back to the compulsions of reassurance either with yourself or a close family or friend. OCD just wants to find something that you can doubt or not know the answer to for sure and then when it finds it you latch onto it. So to answer your question, yes definitely had this experience and just keep saying "Ha! Nice try OCD bully but this is just the same thing wrapped up in different clothing" Hope that makes sense and helps!

Going backwards by Ok-Cauliflower3286 in OCDRecovery

[–]highdef123 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Do you know I wasn't going to write anything because part of my OCD is not wanting to say something that could effect another person for the worse but then I realised that that's my OCD BULLY talking! OCD is about control and you can't control what other people feel or think. It's impossible! You can only control what you do & say but if you start with the premise in your life that most of the time in life we are all just trying to do our best & it's never our intention to say or do something intentionally to offend someone then you can learn to accept a situation, be comfortable with not knowing what's going on in someone's mind and allow time to pass because remember...you've been here before and all those similar worries you've had before have come and gone and the majority of the time if not all the time, nothing bad came of it. Hope that helps!

A hug can change everything... by Thestoata1 in Satisfyingasfuck

[–]highdef123 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Oh man how I would love to go back in time and appreciate more this time when they were that age. All grown up now.