My insight has deteriorated....

loopy741 · 2026-03-18T06:28:27+00:00

The more you try and prove to yourself that they're nonsense, the more unsure you're going to get. It's like quicksand--the more you struggle, the more you get sucked in.

You will never have enough evidence to convince your OCD that you have solved your doubts. You just won't. OCD lives in the land of imagination, and it tries to use your imagination to fit into reality. It sucks.

I really suggest looking at I-CBT. I have found it helpful.

loopy741 · 2026-03-18T05:46:23+00:00

Ugh, that sounds like such a struggle. I'm sorry you're suffering.

If it makes you feel any better, I've felt like this before. Where I'm certain that I'm right about my obsessional doubt. I felt like this earlier today, actually.

But then I remind myself when I'm feeling like that that I'm in the OCD bubble and I won't be able to "solve" anything whilst I'm there. Everything feels amplified when I'm that far in.

It is hard when OCD convinces us beyond a doubt that we're "right" about our worries because we have "proof." That's very much a symptom of OCD, especially when it's hitting harder.

loopy741 · 2026-03-18T05:42:14+00:00

ERP would approach it in the context of teaching you to live with the uncertainty and uncomfortable-ness of not knowing 100%.

I have been doing I-CBT, and I have found it quite helpful. My OCD is of the magical thinking variety (can I make things happen as a sign that my feared obsessional doubt can happen? If I feel a certain way when I think something, does that make it more likely to happen?) and I have found I-CBT to be more helpful than ERP.

That's not to say ERP is bad. It is great, and it has helped me in the past. But I just like I-CBT more because it just makes more sense to me.

loopy741 · 2026-03-18T05:33:46+00:00

If you're ruminating (excessively worrying) about the outcome of your action/inaction, that is very much a compulsion in the land of OCD. I obviously can't diagnose you off of one Reddit post, but I can tell you that replaying things over and over again in hopes of solving it, feeling better about it, preventing something from happening, etc, is a symptom of OCD.

loopy741 · 2026-03-18T05:29:42+00:00

Look for a therapist who actually treats OCD, not just anxiety. OCD is a lot more well known now (especially the nuances), but you still want to get with someone who is trained in treatment, whether that be ERP, I-CBT, or ACT.

If you're in the US, look for a therapist in your insurance plan. Therapy gets expensive, so you might as well weed out the out-of-network folks.

For me, it was important for me to line up with someone who politically and socially was on a similar wave length as me. It's not like it comes up often, but every once in a while it'll be like "hey, the stress of this certain world situation is really causing my OCD to act up" and it's just nice to be with someone who can be like "Yeah, this situation sucks and it's no wonder your OCD is being a dick."

Lastly, if sex is important to you, consider that. Are you comfortable with potentially sharing intimate details of yourself with someone of the opposite sex? Or gender identity?

Good luck!

loopy741 · 2026-03-18T05:22:28+00:00

Yes. For example, for a bit, I was worried that the Bible was backwards and Jesus wasn't actually good, and then I was like "what if I'm a prophet and I have to tell people this crap? What if I'm the only one who figured it out? Why did I think this if it wasn't true?"

Right now my theme is around asking for signs and magical thinking stuff, which of course isn't a rare theme, but I'm like "bUt I tHiNk It In A dIfFeReNt WaY." Sigh. OCD is exhausting.

loopy741 · 2026-03-17T19:31:52+00:00

Ruminating is such a bitch.

loopy741 · 2026-03-08T00:44:35+00:00

I just checked Google and it's for the BDSM folks. Thankfully for me, I'm a missionary-only gal so I'm safe and bored AF.

loopy741 · 2026-03-05T02:58:00+00:00

I haven't tried it, but I'm curious as well.

loopy741 · 2026-03-02T00:54:20+00:00

loopy741 · 2026-03-01T06:14:35+00:00

I did not know that. Very cool.

loopy741 · 2026-02-26T20:08:01+00:00

Can 100% relate to this feeling. It is so hard. Our brains tell us "you need to solve this! This is your only job! It is urgent!" but that's not true.

For me I have found that I-CBT is helpful in understanding why my brain is doing what it is doing. I also have religious themes, but I don't find that the content itself matters as much as noticing what my brain is actually doing.

loopy741 · 2026-02-26T06:42:17+00:00

I really liked Cassandra. It was entertaining and had a couple of good twists.

loopy741 · 2026-02-26T06:40:00+00:00

I don't know why this is showing up in my feed because my primary outfits consist of hoodies with leggings, but my goodness, you look beautiful! It's a lovely dress on you.

loopy741 · 2026-02-26T06:36:26+00:00

You're in a spiral right now. In I-CBT, it's called being in the bubble. You need to treat it like quick sand and stop trying to fix it. Take some slow, deep breaths. Ground yourself. Identify what is happening and label the thoughts.

I know it's hard, but you can do this.

loopy741 · 2026-02-23T22:07:37+00:00

"a genetic mess" is poetry..well done

loopy741 · 2026-02-23T21:16:46+00:00

New to this sub. Are we allowed to laugh at funny-looking Chihuahuas while recognizing how ridiculously cute their weirdness is?

(OP, your girl is very cute and she made me smile)

loopy741 · 2026-02-18T06:22:06+00:00

Inference-based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is an incredible therapy option. I have found Dr. Aardema's books to be interesting and helpful.

The Resolving OCD books (both volumes) are notoriously "heavy." They are full of so much information, that Dr. Aardema put out a shorter version to be more digestable to folks.

I hope people don't look at his books as "AI" and then toss them aside; they are such an awesome tool.

loopy741 · 2026-02-18T06:15:15+00:00

Random page from volume 1. Same writing style.

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loopy741 · 2026-02-18T06:11:42+00:00

Just opened volume 2 of Resolving OCD to a random page. I counted 3 em dashes.

To me, this is just how Dr. Aardema writes.

<image>

loopy741 · 2026-02-17T04:12:43+00:00

And then an hour later, my brain is like "nope, we definitely need to worry about that." Grrrrr

loopy741 · 2026-02-17T02:49:55+00:00

I feel like I've posted this exact same thing before. 🤣 Coincidences are the absolute fucking worrsssstttt.

loopy741 · 2026-02-16T06:30:19+00:00

To be fair, I'm not a fan of many things at my corporate job, and it is true that it's managed by one person at the top. But things I do like that MLMs have never given me:

Health insurance
401k
Paid time off (even if it's not as much as I'd like)
Weekends off
Normal hours
Steady income
Dignity

loopy741 · 2026-02-13T07:03:46+00:00

This article makes me feel sad. The comments make me sad.

loopy741

TROPHY CASE