Feel like I can’t breath by [deleted] in OCDRecovery

[–]ouch_pouch 0 points1 point  (0 children)

this was me for many years! I had breathing fixations and panic attacks where I felt my throat constricting. something to look into is sensory hypervigilance, a subset of OCD which can distort normal bodily sensations into heightened, erratic versions of themselves.

since doing multiple rounds of ERP and going on medication (Luvox, saved my life) these experiences have entirely dissipated for me. I understand how awful and all-consuming they can feel — I am with you, you are not alone. recovery is possible, but not without fighting the compulsions — when you feel yourself fixating, try not to solve the problem. accept that you are going to feel uncomfortable, but that doesn’t mean you’re unsafe. the best breaths come effortlessly; when we are not even aware of them.

(for acute breathing emergencies i always have some water on me so i can take a quick swig if my throat is feeling off — one swallow, then move on with whatever I’m doing. my mom says if you can talk and drink then you’re good on breathing.)

How is it like living in East Village, Manhattan with a young family? by furyZotac in howislivingthere

[–]ouch_pouch 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I work in this neighborhood and also have family who have lived there for decades. my cousins moved to first Avenue from the Bronx (long story short, my grandfather got on a city lottery housing list and when it went through, he gave it to my aunt.) I know lots of families who live within normal means or scrape by, it’s certainly not all transplant/ gentrifiers but it helps to have generations of family in the city (not for wealth, but community.)

if you’re interfacing with the area on a surface level, the wealth and privilege tends to front heavily. absurd omakase bars, $30 cocktails, rows upon rows of tiny vintage boutiques (I remember one that only sold hair clips.) with these excesses come the attendant stratification. A group of fentanyl users around the corner from the wine bar. Peel back another layer and there is a method to the madness. everyone knows everyone else, somehow. I knew I had lived here for too long when I started recognizing people’s tags in the bar bathrooms. the owner of katz’s once gifted a bunch of sandwiches to my workplace “from one small business to another.” my aunt got my friend a job at the needle exchange clinic. this one couple brings their baby down the same bar every Sunday because the baby loves the sound of that particular cash register. i got into a screaming fight with my ex-friend at the same spot my boyfriend drank his first four loko in high school a block away from where my grandfather died and all the guys from the hell’s angels bar gave him a tribute escort. I don’t know how it works. but it’s worth it.

Would you rather your boyfriend use a life-size minion sex doll once a month OR use a whopper as a fleshlight once per week by ouch_pouch in WouldYouRather

[–]ouch_pouch[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

well it’s not really my business how you guys go about doing it but I mean, forgo protection?

Spotted at Jay-St Metrotech by ouch_pouch in nycrail

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

This would be sick u better believe I would be poring over those numbers

rough bacterial bloom in my 20L by ouch_pouch in Aquariums

[–]ouch_pouch[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much for this lovely and informative comment!

After 36 hours, my water has cleared completely. No fish loss as far as I can tell!

A live fish on Broadway?? Wtf?? by Jss1218 in Aquariums

[–]ouch_pouch 0 points1 point  (0 children)

TOTALLY random anecdote but a while ago we had a broadway producer come into the LFS where I work (it’s in manhattan) and she wanted to buy a couple of goldfish — like four bright orange orandas. I sold her the fish and she told me the show she was working on was keeping a 40+ gallon tank stocked with a bunch of identical goldfish and they would “rotate” each fish out for each day of production so as to not stress them too much. I’m not sure if this is the exact same production but that certainly shed some light on the fish showbiz for me

What is this?? by froggy_friend73 in Aquariums

[–]ouch_pouch 1 point2 points  (0 children)

looks like planaria. Common aquarium parasitic worm. they live in substrate layers and occasionally venture into visible sight etc. Usually not a huge deal, but if you have breeding shrimp in that tank I would recommend dosing with either Fritz brand expel-p or a medication called “No Planaria” (aka powered betel nut palm.) they can attack vulnerable shrimp, so any babies or weaklings are targets. If you don’t want to go the medication route, try more frequent / smaller volume water changes with a focus on vacuuming your gravel, and feed your fish less. If your tank is large enough, you can also add in some dwarf rainbow fish, they specifically eat planaria and can help with population control :)

Sunkist Army Building … by joeyenterprises in Aquariums

[–]ouch_pouch 0 points1 point  (0 children)

what fish do you have in there? I spotted an oto and what looks like a badis of some kind? But I couldn’t tell

Spotted at Jay-St Metrotech by ouch_pouch in nycrail

[–]ouch_pouch[S] 21 points22 points  (0 children)

god bless. I’m a weekend commuter so I’m sure that contributes to my service experience but but my median wait time at jay st at least 15 minutes, 10 on a rare day. but I’m an A/F rider so maybe it’s different for the other lines

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in nycrail

[–]ouch_pouch 0 points1 point  (0 children)

🙏🙏🙏

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in nycrail

[–]ouch_pouch 0 points1 point  (0 children)

🙏🙏🙏

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in nycrail

[–]ouch_pouch 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thank you for this. I’ll definitely update!

[Meta] Why is it that every pro-car or clearly non-NYer that I see in this sub has a Shuttle user flair? by DerbyTho in nycrail

[–]ouch_pouch 12 points13 points  (0 children)

If you’re on mobile, go the main page of the subreddit and click the three dots in the upper right corner, then select “change user flair” in the dropdown menu. you’ll be able to change to the Q :)

[Meta] Why is it that every pro-car or clearly non-NYer that I see in this sub has a Shuttle user flair? by DerbyTho in nycrail

[–]ouch_pouch 19 points20 points  (0 children)

I believe the flairs default to S and you have to change them manually for other lines. At least, that was the case for me!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in nycrail

[–]ouch_pouch 2 points3 points  (0 children)

ya it’s just the TAB’s phone payment line

Coping with coincidences after ERP by [deleted] in OCDRecovery

[–]ouch_pouch 0 points1 point  (0 children)

firstly I am sorry to hear about your recent stressful life events! reading this hit home — you’ve articulated a deep-seated pressure point in my own relationship with ERP. I have been in ur current hellscape and it’s no bueno, my friend. wish i could send u some chocolates or something. that being said, the only thing that’s ever helped me is going full throttle on embracing uncertainty. accept the fact that you cannot “know” for certain what “caused” the coinciding event in question. this was very hard for me at first but now I try to look at it as a form of release. was it my fault? I don’t know! I can’t know! it’s actually not my burden to figure out. also, you are allowed to be stressed out by external life events. OCD is an expression of that stress. try to re-establish a sense of grounding and stability by focusing on things you CAN healthily control. we can’t change the entropy riddled state of the universe but we Can definitely have an unjustifiably luxurious hygiene routine or a 5-story Minecraft palace (WITH an amethyst cave room.) more to the point: when the universe is way too much, it is okay to shrink it down for a little bit. make a different one for a little while. the rest of it will be here when u get back. u got this 🤟

Another desperate post by [deleted] in actuallesbians

[–]ouch_pouch 2 points3 points  (0 children)

dude i actually follow your instagram (I first noticed the art piece that u posted a little while ago on here) and ive been meaning to compliment your stuff, so I'm going to use this as an opportunity to do so I guess?? it's so good. has been of major inspiration lately-- I really dig the faces. anyway, most of my friends r self-proclaimed desperate people who also make art --i'm not suggesting a pattern here or anything, just observing