putting my ocd issues into context?

[wannabefreeParticipant]

Anyone else trying this rather neat idea? It is a bit like keeping a diary, but we can have as many different journals as we like… We can have them for the good times too, That way we remind ourselves that we have those often too.

It is for our own eyes only, and writing helps us to put all the issues into some sort of context and order, and seeing them in front of us gives the thoughts and feelings validity. Just give it a try, and see how you get on with it…  🙂

Wannabe

[wannabefreeParticipantParticipant]

When you study for university, it is expected that we keep a ‘learning journal’. In it, goes everything… A complete recording of how we felt, how much we got done, what to cook for evening meal… Every success, every nugget of info we found useful. It can be done in the form of a word processor type file, on an electronic device, or just hand written notes on paper. I favour the electronic method, cos it is possible to cut and paste, and move stuff around, editted, and left buried in the computer. I don’t tell anyone where to find it, cos it is just for me, and me alone. Everything I get upset about, gets written down and discussed on the page. It can be added to later…

Looking back, it is amazing what we go through during our lifetime… Sometimes hectic, sometimes happy, sometimes sad, even angry about things. It gets resolved, or put away until later, simply by going through the process of writing stuff down, and getting it out of our heads… And somehow, this makes things easier to deal with… Give it a try maybe?

Wannabe

[wannabefreeParticipantParticipant]

Another trick we can play on our ocd, is to send myself an email, to remind me to deal with it much later on, as I’m too busy to deal with it ‘right now’. I then put it out of mind. I purposefully force myself to think about other, more positive things. I may look at the message later, but usually it has lost its importance by then…

[Choking on flowersParticipant]

This was actually something that my therapist recommended me to do. It is a pretty good way to help confront those uncomfortable thoughts

[wannabefreeParticipantParticipant]

Absolutely, In fact, In university study, keeping a journal is recommended. It can be totally private, contain everything, and in the future, extremely interesting reading. It is a very positive thing to do. It can also be a massive way of unloading all our feelings, and, if we encrypt it, or save it with a password, no one else can access it, so we can be as explicit as we like… A great help with the feelings we are really frightened to get out of ourselves. It becomes your own self-help manual, tailored specifically to your own thoughts. If you are seeing a therapist, why not print bits out for them to read… That way you won’t forget to mention everything you want to say.  Very often, seeing it all in front of ourselves, and written on a screen or page, will help us put our feelings into perspective, we can be as blunt as we want, with no fear of someone finding out things that are private to ourselves. It is okay to have secrets… Everyone who lives on this planet has secrets.  A lot of random thoughts will go through our heads, of things we could never act upon, simply because we are so conscientious as people. People who don’t care, are not subject to worrying thoughts, cos they will dismiss them as fast as they come. In my understanding, conscientious people are the salt of the earth. Us OCD’ers most definitely included.

Wannabe

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