Stress Center Peer Support

For those who have OCD with nearly pure Obsessive thoughts, do you find that physical exercises quiets them down and, if so, what kind of regimen are you on? I'm curious about what kinds of exercise you do, how often, and how long was it after starting that you felt relief, if any?

What exercise does is help the anxiety associated with it. It helps to calm the adrenalin that often makes OCD seem intolerable. OCD issues still have to be dealt with experientially but exercise makes it much easier to work with.

Walking, hiking, bicycle riding, swimming, jogging. It's recommended to exercise at least 30 minutes a day. It's not necessary to go past an hour.

boon -

i really need spme advice from you if you dont mind.....im scared to death about my scary thoughts, if its not ine thought its another....like ie: What if i hurt myself, what if i start to hear voices, what if, i think people are after me ( and I know they aren't) it because I knw what paranoia means.....what if i start to cut myself, all these thoughts are from what i saw when i was in the hospital in July, i was only there for 3 days and boy was i picking up on what everyone else had........Can you please help me? I am terrified this will never go away, and here is the kicker, when i AM NOT AFRAID OF THE THOUGHT THEN i GET FEARFUL OF why i am not afraid of the thought......yikes....can you help?

Christian 73 I am looking for the same relief. The only thing that distracts me exercising is watching something on tv while doing yoga poses or while I am on the treadmill. I only have obsessive thoughts, but they are not general. My thoughts are about a family issue that has been resolved I just can't seem to get any closure and replay the year long incident over and over in my mind anyone else like this?

Physician - You are not in the present moment. Your mind is all over the place. No wonder you are so afraid. I recommend you work with (and practice all the time):

Thought Stoppage - You can't stop the initial thought from coming in but you can stop all subsequent thoughts. Shout "STOP" either in your head or out loud. Go to the mirror and do this if you can.

Then, immediately, do your calm breath. Breathe in deeply, hold to the count of 4, then exhale through pursed lips. You'll feel your body start to relax. (Right now you are on red alert and squirting large amounts of adrenalin with your resistance to each thought.)

Then shift your attention to something outside of yourself. Do you work? Keep your attention on what you are doing. Thought will try to claim you over and over but your only job is to bring your attention back to what you are doing in the moment. If you are not doing something, find something to do. Whistle, sing, dance, read, journal your feelings, walk, talk to someone and pay attention to the conversation.

Look at your history. Do you have a history of all the stuff you are hearing in your head? Have you ever cut yourself? Have you ever hurt yourself? Have people really ever been after you before? If your answer is NO to all of these, you can absolutely trust that you will not do these things and that they will not occur.

Get a doll that represents you as a child and hold and comfort that little person. Let her know that you can feel her fear and that you are in the process of handling things and learning new tools to live by. Let her know that you will not abandon her no matter what. Let her know, too, that you can see why she is scared. You have been scaring the bejeebers out of yourself and it makes sense that you are scared. It's OK to be scared. You are in the process of changing all this. Be patient. Ask her to be patient. Let your child know that YOU WILL HANDLE WHATEVER COMES YOUR WAY. She doesn't have to do anything. YOU will take care of it.

Another thing you will need to work on is allowing the thoughts to come and go without your emotional attachment to them. Thoughts are harmless. They are thin air. Just let them come and go - like a passing cloud. Practice this as best you can. In time, you will get good at it.

Most of all, don't judge yourself. Don't judge your pain. Soothe, practice, love yourself with each step - each phase - of your growth. This takes time and with you continuing to work on yourself you can be assured that peace will come.

This is curable. Persevere!

Boon_

Wow! You are so wonderful with your advice...You see i am living in the past and the future.....NO I HAVE NEVER DONE ANY OF THESE THINGS, nor would I want to.....I just don't want my brain to SNAP.....I try to focus on the present moment and BAM,,,the thoughts and I go with it feeding the fear,,I am going to try and do what you suggested, it may take time, but I will do the best I can...How long have you been doing this program, I am doing it without meds so it seems more difficult with the anxiety that comes with it and the thoughts depress me......TY for your wonderful advice.....It takes time, though right?

Patricia

Yes, indeed, it takes time, but it doesn't have to take as long you think. You keep identifying with your thoughts and, really, when you can allow your thoughts to come and go without emotional attachment to them you will no longer have an anxiety problem. It sounds simple, and it is, but it takes time. So patience is very important. Gentleness with yourself. Never judging yourself.

Replace with soothing self talk. "These thoughts are bogus. They always have been." "I don't have to give them any energy." "I never answer a what if question." "I will handle it." etc., etc. You come up with some good responses that pertain to you personally.

You do not have to have the answer to everything in order for the anxiety to go away. That is a big ego-thinking lie.

Use your tools to minimize anxiety. You will be minimizing the thoughts as well.

Every obsession starts with "what if" regardless of the content.
What if I never forget this thought?
What if I do this?
What if I have this?
What if I'm insane?
etc. etc.
Why is this? Because, our minds and systems are so out of whack (negative, low self esteem, etc.) that we believe we could do or believe almost anything. These thoughts are repeated a billion times to no avail. I still have never read somebody on this site ever acting out one of their obsessions. Do you know how many zillions of hours of human life have been wasted on these thoughts?
Anyways, boon is absolutely right, as far as my own experiences. You will not control this disorder with exercise, but instead, it kind of works like medication. It calms some of the symptoms which can allow you to really attack the core problems.