Once you are diagnosed with OCD, you can start your recovery. Part of this might include therapy or taking medication. But there are a few tips you can use to help overcome your OCD. First, it’s important to make sure that you can identify what triggers you.
Try tracking for a week. Take note of any event that stokes your anxiety and the type of compulsions it triggers. You might also want to record how long they last. If you can understand the situations that cause compulsive behaviors you can try to find ways of eliminating them from your life. For example, if touching a handrail triggers handwashing you might want to take a different way to work. It’s also important to learn when these compulsive thoughts emerge. This will allow you to relabel them. Sometimes, you might want to write them down on paper. Looking at phrases can remove their power. It can also allow you to judge the thought more subjectively, seeing how irrational your obsessions are.
Finally, you might want to try mediation. This can be a good way of reducing anxiety. Additionally, you can take a few deep breaths when faced with a stressful situation. Focus only on your breathing. This will help you center your thoughts and remain calm. Though it might take a while, these techniques can help you lower your anxiety level when faced with situations that would normally trigger compulsive behavior.
Track Your OCD Recovery Progress
As mentioned above, it is important to track your OCD recovery process so that you’re able to gauge that you are heading the right direction. One of the best ways to do this is to take our OCD Severity Test every other week to ensure that your number is going down, indicating you are in the process of OCD recovery.
OCD is a relatively common condition, affecting over two million Americans. Untreated, this condition can have a big impact on your life. Sometimes, these compulsive routines can take an hour. But there are effective treatment options that you can explore. Plus, there are some OCD recovery techniques that you can experiment with to help you better manage your compulsions.