How to manage OCD - more help coming!

[@LachieVolkmann]

Hi Katie, could you possibly upload some content on contamination OCD in the sense of the idea of thoughts ‘attaching’ or becoming ‘associated’ with objects, people, etc. and ideas of thoughts having the power to ‘curse’ things? I assume this falls under contamination OCD but have struggled with trying to apply ERP to these magical thinking ideas and see past it. Your KZbin channel has been beyond incredible for sufferers like myself 💛

[@23katied]

Yes absolutely this will be useful to lots of people I’m sure. This will be too long for Instagram so I’ll post it here asap.

[@stevemelvin7308]

Glad to see you again. I need to try working on my OCD again. Your videos on youtube has given me help and steps to help cope. Thank you.

[@23katied]

Yes! Get back on it - remember that it is possible to create a new relationship with your thoughts, feelings and sensations so that they don't rule your life anymore!

[@VGH173]

So happy to see you again❤. You were so helpful to me when I started my recovery journey, just recommended you to my support community ❤

[@contiki6277]

So happy to see you again !! You were a friend of mine during my dark times with ocd. Love from Greece!

[@23katied]

Happy to hear it was helpful.

[@Regenamario]

Glad to see you back! I’ve been incorporating ERP within my daily life for nearly 8months (i did encounter many setbacks though, and to be honest there were a couple months where my energy felt depleted and couldn’t go on with doing exposures with the same intensity as the beginning. however i’m aiming to get back to work now and finish what i started. wanted to thank you because your videos helped me through extremely dark times.) I wanted to ask you about whether feelings like tingling in the head and trembling of the fingertips are a normal part of the recovery? (i’ve been diagnosed with severe ocd before and i believe because i dealt with it for years that it led to physical anxiety symptoms such as head pounding and untimely heart palpitations) but i did recognise a huge improvement in that area too, and im hopeful that i can get to a stage where i don’t have to deal with those symptoms for good. can you make a video regarding that please, any advice of yours would be appreciated🙏🏻 sorry i have made this long, and thank you for your help.

[@johnbennett8453]

You are a wonderful person to do this for others. Thank you

[@23katied]

You are so welcome, I hope it helps.

[@giannis6552]

Very happy to see you again! You have given me so much insight about tackling my ocd issues. Thank you!

[@23katied]

I’m glad it’s been helpful.

[@whoisabdy3117]

So excited to see you'd posted again! Your videos have been incredibly helpful, thank you so much!

[@23katied]

Thanks - hopefully I can be more useful if I find a less time consuming way of uploading!

[@mdw1138]

This is great news! Thank you so much for doing this!🙏

[@23katied]

You're very welcome!

[@melikewatchstuff]

Oh and please can you speak about rumination as a compulsion and your thoughts on Dr Michael Greenberg's approach .thanks

[@23katied]

Yes - great idea - I will upload a video answer to this on Instagram asap - thank you!

[@melikewatchstuff]

@@23katied thanks!

[@smart_viewpoint]

I watched all of your videos in 2022, They were pretty much helpful. Lot's of love from Pakistan.

[@23katied]

So glad to hear they helped.

[@AlUY-j7w]

Thank you so much for everything that you do Katie. You've given me so much hope and relief with this sometimes invisible but very real disorder.

[@23katied]

You’re very welcome. I’m glad you find it helpful

[@dasperin9993]

Love your videos. They've genuinely helped so much

[@23katied]

I'm so glad!

[@masoudbeigi7004]

Hi dear Katie I am glad that you back you are my best advisor for helping to treat my ocd thanks for everything

[@Anonymous-vk7ig]

Before 5-8 years when i was in class 9-10 in 2018-2020 i used to think for the worst case scenario and then try to prepare myself according to the situation and was almost fearless. Now its like i am leaving in the worst case. Whatever i do i can't prepare. For me its like snake, venom, dog or this type of things which can bite. In snake problem:- i am literally looking down most of the time when walking, always trying to avoid path with even little bit of grasses, if they touched then station looking the entire area for snakes or something like that, always feeling that something is touching and then start checking again the entire are like room, bed, bedsheet, blanket, racks(if i didn't see what is there and i touched), thinking again and again that something is touching when u try to sleep then again starting checking the bedsheet, blanket, pillow covers even when i am inside Mosquito net, even looking under the refrigerator, containers. It literally cause pain in the eye or you can say entire body. I look awkward doing this. Due to this fear of dog started to come since today that if it touch then i will get rabies(on 31 march 2024 it touched my trouser that i was wearing and there were almost no visible wound in the leg through which saliva can travel , I have asked Few doctor that does this process cause rabies they said no and almost all said that no need of vaccine and now I am not able to believe doctors(earlier used to think if doctor will say no then I will stop thinking but it's not working). Then also I took vaccine think that it will help me. Now Even after taking vaccine after 6-7 day i am starting to think that whether the vaccine was applied accurately, was it kept in recommend container, will it work or not. May be due to this sometime my heartbeat increases, not able to focus in anything, pain, weakness and many more, constipation, bloating, headache, sudden emotion change. When I was in 9-10( around 2018,2019,2020) I was like almost fearless, used to explore, don't fear living alone in the house, was more energetic and motivated, was good in study compared to now. And now in 2024 I am like this. This may be due to covid and after watching what covid can do. I was literally not able to sleep and started not to touch chairs, bedsheets, contacting people. Encountering new problem, regularly checking heartbeat. I think internet is the main problem as if anything happen I check for like symptoms, what will happen, what can be done. I don't know when i will able to overcome it. Now my age is almost 23. I Didn't used any emoji as it can't describe anyone's emotion and feeling. I opened KZbin for rabies info and started to think about how to overcome fear, then searched for ocd and now i am here. I am like internally broken which is now affecting my physical performance

[@gunshotlagoon922]

Welcome back Katie!

[@louisstkr9581]

Hallo Kate D‘ath! Your videos and Book(OCD for Dummies) have really helped me recover. 😊 The only thing that became problematic over time, was that my ERP sessions became compulsive overtime. I was always worried if I was „doing enough“ ERP to recover or doing it „just right“. Now I only do RP(Response Prevention) when I am exposed to something in the moment. Is this a good way to handle this problem? When does ERP became the Problem itself?

[@23katied]

Great - question - I'll record an answer to this and put on instagram this week!

[@Jamie-ro6sx]

Your pure o videos helped me when i was a young man. Thank you so much. Im a very strong man now thanks to you ❤

[@abhirupbasu6808]

Happy to see you again Katie madam. Your videos are helping me alot. Thank you.

[@cemozsahin]

very great to see you again

[@joshuaodiba]

Thanks Katie ❤❤ your videos have really helped me in so many ways. Thank you so much. Word would fail me to thank you enough. I've had OCD for a while and I never even knew that there was anything like OCD. But thanks your nice videos, I've discovered abt my OCD and even how to deal with it and I'm really getting astonishing results. Once again thank you Katie 😊❤

[@frogmancer]

Hey Katie, your "whatever OCD" ERP ideas videos were hugely helpful, will you ever do more of those? I would be especially love some exposures for worries around relationships and cheating/being a bad person. :)

[@JoeDaman3009]

Thank you for doing this. Your videos have been very helpful to me as I've been treating my OCD. I have a question. How much daily Attention Training do you recommend? I've been doing one 12 minute session every evening.

[@JohnSmith-SdTkt]

Thank you very much

[@23katied]

You're welcome!

[@truthsayer13]

Hi Katie, welcome back. Can you please talk about the importance of reducing rumination to tackle ocd.

[@23katied]

Hello! Just about to post a reel about this on instagram!

[@truthsayer13]

I'll have to sign up to Instagram to follow you! Also, since you've been away, I've been watching Ali Greymond's videos on ocd. Her's is the 'Greymond method' and she talks about the importance of tracking and reducing rumination as the key to ultimately overcoming ocd. She explains that only doing ERP to treat ocd will keep it chronic as the themes keep switching. I'd really like your perspective on this approach (-:

[@chhavi2963]

Erp has worked really good for me in the past for sensorimotor ocd, but how can i do exposure in this case, i am in a continuous fear that i will always be in my mind and i will always think about my thoughts, like what am in thinking.

[@KM-wv2og]

I have had OCD and tourette's tic disorder since 3 1/2 and I am now 55. I am utterly exhausted by it and the Tourette's tics are somehow codependent with the OCD and vice versa. I literally just can't stand it anymore and I waited for a year for NHS help and just when they were about to finally help me I moved district and they made me go back into the system again, at which point I completely gave up. Now I'm just lying in bed most of the day because I'm too exhausted to be bothered with. anything. My OCD has always been centered around warding off and neutralising unbearable intrusive thoughts about harm coming to my family, and so the OCD and tourette's tics act as the neutralises to stop bad things from happening. It has taken 80 to 90% of my life from me. If I didn't have the constant intrusive thoughts, I wouldn't have to keep performing all of the endless exhausting rituals my entire life. Why why can't I stop the intrusive thoughts? And why is it impossible to ignore them why is it impossible to ignore them😢

[@23katied]

I am so sorry to hear what a tough time you are having. Unfortunately there is no short or easy answer to this. Not sure if you've seen my other videos but many of them cover intrusive thoughts and should be really helpful for you. Give it a go and let me know if you have any specific questions that aren't covered.

[@willstocks8601]

Hi, I’m currently having CBT therapy for OCD and my therapist recommended your videos to me. They’ve been really helpful and thank you so much for putting in all the effort to make them. I have a quick question regarding exposure techniques. Every time something goes wrong with our house (broken taps, leaks creaky floor boards) I escalate the possible consequences to be really dramatic and overblown. I become absolutely obsessed with checking if it’s fixed or still broken etc and I have completely overblown reactions each time I discover a new thing that isn’t working which can be really distressing to those around me. When these issues come up I’ve become quite good at using exposure techniques to stop me worrying about the individual issues that have gone wrong and to stop myself from checking if they’ve been fixed, but what I’m struggling to work out is how to use exposure to prevent the initial overblown reaction from happening. I can’t predict what will go wrong in the house next and when I’ve tried to predict things that could go wrong quickly I start creating new checking exercises that result in negative behaviour patterns. Do you have any recommendations for exposure techniques I can use so that I can ease the initial reaction. Thanks

[@23katied]

Are you aware of having a particular fear associated with the things going wrong - i/e some kind of catastrophic consequence or is it more about not being able to tolerate the uncertainty of whether the thing is going to be fixed - or could be something else entirely but let me know if either of those resonates and we can go from there.

[@willstocks8601]

​@@23katied Thank you for the reply! I have a high intolerance to uncertainty as to whether it will be fixed (and I have a high intolerance to uncertainty in general) and am pretty afraid of not having enough money to repair things, or things being made worse when they're repaired.

[@willstocks8601]

I'll try some written exposure to that underlying fear and see if that helps. Regarding uncertainty if you have any tips on that I would really appreciate it. Thank you

[@23katied]

If you haven’t seen it you might find my video “how to get more certain” useful

[@23katied]

@@willstocks8601also yes doing a ‘worst case scenario’ exposure could be helpful.

[@chhavi2963]

Hey , katie I have ocd of my own thoughts, i fear that i will always think about what i am thinking and will never be able to be fully present outside mentally.Like if i am talking to my friends i am only thinking that i am not fully present outside and i am thinking about my thinking

[@DrAlvinLiew]

great that u are back....DrAlvinLiew

[@StitchInTime]

I can't find any help for what I'm going through.

[@charlenecalliste8235]

Hello Katie I came across your videos and I wanted to ask a question. I have ocd where I clean my hands every second for everything and it’s making me tired and quite depressed. I feel like if I touch something I must go and wash it quickly. Or I read things three times. I know there is no quick solution but I wanted to know where I could start from to try and get this ocd in order please. Thanks

[@23katied]

Sorry to hear you are struggling with this. Best place to start is by educating yourself more about how to help yourself - which I realise you are doing with these videos! But I would recommend getting yourself a book like Overcoming OCD or Managing OCD with CBT for dummies and working through it systematically.

[@shalan_777]

can you clarify something for me please, you told us in video number 8 to ignore our thoughts and not thinking about them but you also told us in the video number 7 to expose our self to them and vocalize them. it’s a two different things !

[@23katied]

Yes indeed! The first one is about redirecting your attention and not engaging with your thoughts when they crop up i.e not giving them power - the second is a exposing yourself to the thoughts as a form of ERP and a way of helping you get more used to their presence so that it can become easier to to redirect your attention - i.e taking away their power.

[@shalan_777]

@@23katied yeah but how we will do both therapeutic techniques at the same time ?, that’s what got me confused.

[@23katied]

Ah you don’t do them simultaneously. The technique of redirecting your attention can be practiced as a general response to thoughts etc but you design your ERP and do this at specific times that you plan in advance.

[@shalan_777]

@@23katied can I just stick to the first technique “ redirecting my attention “ by not giving attention to my thoughts , and not do an exposure to my negative thoughts because for example if I have thoughts about that i don’t truly love a person that I love for some reason , if I keep repeating and vocalising that I don’t love that person I’m afraid that I might believe it, which is something that I don’t want

[@23katied]

Well unfortunately the first way is not particularly effective in creating lasting change. Whereas ERP is. The bottom line is that if you continue to be scared of the thoughts then you are unlikely to ever feel very different. Ideally you need to do ERP.@@shalan_777

[@Curry-f8b]

I have ocd and it is about me becoming something I don’t want to be. Please help.

[@23katied]

Please check out my other videos. They are designed to teach you all about OCD and then how to help yourself overcome it.

[@PrashantYadav-ih4wp]

Hey katie please tell me your 10 years videos will be helpful to manage my ocd or not. I will be waiting for you respond please help me i can't afford therapy sessions

[@23katied]

Yes the therapeutic process has barely changed in many years. All the videos are still relevant and should be a really good guide in helping you to overcome OCD

[@sushantakumarpanigrahi8961]

Mam i have sevior ocd and i am from india plz help to overcome this phase.

[@23katied]

I'm sorry to hear that. You can help yourself by checking out my other videos which will teach you all about OCD and how to help yourself get better.

[@aqadion]

Do you offer therapy? I find your videos very beneficial. Greetings

[@lostsoulxx0]

Hi, any tips how to accept and let go of my partners huge sexual histort? Thank you

[@Britpopsoul]

Let the thoughts be there and don’t respond to them 🎉🎉