What was your experience getting over OCD? - Interview with Nova Sutton

[@ocdobsesslesstherapy]

Hey Mark, thanks for having me on your show! Always a pleasure chatting to you. 😊

[@everybodyhasabrain]

Thanks for sharing your adventures, Nova!

[@rioforforeigners]

Thank you so much

[@landonfreeman6701]

Hi, Mark. I've been a fan ever since my fiancée showed me your videos. Admittedly, I struggle with OCD every day, and to be honest, I'm struggling with it at this very moment. However, in an effort to recover, I began taking your advice, methods, and tips to heart, and as a result, you've helped me see OCD for what it really is: insignificant, meaningless, trivial clouds in my brain's sky. While it hasn't been easy, I do believe that I'm starting to notice slight improvements in how I manage OCD, and I know that over time these improvements will grow and become more prominent. I'm on the road to recovery, and while that road may be a bit rocky at times, I'll surely reach the end of it in time. God bless!

[@el1ana115]

I love this! Thanks for sharing❤️

[@everybodyhasabrain]

Thanks for sharing that, Landon! It's great you're seeing through the OCD illusions and making useful changes. Enjoy the steps ahead :)

[@jessepalombo3144]

Ocd therapist should have to have had ocd before . It’s an unbelievable understanding quality that you can’t get from a textbook

[@everybodyhasabrain]

If somebody wants to teach somebody else how to lift weights, it is useful if they're very skilled at lifting weights themselves.

[@patman2438]

Thank you for this great chat.

[@HH88ization]

Hey Mark thanks so much for doing this interview with Nova I had really bad OCD a few years ago and really bad harm thoughts and one of the main things that helped me recover was one of your old videos where you said to tell your brain 'so what?' When you think you have done something bad - this sounds very much like what Nova said about paradoxical intention - I have come back to your videos because unfortunately I've realised that over the years OCD has morphed and I have lots of compulsions that I didn't register - but your videos are helping so much especially the ideas that intrusive thoughts and compulsions can be anything even things that somehow 'make sense'. So thank you so much for your videos these are so so helpful 😊

[@nature402]

Thank you so much this was amazing and really helpful 💯💯🥰🥰

[@everybodyhasabrain]

You’re welcome 😊

[@olivep7920]

What a wonderful interview ... loved it! So much helpful advice. Also great to hear a recovery story.

[@everybodyhasabrain]

Thanks, Olive!

[@vanessaarzate]

Such a great talk! So many gems mentioned about recovery. Thank you guys for the work you do!! 🙏🙌 💛

[@everybodyhasabrain]

Thanks, Vanessa!

[@arfajmind2984]

Thaaaank you a lot for sharing this ❤️❤️💗💗💜

[@everybodyhasabrain]

:)

[@el1ana115]

:D

[@MizzFujin]

Nova what UK based OCD therapists/resources would you recommend??

[@everybodyhasabrain]

I don't think Nova is active on social media anymore but OCD UK is a charity in the UK that can direct you towards resources: www.ocduk.org/

[@maitreyentertainment3554]

Hey you are doing a great job but I have one doubt on false memory my doubt is that these false memories which produces guilt shame regret or can cause any harm can happen at age? And does these memories happens only when we are in depression stress or we already have OCD or we have eye witness any accident or crime or in generally also when we absolutely fine these false memories of guilt and shame can occur

[@joshuabyrd4646]

So I got hocd maybe two weeks ago first it was hocd then that created false memory hocd! so if I block thoughts of my false memory hocd the images and flashes start coming from the regular hocd which keeps me thinking my whole identity was a lie

[@everybodyhasabrain]

Trying to "block thoughts" sounds like there are probably a lot of compulsions going on here. Trying to block a thought would be like trying to block a cloud. I imagine that would be very difficult and only leave you fighting lots of clouds! Thoughts aren't an identity. Thoughts are things I experience. They're like sounds in the street. My identity is not the engine noise of a dump truck driving by. How could my identity be a thought?

[@joshuabyrd4646]

@@everybodyhasabrain great explanation mark gave me relief but everything I think about in the past my just say ya u was gay then it’s very stressful

[@Lorenzo_Marchetti4537]

Amazing interview, amazing people. We appreciate you greatly ❤️

[@everybodyhasabrain]

😁🙌

[@shakyabhattacharjee9100]

Dear Mark. I struggle with the obsession of death- constant intrusion of why I do things as I will die one day? You once said that you also had fear of death. How did you come to terms with fear of death- an inevitable consequence of human fate > I started ERP now and had 4 sessions

[@everybodyhasabrain]

It helped me to keep death close. I recognize that I could do later today or maybe tomorrow. So I don't want to spend my last hours practicing compulsions or not being present for life. When doing ERP exercises, it also helped me to accept that my fears of being poisoned or getting a disease or being attacked had come true. The fear of death is really a fear of losing life. But when we spend time on the fear, we're actually choosing to lose out on life! So the antidote to the fear of death, is to live passionately right now.

[@malymadefamily4916]

Did Nova do erp on her own or with a therapist? I’m seeing a therapist but I’m scared of getting a reaction like she did when I tell her about my false memory ocd that’s breaking me.

[@kristymarie6065]

I’ve had pure o for over 15yrs. I mainly have intrusive thoughts that cause severe anxiety. I hadn’t a bad episode in 15yrs .It just came back worse than ever and between the anxiety and non stop thoughts. It came take me weeks to get over one intrusive thought and then I think I’m ok and another intrusive thought comes in and sticks for weeks. This time it’s been 4 months of this. Is it normal for it to just keep going. How do you stop that cycle?

[@everybodyhasabrain]

Something that I found very helpful was recognizing that "getting over" an intrusive thought, usually means we're doing lots of compulsions. We're not actually getting over it. That's the stuff that's fueling the cycle, which is why the brain just throws up another intrusive thought. It's like any addiction: chasing relief from the withdrawal is what guarantees more withdrawal. The compulsions can be mental, and this video explains more about mental compulsions: kzbin.info/www/bejne/d6Oto6WDlL2Ueqc But I'd also look at external compulsions that seem "normal", but are teaching the brain to do more of this stuff.

[@kristymarie6065]

@@everybodyhasabrain thank you

[@FloridaSprings12]

This was good and she’s knowledgeable. Wish she would yield to you when you gestured to speak though.

[@persevere6326]

Trauma........Very typical prerequisite to ocd OCD seems to actually be ptsd manifested... And she is correct... the ocd tried to help....... in the child’s mind

[@everybodyhasabrain]

I don't find any major distinction between PTSD and OCD. They are just terms given to describe behaviors we're doing as a reaction to unwanted experiences, uncertainty, pain etc. Whether those experiences are entirely imagined in our heads, or they're real experiences that happened to us, we can bring compassion to those experiences and explore new ways of interacting with them.