Having personal experience of anxiety and OCD I can relate to how these conditions can consume your thoughts, feel overwhelming, cause distress and make life feel unmanageable.
Understanding Anxiety
Anxiety often creeps up on us overtime, it shows up as a feeling of constant worry, racing thoughts, a sense that something bad is going to happen. Sometimes, it can be triggered by a distressing or stressful life event.
Do you feel on edge, nervous or worried? Are you stuck in patterns that you can’t seem to break?
Anxiety can manifest in a number of ways, each with its own triggers and symptoms. Some different anxiety disorders are
Social Anxiety – Intense fear or avoidance of social situations due to fear or judgement or embarrassment.
Panic Disorder – Sudden attacks of intense fear and panic. These attacks are accompanied by physical symptoms.
GAD Generalised Anxiety Disorder – Ongoing excessive worry about everyday issues, feelings of being on edge all the time.
Health Anxiety – Fear that ourselves or someone we love will become ill.
Phobias – Intense, irrational fears of specific objects or situations that pose little or no danger.
Separation Anxiety – Can affect both adults and children, causing excessive anxiety when being separated from people who are regarded as close attachment.
Understanding OCD
OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) involves intrusive unwanted thoughts that make you feel driven to perform a behaviour to reduce anxiety, create a sense of safety and prevent something bad from happening. Compulsions temporarily reduce anxiety but they strengthen the cycle making intrusive thoughts more powerful.
Common OCD themes are
Contamination – An intense fear of germs or illness. Compulsions can include excessive cleaning of self or environment or avoidance of situations perceived as unclean or unsafe.
Checking – Repeatedly checking that appliances are turned off, doors are locked, retracing steps or driving routes. These steps are performed by the fear of causing harm or disaster.
Harm – Intrusive thoughts of harming oneself or others. The thoughts are extremely distressing, the sufferer often feels disgust and extreme fear.
Relationship – Excessive doubt about one’s feelings in the relationship, suitability of the partner, difficulty trusting and believing in how their partner feels. Constantly seeking reassurance.
Sexual Orientation – Intrusive thoughts about being gay, leading to compulsive behaviours, avoidance and reassurance seeking.
Counting – The feeling of being compelled to count things or perform actions a specific number of times, the belief often centres around preventing harm or bringing good luck.
Each subtype of OCD, whilst different in their manifestation, all have the underlying cycle of obsessions and compulsions whether these be physical or psychological.
Treatment: CBT for Anxiety and OCD
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is an evidence based treatment for both Anxiety and OCD. During therapy with me, we will
Tools taken away from therapy, when implemented into every day life, can help to reduce the intensity your anxiety, reduce the frequency, in turn making it easier to manage.
Treatment: ERP for OCD
Exposure and Response Prevention involves slowly introducing exposure to your fears, this is always at a slow pace to aid personal belief and evidence that you are safe if you resist engaging with your OCD compulsions. Facing thoughts, images or situations that trigger your anxiety will overtime help you to reduce the fear attached. Exposure builds your confidence in your own ability to tolerate uncertainty, reclaim head space, time and energy.
Reach out for support in making your Anxiety or OCD more manageable
If you are based in St Albans or Leighton Buzzard or live in the surrounding areas of Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire, I invite you to a safe therapy space to work through what’s happening for you, learn how to make positive changes to make your anxiety and OCD feel more manageable and take back control of your life.
You are not alone! Anxiety and OCD are more common than you think, when we are in the depths of overwhelm and every day feels consumed with daily battles we can feel alone and isolated. I can assure you, you are not alone and things can and will get better. Email me at therapy@timetotalkcounselling.com to arrange a telephone consultation where we can discuss what’s happening for you and how I can help.
