My fellow OCD friends!
My name is Nicholas Pannella, I have posted a few times in the groups. I recently did a piece on my top ten tips for beginning recovery but today I am going to write one slightly more personal to me. Somatic OCD is what I suffered from, still do, but not to the degree as before. Somatic OCD can be tricky because it’s in you. You breath, you salivate, you swallow, you blink, you feel sensations on your body, it’s normal. You are not broken. Here are my top ten tips for beginning recovery and recovering from Somatic OCD.
- Avoidance is never the answer. Ever. I spent so much time avoiding and distracting myself from this OCD it started to blur the lines of what was reality and what wasn’t. You hear this a lot that distraction is the key for this. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Healthy distraction like work, exercise, nature, spending time with family is a healthy part of life. But if you go about your day with, “I must distract myself all the time,” you will drive this fear deeper.
- The reason you’re stuck is because of your fear. Whatever your particular somatic obsession may be, it has always been there. Always? Yes, always. We have what is called the autonomic nervous system which operates these bodily functions for us. We don’t need to interfere with our natural systems jobs. You are currently stuck because you have a fear related to your obsession. A common one for all of us is, “I am going to be stuck forever.” This couldn’t be farther from the truth. These are called egodystonic thoughts and they are just forms of intrusive thoughts. A vital part of beginning recovery is figuring out what irrational fears are attached to your OCD. Mine was, and still is, the fear of being stuck forever.
- Stop comparing Somatic OCD suffering between each other and other subtypes of OCD. This does absolutely nothing. I see this very frequently, “Somatic OCD is the toughest OCD to recover from”, “breathing is worse”, “swallowing is worse”. Every OCD has its own difficulties. Every OCD has something easier than others, but none of that matters. Comparative suffering only fuels the victim mentality and is not a pathway towards recovery.
- Stop looking for an easy way out. Something that makes this particular subset interesting is it’s always there. It’s always in you. Running from this will always make it worse. I spent so much time looking for ways to make this go away. It’s not going away, ever. If these sensations went away that means your autonomic nervous system doesn’t work and you’re probably dead. Get comfortable with the sensation you’re afraid of.
- Lean into the panic and anxiety. I can’t tell you how crucial this is. This is vital for any OCD, let alone just somatic sensations. Feel it, embrace it, let it knock you down. This will show your body you’re not afraid of these sensations.
- You have a 100% track record (I stole this saying from Rob). I stole it because it hits home so much for me. It’s almost like a grand-slam in the bottom of the 9th. (Yankees, of course!). No matter how afraid you are, no matter how anxious you are, no matter your fear, you’ve made it here. You’ve made it every day, every hour, every second, you’re here! That’s so awesome, isn’t it?! “But Nick, I suffered so badly!” You’re probably right, but here you are. You made it. You can keep on doing what is necessary to recover in order to bring your perspectives that you wouldn’t even be aware of if you didn’t go through OCD recovery.
- Be prepared for your sensations to potentially switch around a lot. I mean, a lot. Once you really start recovering your brain will say, “Wait, wait a minute here, why isn’t he/she afraid of this anymore? Boom, lets change it up.” This may or may not happen to you. It happened and is happening to me. This is where unconditional life-acceptance comes into play. Acceptance is huge here. It’s very easy to get discouraged because you felt accomplished by conquering one theme and it hooks onto another. We have all been here! I promise. Let this part of recovery run its course, it’s almost expected. You can do this!
- Bring back behaviors/create new behaviors that will lead you to recovery. If you were extremely outgoing before this took over, you can get back to that, and you should. OCD loves to change who you are, it thrives on that. If you are making drastic lifestyle changes to cater towards avoidance, change that. This is going to be very hard at first but you can, and should push through. Behavioral changes are a massive part of REBT/CBT therapy. This therapeutic approach isn’t strictly intellectual, it holds vital behavioral components to change who we are for the better. This can lead to much healthier habits and get you back on track when you fall off. FYI, it is okay to fall off. Everyone does. We are just humans who make mistakes.
- Patience, patience, patience. Oh boy, do I struggle with this. I am the king of instant gratification. Fortunately, I am changing for the better. You might have to force this, I know I do. You have to think, “How is this decision going to benefit me in the long run?” This is going to be very uncomfortable for some of you, but it is the only way. Forget OCD, delaying immediate gratification is such an important tool for every aspect of life. Starting to see how OCD recovery can make you into a much stronger and rational human? I hope so! There are going to be times where you “think” you can’t take one more sensation, but guess what, you can. You have been handling it just like I mentioned before. Patience is key in all recovery processes.
Friends I really hope this finds you. I wish you the best. Trust in yourself, work hard, persist through tough times, and recovery is possible!