Or something. I know life is not a "who has it worst" contest. But some days I read other OCD-ers blogs and I can't help but think to myself, self? You're worried about getting a cold. Look at the all the crap your peers are dealing with in their lives and suck it up!
Now I also know that OCD takes our brains in crazy directions, and I can be more stressed at the thought of a cold than some people without OCD would be at actual tragedy, but writing that just makes the comparison look even worse.
Just another incentive to fight back, I suppose.
Posts
My Apologies!
4 years ago
Never feel silly for having feelings, no matter what they are. We are all entitled to our feel the way we feel. There is no such thing as a silly feeling as there is always SOMETHING behind it creating that feeling. I myself can get pretty worked up over a cold. (Some get seriously worked up when their Blackberry malfunctions. I won't judge.) ; ) We just figure out what the feeling is, where it's coming from, and plot our course accordingly. The problem with OCD and PTSD feelings is that they are usually more complicated and don't always have a lot to do with the actual event causing them. It makes it all more difficult to figure out and deal with, but it does NOT make them silly.
ReplyDeleteHope you feel better soon. : )
I'll feel silly with you. But it's not as simple as just following the advice to "suck it up." I know I've tried and I'm pretty sure you have, too. So please have some sympathy for yourself, and I won't feel as bad having sympathy for myself. :)
ReplyDeleteI totally get that. It seems to me that so many times, we can read other people's blogs, and think we're so much less than they are - their home is spotless, their children are perfectly behaved, they are gourmet cooks - and all this while donating time and money to save children in third world countries! lol
ReplyDeleteBut it can totally go the other way too - it can make us feel bad because we have seemingly so little to worry about - yet we can't seem to pull ourselves out of our funk. :)
I have to always remind myself that whatever I read on someone's blog is probably heavily edited - written to be exciting to read. I mean, if you think about it, what do we tend to share? Stories that are either way awesome, or way awful - those are the stories that keep people reading.
But I appreciate your honest and open approach to dealing with OCD. There are so many times that I read your blog and am just encouraged to keep on keeping on - even when it's something small like passing the garbage can and feeling contaminated. Even though something may seem small an insignificant, no personal struggle that we go through is insignificant. Good or bad, it has a way of stretching our boundaries, pulling us out of our comfort zones, and making us grow.
Thanks again for writing. I can't tell you how much you inspire me.
Thanks for your kind comments everyone. OCD bloggers are good people!
ReplyDeleteI always think of what my therapist said about ocd using the same nervous system as everything else--it feels scary, whatever your fears are--it's not a "fake" scary. Otherwise exposures would be easy. . .and you've rocked so many exposures!
ReplyDelete"more stressed at the thought of a cold than some people without OCD would be at actual tragedy" - I think mental illness counts as an 'actual tragedy'! Although I feel that same way sometimes, feeling silly that I'm afraid of 'nothing', most of the time I realize that my fear is very real, and as disabling as any major illness can be. It's hard for us to respect our needs, and our illnesses, but we have the right to that respect. Hope I can practice what I preach :)
ReplyDeleteAdventures in Anxiety Land
A cold DOES make you just feel blecky. But in our culture we're supposed to tough them out by taking a pill. If there were a pill that would get rid of those dratted colds, it would be on the evening news as a medical breakthru!
ReplyDeleteSo allow yourself to feel yucky, and when it's over be glad.
But i know the feeling. I sit and hate having ocd and then i think of all the worse stuff in the world and ask myself which of those i'd like to have instead. And the problem is that i want NONE of them. i just want to be normal, like the rest of the people i see. (of course i don't really know how normal their lives are either.) And i think that's an ok feeling to have...as long as it doesn't turn into depression. We;re human. Nobody wants illness, war etc. And then it's time to just keep on keepin' on.
-karin @ http://myjourneythruocd.blogspot.com