Real Event OCD | 10 Treatment Tips

OCD and Anxiety

19 Apr 202110:26

Summary

TLDRThis video script addresses the struggle of individuals with Real Event OCD, offering 10 practical tips to help retrain the brain and manage intrusive thoughts. It emphasizes understanding personal values, focusing on the present, and recognizing OCD as the underlying issue. The script encourages self-compassion, avoiding rumination, and seeking specialized therapy that includes exposure and response prevention techniques. It also highlights the importance of accepting uncertainty and living life without the need for certainty.

Takeaways

🔍 Real Event OCD can cause individuals to fixate on past events, even minor ones, and feel compelled to address them, despite the impossibility of rectification.
🤯 The intrusive thoughts associated with Real Event OCD can lead to extreme anxiety, fear, and guilt, consuming one's life and causing distress.
🧭 To combat Real Event OCD, use obsessions as a guide to understand personal values and what matters most in life, then take active steps towards them in the present.
📝 Make a list of life areas that are neglected due to OCD's interference, and use this list as motivation to refocus on what truly matters.
💡 Each time an urge to perform a compulsion arises, reflect on whether giving in will bring you closer to or further from your desired self.
🚫 Recognize that OCD is the issue, not the past event, and use a visible reminder to keep this perspective in mind.
🙏 Practice self-compassion by acknowledging your suffering and offering yourself kindness without reassurance or indulging in compulsions.
💭 Understand that thoughts and emotions are transient; let them come and go without trying to suppress or eliminate them.
🤔 Rumination is a form of compulsion that should be ignored, as it only serves to keep you trapped in a cycle of unproductive thinking.
🤷‍♂️ Accept the possibility that your scary thoughts might be right, but more importantly, learn to live with uncertainty and not be held back by the need for certainty.
🩺 Seek professional treatment for OCD, specifically from therapists who specialize in exposure and response prevention and practice acceptance and commitment therapy.
🔗 Find a specialist or access resources through organizations like the International OCD Foundation, and consider online courses for exposure and response prevention training.

Q & A

What is Real Event OCD and how does it affect a person's life?
-Real Event OCD is a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder where a person becomes consumed by a past event, constantly ruminating over it and feeling the need to rectify it, even if it's impossible. It can lead to extreme anxiety, fear, and a significant disruption in daily life.
How can understanding one's obsessions help in dealing with Real Event OCD?
-Understanding one's obsessions can reveal core values and what matters most in life. This self-awareness can guide individuals to focus on their present values and take active steps towards them, rather than being consumed by past events.
What is the significance of making a list of neglected aspects in life due to OCD?
-Creating a list of neglected aspects helps to identify areas of life that are being affected by the focus on past events. It serves as a reminder and motivation to reengage with what truly matters and to move forward with life goals.
Why is it important to question the urge to perform compulsions in Real Event OCD?
-Questioning the urge to perform compulsions helps to determine whether giving in to these thoughts will bring one closer to or further away from their desired self. It's a powerful tool to break the cycle of compulsive behaviors.
How can a visible reminder help in managing Real Event OCD?
-A visible reminder that OCD is the issue, not the past event, can help shift focus from past experiences to the present. It serves as a constant reassurance that the past event is not as significant as the OCD makes it seem.
What is the role of self-compassion in dealing with Real Event OCD?
-Self-compassion involves acknowledging one's suffering and offering kindness without reassurance. It helps to counteract the negative thoughts that one does not deserve kindness and should continue to suffer.
Why should one not attempt to get rid of thoughts or emotions associated with OCD?
-Thoughts and emotions are natural and will pass on their own. Trying to get rid of them can be counterproductive. Instead, redirecting attention to important aspects of life can help in moving forward without waiting for emotions to subside.
How does rumination act as a compulsion in Real Event OCD?
-Rumination is a form of compulsion that keeps individuals trapped in a cycle of problem-solving and replaying past situations. It prevents them from living in the present and engaging with life as it is.
What does it mean to accept that scary thoughts might actually happen in the context of OCD?
-Accepting that scary thoughts might happen means embracing uncertainty and not striving for certainty that doesn't exist. It's about living life with the understanding that one may never know for sure, which can be liberating.
Why is seeking treatment important for individuals struggling with Real Event OCD?
-Seeking treatment is crucial as it provides access to evidence-based therapies like exposure and response prevention, which can help retrain the brain and alleviate the symptoms of OCD. It's important to find a therapist who specializes in OCD.
What are some of the specific therapies recommended for treating Real Event OCD?
-Exposure and response prevention, acceptance and commitment therapy, and cognitive-behavioral therapy are recommended for treating Real Event OCD. It's important that the therapist specializes in these areas to ensure effective treatment.

Outlines

00:00

🔄 Coping with Real Event OCD

This paragraph discusses the intrusive nature of Real Event OCD, where past events resurface with intense emotions and obsessive thoughts. The speaker suggests using these obsessions as a guide to understand one's values and to take active steps towards them in the present. The focus is on living in the moment rather than being consumed by the past, and the importance of recognizing and addressing what truly matters in life is emphasized.

05:02

📝 Strategies for Managing Real Event OCD

The speaker outlines ten strategies to help individuals with Real Event OCD. These include using obsessions to uncover core values, making a list of neglected life aspects due to OCD, questioning the necessity of compulsions, recognizing OCD as the issue rather than past events, practicing self-compassion, allowing thoughts and emotions to come and go without interference, disengaging from rumination, accepting uncertainty, seeking appropriate treatment, and ensuring the therapist specializes in OCD with exposure and response prevention techniques.

10:04

🤔 The Perils of Rumination in OCD

This paragraph highlights rumination as a compulsive behavior that deserves no attention. The speaker emphasizes the importance of not allowing OCD to hijack one's focus and suggests that the obsession with past events is a form of rumination that should be ignored. The paragraph ends with a humorous note on the speaker's struggle to pronounce 'Prudovisky' and a reiteration of the need to banish rumination from one's life.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡OCD

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a mental health condition characterized by recurring, unwanted thoughts (obsessions) and repetitive behaviors (compulsions). In the video, OCD is the central theme, with the speaker discussing 'real event OCD,' a subtype where individuals obsess over past events and feel compelled to resolve them, which is integral to understanding the video's message about managing intrusive thoughts and compulsive behaviors.

💡Intrusive Thoughts

Intrusive thoughts are unwanted, involuntary ideas that cause distress or anxiety. The video script describes how these thoughts can suddenly resurface and dominate one's mind, causing significant distress. The speaker uses the script to illustrate how individuals with real event OCD can be consumed by these thoughts, which is a key aspect of the disorder.

💡Compulsions

Compulsions are repetitive behaviors performed in response to an obsession or according to rigid rules. In the context of the video, compulsions are the actions taken by individuals with OCD in an attempt to alleviate the anxiety caused by their intrusive thoughts, such as checking, ruminating, or reassurance-seeking behaviors.

💡Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP)

Exposure and Response Prevention is a psychological therapy technique used to treat OCD. It involves gradually facing the source of anxiety (exposure) while resisting the urge to perform compulsive behaviors (response prevention). The speaker mentions ERP as an evidence-based treatment for real event OCD, emphasizing its importance in the video's discussion of managing the disorder.

💡Values

Values refer to the principles or standards of behavior that are important to an individual. The video script encourages viewers to use their obsessions as a guide to understanding their core values and to take active steps towards living according to these values in the present, rather than being consumed by the past.

💡Rumination

Rumination is the process of repeatedly thinking over the same thoughts, feelings, or events without finding a solution or resolution. In the script, rumination is identified as a compulsive behavior that the speaker advises against, as it only serves to perpetuate the cycle of anxiety and obsession.

💡Self-Compassion

Self-compassion involves being kind to oneself in instances of pain or failure, rather than being harshly self-critical. The video emphasizes the importance of practicing self-compassion as a means of acknowledging one's suffering and providing a moment of kindness without reassurance, which is a healthier approach than falling into the cycle of compulsions.

💡Uncertainty

Uncertainty refers to the state of being unsure or lacking knowledge or information. The speaker in the video discusses the importance of accepting uncertainty and living with it as a part of life, rather than seeking constant reassurance or trying to problem-solve every detail, which is a key aspect of overcoming OCD.

💡Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is a form of psychotherapy that helps individuals develop psychological flexibility. It is mentioned in the video as a helpful therapy for OCD, focusing on accepting what is out of one's control and committing to actions that align with one's values, which is crucial for managing the disorder.

💡Specialist

A specialist in the context of the video refers to a mental health professional who has advanced knowledge and experience in treating OCD, particularly using evidence-based methods like ERP and ACT. The speaker advises viewers to seek treatment from a specialist to ensure they receive the most effective care for their OCD.

💡Core Values

Core values are the fundamental beliefs and principles that guide an individual's actions and decisions. The video script encourages individuals with OCD to uncover and align their actions with their core values as a way to move forward in life, rather than being stuck in past regrets or obsessions.

Highlights

Real event OCD can resurface forgotten memories and cause persistent rumination.

The brain may attribute undue significance to minor past events, leading to guilt and anxiety.

OCD can hijack one's life, consuming it with thoughts of past events that seem in need of rectification.

The video offers 10 tips from Anna Prudovisky to help with real event OCD.

OCD often targets what matters most to individuals, which can be used as a guide to understanding oneself.

Intrusive thoughts and emotions can be repurposed to uncover core values and motivate present action.

Creating a list of life aspects neglected due to OCD can help refocus on what truly matters.

When faced with compulsions, consider whether giving in will align with personal values and goals.

A visible reminder can help differentiate between OCD and past events, reinforcing that OCD is the issue.

Practicing self-compassion involves acknowledging suffering without falling into the trap of reassurance compulsions.

Allowing thoughts and emotions to come and go without resistance can help redirect focus to the present.

Rumination is a form of compulsion that should be disengaged from to prevent feeding into OCD's cycle.

Accepting the possibility of scary thoughts coming true is a step towards living with uncertainty.

Seeking treatment is crucial, despite OCD's lies about its ineffectiveness or potential judgment.

Finding a therapist who specializes in OCD and uses exposure and response prevention is key to recovery.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy alone may not be sufficient; a more holistic approach is recommended.

Resources such as the IOCDF website and online courses can provide further support and guidance.