OCD IS LIKE THE SCHOOL BULLY

Many people don’t realize the enormous amount of mental and physical energy OCD uses and how it can deplete bodily resources. OCD is like the school bully who torments the same person day after day because he gets the reaction he wants, which is fear. Your fear makes him feel more powerful. In the past, I have often been a victim of this OCD bully. Mentally fighting him left me both mentally dejected and physically exhausted. This tormenter can interfere with eating, sleeping, working, as well as interacting with others.

One simple way to conserve energy when one is experiencing severe OCD is to just stop fighting it. Give up. Ignore your OCD bully. The more we fight him, the more powerful he will become, because anything we give our energy, attention, and focus, will only get stronger.

Accept that you feel this way at this moment and logically say to yourself that you are in the midst of OCD and that biochemical imbalance is causing this. Tell yourself that you will get through this and eventually you will feel better. Realize that you have more power than you think in this situation, and you don’t have to be a victim of this bully. It is only your past conditioning that has set up this attack. Do your best to ignore your obsession (which I know from personal experience is very hard to do, but with practice, really works.) Then try to refocus your physical and mental energy elsewhere. If possible, think of something pleasant. A past pleasant experience is just as good as a present one because your mind doesn’t know the difference. Take a walk, clean a room, make a phone call, take a bath, listen to music, eat something delicious, see a movie. Make a conscious effort to do anything that will make you feel better. What is important is the emotion that is projected. If you can manage to feel anything pleasant, it will immediately give you some relief. If you can be aware of this and practice doing it, it will make a huge difference in your life.

Refocusing your attention elsewhere and giving your OCD the least amount of effort is just like standing up to the bully and taking away his power. Ignore him and he usually shrinks away. I hope understanding this will bring you some relief.