OCD is setting you up to fail. That's right! Now that you know this, you you'll stop following OCD right.
Problem solved! Thank you, thank you! My time is up! That's all you needed to hear right. Well, it's not that easy. But don't fret! I'm going to teach you how to succeed with your OCD.

First I'm going to tell you about Sarah and think about your OCD fear and relate it to what she experiences. I'm going to excentuate different key words for to pay attention to.

One day, Sarah was driving home from work when she thought she might have hit someone with her car. She couldn't remember for sure if she had hit someone or not. The thought of hitting someone and not knowing it was eating her alive. She couldn't focus on anything else and felt a wave of anxiety wash over her.

Sarah knew that the LOGICAL thing to do would be to continue driving home and checking with the authorities if she had any information that she had hit someone, but her OCD took over. She couldn't shake the feeling that she had hit someone and needed to know for sure.

Sarah made a U-turn and drove back to the spot where she THOUGHT she might have hit someone. She checked the area thoroughly, but there was no sign of anyone being hit. Still, the doubt and anxiety lingered. She couldn't shake the thought that she might have hit someone and not realized it.

OCD story of someone with OCD

Sarah decided to drive back to the same spot several times that evening, each time checking thoroughly for any sign of an accident. She even went as far as getting out of her car to check under for any damage, but there was nothing. Despite this, her anxiety and doubt persisted.

The next day, Sarah called the police and asked if there were any reports of a hit-and-run accident in the area. They CONFIRMED that there had been no such reports. Sarah felt a moment of relief, but her OCD still caused her to continue to check the area repeatedly.

Sarah's OCD had taken over and consumed her thoughts, causing her to act in a way that was not rational or logical. She KNEW that she had not hit anyone, but her fear and need for certainty were so strong that she couldn't let it go.

Did you catch the important keywords here?

Did you see how Sarah's OCD set her up for failure. She knew logically she didn't hit someone. She had a thought and followed the thought. It persisted, which means it's important right. Even after the police confirmed there is not a problem, she couldn't shake it. She even KNEW it was irational, yet she couldn't stop the thought and the actions.

OCD says trust your gut

Ultimately, what we learn from this is that whoever said "trust your feelings" didn't have OCD. This is where the OCD brain loves to live. I'm going to make you feel something, make you doubt, and then make you do behaviors to reinforce that what I told you is accurate.

As Admiral Ackbar says...It's a trap!

It tough to make a change because because the OCD brain is designed to protect.

Some see OCD as your enemy, while others see it as protecting you...it's just not doing a very good job. Researchers from Michigan Medicine gathered 500 patients with OCD and after various brain scans discovered that the OCD brain responds too much to errors and not as much to stop signals.

Simply said, what this means, is that the part of your brain that is designed to tell you what is dangerous or not is malfunctioning. It wants to protect you, that's our natural instinct, react to threats, fix them, move forward. So then why doesn't logic work? That's the trap right that is setting you up for failure.

But you're not falling for these traps and instead are going to set yourself up for success. Do you know how you're going to do this? Dun dun dun dun....with exposure and response prevention. No, you didn't just tell me to face my fears!

Here's what you do. An exposure can be anything you're doing to not give into the unfounded threat. So for Sarah, she had the thought and anxiety that she hit someone. Guess what the exposure is? Keep on driving while say...maybe, I did, maybe I didn't. With a big smile. I guess I'll never know for sure. That is success. We go against the grain and choose to not respond to a guess.

So for your OCD, are you afraid of what you THINK you know, or are you afraid of a complete guess. If I had to wager, you're afraid of the guesses, the things you don't know for sure. So your job is to keep them there! Feel anxious, have the thoughts, and not respond to it. Choose to not know everything.

When there is a real threat...meaning, something you know for sure...you can respond. But until then, don't. Let me give you an example:

I walk by the tub where my child is taking a bath and have the thought, is that poop...I feel anxious, it feels real, my body is saying to clean, sanitize, wash hands, get the child out, scrub them good, just in case.

Vs.

I walk by the tub and my child is holding their poop in their hands. (True story...happened last week)

Which one of these is one we react to? Do I think I'm going to sit there and say....you know, I'm not sure if I need to wash the tub or my child. Let me sit here and ruminate about it for a while. NOOO....there is not a single shred of doubt.

Now that's what I look for. If you doubt, wonder, question, let's say it's OCD. If you know 1000% let's fix. This is what I teach in my online Master your OCD course. Not just teach, but guide you through OCD treatment step by step. 42 videos, worksheets, the works. Go preview it for free, I'm going to put a link in the description or you can go to ocd-anxiety.com

Soooo, don't let your OCD set you up for failure. You're stronger than that, now you know it's tricks! What will you do today to teach your OCD who's the boss?

You also need to go watch this video right here on the 3 warning signs to look for to notice your OCD better and catch it in its tracks.

Thanks so much for watching and I'll see you next time