Let me say something to anyone who came across this video. Rob has the best OCD content which you can possibly find. He has been helping me for a couple of months and I really moved foward with his help. I have Sensorimotor OCD related to eye discomfort and Fear of fear. Thanks Rob for everything you´ve been doing. God bless you
Hi Pedro, the eye discomfort is one that triggers me 2. It has been lingering on in the background for about 8y but now that i got under most off my fears and came of meds ocd is turning up the heat on sensorimotor. Off course i need to get back on my meds to get rid of this feeling (thats what ocd wants). But i am in the driving seat not ocd. It can rear its ugly head when it wants and i'll kiss it.
I'm back here after "having" this condition for 10 months now. And I have to say to all the people that are worried about having this condition. That the sentence in this video: "If I wasn't bothered by it, would it still be a problem?" Is the wisest thing I've heard about this. It's 100% true! Acceptance is the ultimate key! I notice it much less often than I used to. And most importantly, I notice it without fear. You will just get used to it! The beggining was the scariest part, but with time, it just vanishes. Don't fight it and accept it!
hi, i’ve been having it for a month now. I’m really worried about having it for a long time because i’m just begging to get my life back. do you think i will have it as long as you did?
@@msajidgamez734 I'm good! You may not believe it but this conditon is just a memory for me now. I really accepted it and today I rarely think about breathing. I just don't care anymore (my mind got bored of it I guess). Sometimes I notice it but don't remind myself about the obsession/anxiety I had. In the past I would think it's impossible but in reality it is! You can notice the sensation without even realizing that you just noticed it! I have no fear of it anymore, it's a part of me and my memories now, and because of that I just don't notice it as often. Now an important part. There is a difference between this obsesion being something new to you and it being something that happened in the past. If you had it alrady, it means you have an experience today. So it's not as scary as it being something new. It's just a memory for me, I don't even concider it as a bad memory (shocking, but I feel that way). Acceptance is the key. Sorry for late reply, it's not my main channel. God bless!
@@thewitchereye637 thanks for your response... actually I dont know why but my YT acc got blocked and i got it back just today.. and i read your msg.. brother can u plz answer my these questions? 1. Brother what actually acceptance is ? Everybody talked about acceptance here,? 2.and brother are u experiencing relapses now or u fully recovered? I saw many people who say that they had it from years and they get relapses amd they never recovered from it? I am confused after listening these comments.. 3# i know this qs is silly that is it can become addiction? Means can a person love to suffer from it or doesn't want to cure from it? Or it can become an addiction? I hope that u will reply..plz sir plz
I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for this video. I found it today by coincidence. 2-4 years ago I struggled with a panic disorder with the fear of panic itself and shortly after the sensorimotor ocd with breathing and blinking followed. On the internet I have never been able to find out what I was suffering from until I found an article two weeks ago about sensorimotor ocd and this video today. You basically described my everyday thoughts and fears 1:1 even to the slightest detail, especially the part with "I'm an exception" "I'm different than everyone else" "with me it is the worst case because I'm mentally not strong enough, I can never be happy again". TODAY I experienced the least amount of distress in the past FOUR YEARS while actively focussing on my sensorimotor functions because of the things you said... It is not exhausting. It is not hurting. It is JUST the fear of the thought itself. thank. you. !
Yo, about breathing. Like how did you breath properly? Because i usually feel air hunger. Is this part of the discomfort that i should take? It feels like i dont know how to breath
@@xdxdd7402yea it feels similar to this for me. I’m able to feel quite a bit better for a few days but then I start manually breathing again and it goes back to being stuck in the manual breathing cycle. R u feeling better now?
I had a really hard couple months with anxiety and depression and I was feeling suicidal. Then randomly over a month ago like a light switch I noticed “why am I so aware of my breathing” and I’ve been stuck ever since. I have a 10 month old daughter and I want to get better for her. Feels like this thing has sucked all the joy out of my life. Never had ocd before so this has been terrifying, but I’ve watched this video and other videos on the channel and really trying to apply what I’ve learned. Just wish I could have 1 hour break from it. Praying for everyone else going through something similar 🙏🏻 There’s got to be a way out.
This is exactly me. But mine started with the OCD and because I feel it’s never going to end that’s caused me a lot of depression and anxiety I’m currently struggling with :(( I hope you’re doing better now tho!
@@munnidey7038 I’ve never been happier! It took me a little while to shake it but I finally did. I just had to force my self to find things that distracted me and I slowly started to get better and better. I haven’t dealt with it for probably 8-9 months now!!! It does get better just hang in there:(( because I know it was one of the hardest things for me to ever deal with
Your video is absolutely right, it’s all mind over matter. Had blinking for around 6 months and just eventually went away naturally. The key is, I didn’t stop thinking about it - but I definitely stopped worrying about it. It can seem very scary especially at the start but once you overcome it you’ll realise how silly it was to worry over something like that. Absolutely everyone is able to 100% break free from this it’s all in your head.
I love you for this comment man, I broke free of both saliva, tinnitus and breathing ocd but the blinking has stuck with me now for the longest time I've ever experienced any of these sensatiions
I can't really thank you enough. I am very happy that I can finally hear from someone who understands what I am going through. My sensorimotor ocd is mainly triggered when I doing something important that needs focusing such as answering exam questions or paying attention in lectures.
You've given me hope that I can overcome my sensorimotor OCD involving saliva. I've had it for 2 weeks and you've helped me figure out that it IS driven by fear.
I think people also fear watching some videos because they fear they will hear about a new sensation to obscess about 1st of all this video is great watch it completely you will feel lot more confident as I did And I am absolutely free of my sensation I don't feel stressed at all with them 2nd - the key to successful treatment is to actually be fearless of whatever sensations are you don't need to make them quite you need to go as close as possible to the sensation Eg if u worry about breathing force yourself to notice it , initially it will be challenging also bit scary but with time your brain will figure out what the crap man it's nothing It takes time but not jst one but bring everything you can fear into your mind and jst let it be there it loses power Love u Robert
Thank you so, so much! Few years ago it seemed like no one is ever gonna cover this topic. This is a fear of fear, indeed. Pro-level explanation. Certainly gives hope✨
The beat video explaining my situation few days back i went to my village and i was facing hyper acidity and due to it i was focusing on my breathing and now i am facing ocd of breathing and you explained it the same way i am feeling. I like the thing you said that this all is just the fear that is driving you and now i am started to accept it that this is not a problem.
Hello man, for the past 2 months or so I have been dealing with sensorimotor ocd, it all started with saliva then I looked up and got scared about all the type of other ocd there were, so I started thinking about my blinking, i looked it up and idk there's little information on it, but i watched a Ted talk "how to stop feeling anxious about anxiety" or smith like that, it helped me a lot with dealing with fear, and this video right here helped me a lot, I haven't feel scared for like the past week or so, it helps a lot to not fear it, it is really driven by fear and you are saying some really wise words, so thank you very much for just making a video out of it, and if someone struggling with this reads this, just know it gets better and you are doing the right thing looking for help, i really recommend the Ted talk video, explained very well on how I felt while dealing with this.. you just need to be kind to yourself, and accept it, i know the word "accept it" crawls fear but it's true, ignoring it won't fix it but accepting it and just being like ok do ur thing, it'll get boring eventually. Thank you for making this video and you saying there's no ocd cases where there are people un-treatable it's really encouraging so yeah thanks again, talking about it to other people helps a lot, remember there's always someone out there willing to help you, don't lose hope and move forward.
Obsession of the act of thinking has been my hardest. I've been through breathing, heartbeat, vision and feeling stuck in my body. Every part of my body drives me crazy. But this video explains it perfectly. I have a long hard road but he did nail it. And assuming I am too far gone is exactly what Rob just said. Treatment resistance is a lie. No matter how hard. And it is very very hard.
Wow, obsession of the act of thinking is so hard for me too. There are days when it feels impossible to even have conversations without noticing my own speech and wondering “where did it all came from?”
Probably you can try to make it in the “good way”. The key factor is not to get scared. Scary is a feeling you can try not to estimularte scary feeling. It is more rational to make scary and ironical process. For example, imagine intrusive thinking like somebody pushing a gun into you, imagine the gone is a flower with water pressure… make it ironical, make it laughable and the scary will become a kind of innocent feeling. At the end we keep doing all this automatical behaviors day by day. So laugh a little bit about them. All feelings are flowing all the time
I am stuck on this theme! I cannot stop thinking about thinking about my mental health. And I get so scared because I am so distracted and think it will never stop and I'll never be able to think normal/be present again.
@@saulpera2715i refuse to obsess and analyse- answers are never helping. Instead i found very good advice- trying to stop the noticing is compulsion not the noticing:) but damn, its still a tough one sometimes. understanding that it is always fueled by some kind of anxiety helps to overcome it better. It is a very.. how to say… sticky theme cause thinking is alwyas happening …
This video gave me hope. I have never heard someone explain this like this before. Thank you so much, brother! I am working on overcoming this area and feel like I am making progress.
Great video about this subject. I think my hardest thing now is getting myself to really decouple the anxiety with it. I can tell myself all day that I know I’m fine and I can breathe, and even that I know I won’t always feel like this. Yet I still wake up every day immediately thinking, “I wonder if I’ll be thinking about my breathing all day again”
Absolutely Brilliant, you have made it so clear in 13 45 seconds, that I have spent with countless time with therapists, my problem is with constant Breathing, you are a very intelligent man, thankyou for this video
In otherwords the best comment I have ever seen towards this in breathing is, you can not hold your breath forever, therefore you will breath naturally, can you help?
I’ve been very fixated on my breathing for the past 5 days now and it’s very scary and non stop. Not the first time this has happened but I’ve never been diagnosed with OCD. Sometimes I get so anxious and panic cause I feel like I’ll never be able to breath comfortably again. I’m only 15 and I try to explain it to my friends and family but I feel like they don’t understand what I’m trying to say. This definitely helped tho and reading the comments are helping too :)
Me as well but I had to deal with this when I was about your age and then somehow it went away I can’t remember what happened but it did and then I started having this problem again a few weeks ago and I know you and I will recover. Just about taking it slow and working on not letting the fear scare us
@@triston2230 same as you i've been having this problem since like 7 years ago but suddenly it disaaperd for about 2 yrs and i had a panic attack a couple weeks ago and i got worse:( hope we get better soon
@@triston2230 I’ve actually been doing very well the past three weeks, I almost never think about it anymore so hopefully I’ll feel good for another long time anyway!
I am feeling emotional because you have described the very thing I am experiencing right now. It makes so much more sense, and I feel better knowing that I am not alone. Thank you.
Thank you for this! I have OCD with my breathing since 2 weeks. I was COVID positive a month ago. And when I was recovering, I would keep checking my breathing to make sure my lungs are ok. Bad idea! I recovered from COVID, but now I have this. Which in many ways, is worse. I live in fear that this will be my life forever. I hope I recover soon. Your video helped a lot! My best wishes to others who are going through the same.
Mine started a couple months back with the breathing ocd. It came after I had Bells Palsy on one side of my face. It has grown into an everyday thing. It's a million times worse at night when i lay down to the point that i have to remove myself and isolate in the living room where it's cold dark and quite. I get extremely bad anxiety attacks when I feel like I'm unable to take a deep breath. It's causing problems with work and my relationship. I hope that you find help and get through this. It's the worst thing I've ever been through and I'm still in the worst of it.
The is the best video I have ever seen in my life so far, I get on board with the breathing loop and go down in flames 100% debilitating. It really feels like I have figured out the one thing a psychologist can't solve ha u nailed it I love it, subscribed.
i have been dealing with this for over two decades and had never heard of the name for it until yesterday. thank god i know now that something can be done.
Wonderful video. Thank you so much for this. My father had a heart attack and I’m so afraid of having one myself as a 26 year old. I’m learning to not give into avoidance behaviors and to say “fuck it” instead of denying myself the opportunity to live
Hi Rob. I have sensorimotor swallowing ocd. Thank you for covering this rarer problem. It seems things are better for me than the first 6 months when it started and I had no idea what was going on. I'm afraid to ask others questions about their "normal" swallowing because I am afraid they will become aware of their swallowing and then have the same problem as me. Also, people react to you like you are nuts. It is frustrating. After listening to you and this channel, I have realized what happens is I get this strong uncomfortable urge to swallow. Is this "urge" fake and something my brain has fabricated ? I don't recall having this urge before. It is strong. Seems like during the day, I am going about my business and never notice this "urge" until I start thinking... "hey, I haven't thought about my swallowing in a while" then I get this urge. If I don't swallow, it seems like I am holding my breath, and I have to swallow. Seems unnatural to fight it. Then I start thinking I have to go all day with this urge coming up every few minutes, and become hyperaware.
Weatherornot, you are not mad. I have this also. Some days it goes away. Unfortunately I fell two weeks ago and hurt my back and I am struggling with it at the minute.
2020, sensorimotor OCD for 3 days about peeing. 2021, sensorimotor OCD about the fact that I am thinking for 5 days. 2022, sensorimotor OCD about my breathing now !
I get it with speaking, not heard anyone else getting it with that, when I talk I feel very aware about how my lips, tongue and mouth is moving, makes it difficult to talk which then makes me more conscious
I get this with talking too, i become very aware of how i pronounce my s's and worry that i sound slurry! I also get it with breathing, balancing and blinking! Anything i think about really.
@@Welsh35 its really annoying, I used to record myself speaking alot to hear it back which made it worse. Now I have stopped doing that and just try to accept it and that has helped
Thanks for this video. Really struggling with anxiety/depression/ocd blinking. I am one week in to starting my meds and really need some positive vibes!
i have read dozens of books regarding treatment of OCD and anxiety disorders and that too from top Psychologists all over the world (it has become a kind of compulsion) .. but i guess (i might be wrong) this 10min vid is all enough .. i don't know whether i am gonna internalise it and act but this is it ... BOB i hope and also request that you start writing a book 🙏🙏
I have had this for a couple of days now and it is a specially annoying when I’m trying to go to bed at night. I’m only 14 and everybody I seem to ask about it has no idea what the hell I'm talking about. This video did help and I really hope I can get through this. Does anyone have any tips or have a similar story to me ? :)
The key to living with Somatic OCD he mentions at the 10:51 mark, you will miss it if you are not paying close attention. Dr. Jonathon Grayson, who I suspect he has read, also mentions in his book "freedom from OCD, living with uncertainty". I have lived with this type of OCD for 9 years now, and I get on quite successfully (there are flare-ups to be expected.)
@@dalgom9881 you don't beat OCD. you have to get that out of your head right now... shift your thinking. you have to learn to accept that you have it, make friends with it. allow it a seat at the dinner table. as long as you are trying to get free from it, the more respect you are paying it, it will stick around. now, you probably spend 1-2 hours a day thinking about whatever symptom you have, you think it is more, but it probably isn't. here is the key: stick to your schedule and enjoy your activities as much as you possibly can, try to get some enjoyment. DO NOT break your schedule, your OCD will want you to, don't do it. Force yourself to go, but go. you might only get 50% enjoyment out of it, but that is better than getting 0% sitting around screaming and crying at home. It is all about living with uncertainty. Here are my suggestions for you to read: John Grayson, freedom from OCD, living with uncertainty, also read Claire weekes hope and help for your nerves. best of luck to you.
Omg I cannot believe this is actually a thing. I thought I was the only one. Although I am having a hard time telling myself this is ocd. I've never had ocd. When I think of ocd I think of someone who needs to organize things a certain way so they can get a thought out their head. I have been dealing with this for almost a month now where I cannot stop thinking about making eye contact. It's not social anxiety like I feel like I'm being judged, it's more of the act of having to or just the though of the fact that I am aware and thinking about making eye contact. I think about it 24/7 My whole life feels like it's over. I can't enjoy anything. I just want to sleep because it's the only relief I have of not thinking. Is there. Is there anyone out there with this specific thought?
I CANT STOP TAKING DEEP BREATHS PLS HELP HELP HELP ME I CANT STOP TAKING DEEP BREATHS WHEN I DONT TAKE DEEP BREATHS THEN MY LUNGS HURT HELP ME GOD ITS HAS COMOLEYELY RUINED MY LIFE.
What if I become breathless just by thinking about it ,it stared after an asthma attack. Then it became the chicken and egg situation. I was so terrified. It formed a habit and now after waking up i know its gonna be a thought and then it happens.Im breathless ALL day. I can't get the thoughts to stop about it. My chest gets tights and I feel I can't get a satisfying breathe. On top of this I just end up feel crazy and not myself which then brings on intense emotions of sadness. I cycle all day long. I'm ready to just die already.
I’m not sure if I have Phagophobia (fear of swallowing) or this sensorimotor OCD. I can swallow perfectly fine, but when I come to actually eat or drink, I experience extreme fear that delays my swallowing and makes me hyper aware of it. I’m definitely stuck in a cycle. :(
Same exact thing. I have trouble swallowing and I focus a bit too much on it when I do need to swallow, but I also feel the urge to swallow almost constantly. It's such a weird cycle. I don't even need to be focused on it in order for it to happen, I still get an uncomfortable urge to swallow
I just don’t understand why I have to swallow so much though. When I time myself I usually reach over a minute of not swallowing, but when I don’t time it just doesn’t seem to stop
I am currently having a horrendous time with what looks like somatic ocd. I am constantly aware of my breathing, swallowing, blinking, how many times I chew my food. I find myself shrugging or "fixing" my neck (idk how else to explain it), I get stuck with songs or rhythms in my head all day, and the list goes on. I'm afraid of getting old, I'm afraid of getting sick, I'm afraid because I know in less than 100 years we won't be here anymore and where the heck are we going and where are all my loved ones going to go, etc, etc. Sometimes I don't even feel real, I feel like I'm a character in some sort of video game, and I feel stuck, trapped in my own body and mind. No amount of meditating, mindfulness, positive affirmations, going out in nature, good nutrition, exercise, NOTHING seems enough to solve this issue. I feel like this is not even me, this is something else in me doing all of these and it's debilitating. I feel like I don't want to do anything anymore. I just want to live a normal life without constantly having to try to redirect my thoughts and attention to other things, avoiding the unavoidable. Because I can try and get distracted with other things, but it will come back. And I have do it all over again. It's exhausting and depressing.
Please, I m suffering from sexual OCD and I have a strong hyperawerness of a part of my body "the buttocks " and when the hyperawerness comes I have bothering sexual thoughts and feelings I hope you can help me to get rid of this because it's ruining my life, thank you for all your efforts
When I did that alot I was under severe stress. Now my mini panic attacks every day seem to be the can't swallow and can't unblock my nose. Once I smoke weed and calm down I am totally fine. It's very annoying
Noticing of thinking and mental processes and not being able to decide what I Focus on (I Focus and notice my mind products without deciding of it) is really killing me. Very extreme. All the vidoes are about breathing, blinking etc. How do I go towards Noticing my mushy thinking (most of the time its not even "verbalised" thoughts But thought-like products of the mind) 😓😓😓 The reaction of aversion is immediate, it's a fn reflex at this stage which makes me think I AM a hopeless case......
This is difficult and different because it's not like the rest of ocd obsessions where the thoughts are in your brain and you can choose which where to direct your attention even though when you are anxious it can be difficult but to some degree you are able . However what makes sensrimotor very difficult is that it's a sensation in the body
How does one get started in the recovery process? So far watching your videos have been extremely helpful to me. I have also subscribed to your channel. Is there further information on how to follow your program, or is my recovery solely watching your videos. Thank you so much for the help I have gotten from your videos. My blinking obsession has subsided by 50% already!
How come I have pains, real bodily paints virtually in every part of the body by now alongside standard somatic ocd? It changes each tome - sometimes knees, then back, it tells me for example dont prey or you will get pain in your knees I do and then boom I have pain in my knees for the next 6 months until different pain succeeds it in a similiar fashion. It feels like I am the only one. There is literally ZERO ANYTHING on the web about psychogenic pain OCD as I would call it.
You are basically directing your own pain? I've had somatic OCD's in the past but I've always seen any pain as separate from that. That's tough, also that you can't find any resources. I would say, that if you really have some sort of control direct it to a manageable spot, like the elbows or something... But I guess it doesn't work like that.
So I've seen a bunch of videos about sensorimotor obsessions but how can I find help? Or can you post a video with the tools to help people get started?
control my swallowing when I'm in bed and it disturbs my sleep. I take xanax and remeron to sleep and I am only 14 years old. Not so much as getting out of it. Thanks for the video man
Hey rob, commented a few days back on the sensorimotor ocd with seeing my nose, wanted to let you know that its pretty much gone now, but I have a new sort of problem now. The problem now is with my hands. When ever I touch something it feels as if my sense of touch doesn't feel right, if that makes sense. Like when I touch my hoodie I can feel the hoodie but let say if I touched it 1 month back the sensations are 2 totally different things. It doesn't feel satisfying or right in a sense. My hands also feel a little weird but I think that's because I'm paying attention to them most of the time. Just wanted to ask if you have think this is a form a sensorimotor ocd or if it something else entirely. Thanks in advance.
Cheers, terrific video. I've been struggling with sensorimotor OCD for a long time. This particular flavor / theme of OCD can be quite difficult to describe but you nailed it. Thanks for the video, makes me feel not so alone.
Rob man, idk what to do. I tried everything. Ive had this type of ocd since i was literally born. Im 18 and it got way worse and now i have swallowing, blinking, finger picking, thinking that everyone is starring at me, lips licking, and wayy more i cant even keep track. Godddd life sucks
Understand that alot of these problems are coming from the same mechanism and there's a compulsive element to them which makes these problems 'cyclic'... Basically meaning how 'you' or we deal with these problems makes them problems in this first place... it makes the whole process go round and round... how does that help you? well, it means that changing your way of dealing with just one of these themes learns you how to deal with the rest. it instils 'the method' + you probably deal with a lot of these problems very similarly am I correct? Phone hopping? other compulsive distraction tactics? .... so therein lies the way to recovery....break the cycle by stopping the compulsions.. and otherwise stop dealing with your problems 'the way' that you do. You are in fact doing it wrong...
@@dco1019 this is emtremely helpful man! I never thought of it like this... your totally right my god I'm clueless. Also are u a psychologist or something
@@user-du4gw you are not clueless.. Sometimes this shh is overwhelming and you just dont see the trees from the forest. I'm just a guy who banged his head against the same problems you have.. I had a lot of years in that game before I got out ;-)
I had breathing ocd many years ago it went away and it never bothered me. Until I got covid since the day I found out I had covid I started to analyze my breathing due tio people having breathing problems and I sometimes did feel out of breath. Now that I'm recovered I'm scared what if I have lingering covid problems. The fear of not breathing is because I doubt what if it's not ocd but covid and I'm in the loop of I will never get better because I'm unsure. 😔
I don't think covid affects functions of medula oblongatta. That part of the brain never forgets how to make you breathe. But I would ask some doctor to be 100% sure.
@@therabbitfarm6420 Not caring was what helped me even if I felt uncomfortable because sometimes I literally felt short of breath.. Knowing it was just me producing that and that nothing bad was going to happen. Just live your life and accept that it's just anxiety. You'll be fine. When I was going through that I felt like I was never getting over it.
@@therabbitfarm6420 Don't give yourself a time limit because it's like forcing yourself to feel better.. It's not also about trying really hard.. acceptance is key.. Knowing it's not going to kill you. Just accept it. And little by little you'll notice it Doesn't bother you anymore
Sir I am from India eye blink thought and checking and also sound disturbance when observed started. Earlier small age when I have good thought. When I think i am thinking then suddenly I am conscious this happening happening. But this time I hv suddenly conscious how can I contact
And a year later. I'm back here. Stuck on my breathing... 🤦🏼♀️😟 I was 99% better... And now this is back.. And I'm here watching this same video from the same chair. 💔 I get up. Do dishes. I'm manually breathing. I try to do anything during the day and I'm stuck on it. Every few seconds I'm breathing forcefully. It's a fucking nightmare. 😣😭😞 and I feel helpless right now. All I want to do is go check into a mental hospital.
I relate so hard to this. Just an hour break. It’s so relentless. But you did it! You were 99% better so you know you can do it again. If your brain got you into it it can get you out! I’m a month in and it’s hard to get out of bed every day I’ve barely left the house and stopped working. But I’m trying to force myself back into it. It’s corny but as long as we’re alive there’s hope.
If I'm understanding right... We need to desensitize ourselves from these awareness. It's not the awareness that's the problem. Everyone notices these bolidily functions. We've just connected them with anxiety so it's very uncomfortable and tiring for us as it sometimes seems like the awareness is constant not naturally flowing with our other thoughts. We need to eliminate the fear of being aware and show ourselves we can still live a happy life even with the awareness. It's the fear and irrational belief that's keeping us stuck. So how do we do that? How do we get rid of the fear? Do we try to think about the awareness and welcome them in? Obviously in the most calm manner possible. Even if we still have that horrible anxiety attached? Do we just sit with the anxiety? Not try to get away from it, rather run right towards it. That's why I'm asking if we should bring our thoughts back to it? Would that help desensitize us? Then over time it won't matter to us/our brain if we think about it or have the awareness at all. We'll almost be impartial like "normal" people. So if we are stuck with hyper awareness of swallowing does it matter if we swallow or not? When I'm hyperaware of it it feels like I'm controlling it not my body so I don't know when to do it naturally. I feel like I have to continuously swallow. Some articles say to resist it, but I feel like if I resist it I'm telling my body/ brain there is a problem and it makes my anxiety worse. So if I feel like I have to swallow should I just do it and not resist? What is the overall goal for this hyperawarness? What is the overall exposure for sensorimotor OCD? Is it to think about the awareness with a calm excepting mind? Because I'm reality we will never get away from them, as we need to blink, breathe and swallow everyday. So there will always be times in our life that we will have these awareness, but it's normal and nothing to be afraid of. Somewhere along the line we've misconstrued as something not normal and anxiety was attached. Do we need to just except that this is something we think about and overtime the anxiety will subside?
@@aimeeberndt9845 thats a lot of writing.. I like it. and some of it shows that you are well on your way. The goal of seeking out awareness, exposure? I see you asking?... The goal is to create "indifference" in my opinion.. so in your example: "if we are stuck with hyper awareness of swallowing does it matter if we swallow or not?" try to create that indifference.. work towards 'Dont care if you "ocd theme" or not' Stopping the compulsions, avoidance and just letting 'ocd theme' happen as it is or how it goes or 'how ever you do it' would do the trick gradually. If you want to do a speedrun to create that indifference you could explore the stress and overcome the extremes of the behaviour. So don't swallow (or whatever theme) at all..... or on the other extreme... swallow multiple times in a row fast.. all in between.. over the top. explore the stages of swallowing... get a bottle of water and drink it etc.. You create indifference cause the stress dies down after a while and now you done 'that thing' a million times, in different ways without pulling away from it. Now the brain just kinda goes.. 'ye okay this ssh again? I have other priorities than to be anxious about it' voila, indifference... and yeah that's recovery. Cause you are right.. these body processes stay attached to you and you will notice them from time to time. Perhaps even manipulate them and use them for your own good. But you are basically indifferent to them in a way that they dont "stick" anymore
Please let me know what to do with people like me.. I'm worried that I'll count the number of times while swallowing. So, as a reaction, the number of times comes to mind as soon as you swallow. (Like you do it if you don't want to think about elephants) Five years ago, I experienced a general obsession with swallowing, and it was so hard that I confessed this to a counselor who didn't know much about OCD. The counselor listened to me and said, 'Well, if this gets worse, you might be conscious of the number of times you swallow?' At that time, even if I heard that, I think I focused more on swallowing saliva unnaturally than on the number of times. So I got better for a year and a half, accepting myself for being conscious of swallowing as it comes out of here. And I've been living a normal life so happily for three and a half years, but a few days ago, the words of the counselor came to my mind like a trauma.. And anxiety overwhelmed me literally. Since then, even if I don't swallow it consciously, I feel my saliva falling into my throat, and I automatically feel the number of times when I hear the sound of swallowing it. 24 hour consciousness is the same as Sensorimotor OCD. But now, I swallow my saliva unconsciously most of the time. But I feel the moment the feeling and sound of the moment when my saliva is falling. I think swallowing consciously is no longer my concern. Do I have to admit and accept myself for counting the times, as I did with the usual Sensorimotor OCD five years ago? Then do I have to count the number of times every time I swallow? When I try not to count the number of times, I remember swallowing it before, so I know that the number of times is implicitly added even if I try not to, and I get a headache all day because I'm nervous to prevent the number from going up automatically. When I give up and count the number of times, I think I should live like this for the rest of my life, so I'm so depressed, and I don't think it makes sense to count the number of times I swallow even when I have to focus, like when I work or talk. What should a person like me do? Have you ever seen anyone get better with symptoms like me? I want to live, but it's so painful.. I'm sorry for my lack of English.
@@3liff337 Hi!! I've seen you reply to one of my comments on another video, i replied but I dont thing it went through. Anyways I wanted to tell you that I'm still dealing with the same problem unfortunately, but I found things to cope with it like chewing gum, exercising, and meditading . It's very likely that your ocd is linked with something else like social anxiety so try getting to the root of the problem. I just want to say even though I've been with this problem for a while I still have hope it will go away and that mindset is helping me too. Lastly, don't take things too seriously bc at the end of the day it's kinda silly to have a problem like this lmaoo💀
@@athena8391 Hi! Im glad someone finally answered! Also im glad you are better. l have this thing for four week and its really ruinied my life. Actually l had this before but l've overcome it. But it started again and l thing it is worse this time so l feel hopeless. Did it bother you that much? And did you go to physciatrist?
@@3liff337 Tbh no because since it's fueled by my social anxiety and I spend alot of my time alone(except at school) so it never really affected me really. Also I never spoke to anyone about it because I was afraid they wouldn't understand 🥲
Hello, iam really Desperate ..i have invented sth Like pain sensorimotior ocd.im afraid of thinking of pain especially at nighr.how ist there cure If the fear of the pain is justified?thank yiu
I had to take medical leave from work because work was making it worse it felt. I can’t stop focusing on my breathing and I’m at the point I feel it’ll never end and it’s only been 2 weeks now. It causes me to be super sad at time and tries to push negative thoughts into my head. It’s ruining my life as we speak:((
I have visible things noticing problem. visible objects which are infront of me, my attention get stuck get stuck on one objects and due to that I can't involv in present activity. It is so frustrating and annoying,because this things happen with me everywhere.how can I be normal as I used to be before without consciously noticing the things? Dose anyone has this problem? is this also symptoms of sensorimotor ocd?
Hi Rob I thought ill let you know i have just ordered 3 books that you have mentioned in your other videos, mans search for meaning, at last a life, and self help for your nerves, my question is is there a book out there that acually talks about sensorimotor or a book that really helped you with your sensorimotor in the past? Keep up with these Great vids Rob, your helping me and other people so much, Thank you
It depends on your motives..if you watch these videos not necessarily on some high stress moment and apply and experience the things said through introspection (exposure) then its at the very least a useful compulsion. Or not at all.... On the other hand. If it's like this... you experience an unwanted sensation>go on a distraction, comfort seeking RU-vid run cause you cant be alone with these sensations, seeking out reasurence, type some comments to even distract more cause the video just isn't enough. And in the end you really don't apply or retain much of what was said.. you just ran for a sensation, or a thought basically And that's your modus operandi...then that would be compulsive for sure. It's all about how your brain registers it. Did you run for a problem or did you look it up? First= compulsion.... second not compulsion
@@dco1019 I used to watch it to understand the disorder/obsessions mechanisms and learn more about it on how to treat it properly. I also looked it up to check if I remembered everything correctly/compare it to other information from different sources. (the last one is kind of seeking reassurance). I looked up videos like these when I was indeed anxious about breathing, but later only when I was bored and curious. Now I avoid it and trust in what I have learned. But sometimes I feel like most of the things I learned just disappear from my memory and I don't know if it could be because of the obsession?... Thank you for answer.
@@thewitchereye637 If you mean that these things you learned disappear in moments when you have some sort of ocd issue. That is very recognisable to me... or prior me. Its the nature of this thing where stress and your preoccupations with your obsessions take up a lot of brain space. It floods the mind.... and as a consequence people take wrong decisions/don't apply the lessons that they've learned. They fall back mostly into compulsive distracting tactics. "run" you asked what compulsions should be stopped. The answer is all of them. Don't let your fear for your obsession compel you to do anything. When you start looking at it like that you see the compulsions everywhere (probably) you could also mean that the things you learned faded away when the obsessions did. That's also recognisable to me. With somatic ocd the obsessions are about things you can feel very neutral about (again) when you find the 'trick' when you flip the script on the disorder.
@@dco1019 I asked that question wrong. I meant what are the compulsions in such pure-o obsessions? The obvious ones are checking if you still notice, distracting on purpose and googling for the problem when feeling anxious. But I stopped myself from doing these. I even notice the sensation on purpose. Yet there might still be something I'm doing wrong because the obsession is not gone. I know that the acceptance is the key, but isn't that actually lying to yourself? I never got to know If positive rumination like "Breathing is just one of many other body sensations I just happened to be fixated on" is also a compulsion? Which rumination is a compulsion and which is a positive rumination? "It's gonna stay with me for many years and I try to accept it" and "I'm gonna breathe every minute and moment for the rest of my life, there is nothing I can do about it." Isn't any involvement in the treatment a compulsion? Isn't our conversation also a compulsion? Where is the line and how to recognise it? How to distinguish if I'm checking or it's just my brain doing it? (I'm back here not because of fear, but because I was curious if you answered).
@@thewitchereye637 Good questions. tough questions 🙂 Yes, in a sense everything is a compulsion since a compulsion is basically just doing something in response. The ones we talk about are compulsions that are part of the disorder. They frustrate recovery, increase anxiety, make your problem bigger etc. I like to relate ocd to real world fears cause the same mechanisms are at work. If you walk towards every tiger you see, that's a compulsion right? but you are clearly not anxious about tigers. For breathing its the same thing. If you force yourself (compulsively if you will) to come closer to your breathing you lose that anxiety you have for it. Where you draw the line as far as ocd compulsions? Its a line in the sand. You dont allow yourself to get backed up (you know when you run) and you get closer to breathing. This could be non-response. Do nothing.....which makes you just breath right? its exposure to your obsession which is what we want. It could be directing focus to the breath until your anxiety dies down. Dont let your fear for awareness compel you to do anything. So what's bad? everything where you run from your awareness. Its tough for me to say exactly what compulsions are part of your disorder. You talk about ruminations. Well, for sure those could become distraction compulsions. Where its not something you internalise anymore but just a bunch of words to fill your mind with to 'run' from awareness. Once again you know if that's what you are doing.. is that what you are doing? Those kind of mantras, mottos just have a risk of turning into compulsions. That's why (imo) action speaks louder than words in somatic OCD... in other words 😁 you have to breath. Do ERP therapy. If I were to guess that's why you still have a problem with it. You have a lot of things figured out, you know a lot of things about it but you haven't put in the work. Which is essentially to just breath.
Hi please reply .. can I be cured ? I have breathing ocd the first time I smoked weed I had panick, it’s been 2 months I’m fixated on my breathing , literally everything makes me breath.. seeing a nose , hearing a song , seeing people, after I talk a sentence, after every thought,everything just reminds me to breathe, I’m afraid I’ll be stuck like this forever.. I’ve failed everyone including my mom .. I thought I was going to have a fun uni life , I got good grades before that but nothing makes my happy anymore.. at this point I feel even highest amount of money can’t make me happy.. I’ve lost focus in school, everything is a mess, please reply me.. I used to have a fun time in school but now all the friends I had fun with seem to be happy except me😔
I can't stop noticing the sensation of my jeans tightening around my stomach when I sit down. I fear thoughts about my body, that it will make me get an eating disorder again. I know my body is fine and that the jeans just do that and they are kinda loose when I stand. BUT I can't stop fixating on the tightness sensation and it makes me scared
I suffer from swallowing OCD. The biggest issue I'm facing is what to do when the saliva builds. Should I just allow myself to swallow whenever I want or should I wait until the body wants to swallow the saliva subconsciously? Any tips in general for the saliva swallowing is greatly appreciated!
@@connorwhitedik Unfortunately not. If you have any tips for yourself would be greatly appreciated. I think in general though not worrying about it helps the most.
@@billsmith7233 I would agree. Just let it come and don’t worry about it. Trying to push it away just makes it worse. Trying to force yourself to think about it makes it worse. Just be indifferent. It’s a lot easier said than done but that’s what I am trying to do.
I developed a fear of these sensation of the clothes i wear. Somthing small like how my pants are touching my body and it feels so real, if i engage with it and check it becomes a whole thing for days.
yo necesito ayuda no se en que momento cai en esto, no se por donde empezar afrontarlo, siempre estoy conciente de mi respiracion, alguien mas le pasa esto ??
My problem is this, help me When we take breath we just do it without focusing on the way that make air go to both lungs equally , my brain treat my eyes separately, same signal doesnt come to both eyes for ex giving signal to both eyes to look far, i will feel just my left eye relaxed cuz it looking far but my right eye has rension and its like very big not same as left eye not relaxed My brain is always make me focus on my eyes especailly when stranger is sitting for ex at right of me and called me, my brain give me the idea that i should look to him using my right eye so i start forcing my right eye muscle to look to him but until now my face isnt facing his face and when i turn myself completely to him, i force either left eye to look to his left eye or force right eye to look to his right eye!!! I cant look forward to his face by both eyes because i will have tension above my right eye and something in my brain starts fighting inside which is hurt me , my eyes like in war looking to his right and left eye My brain doesnt remove the thinking of my right eye thats why i always have tension above it When i look to mirror i see my right eye ball bigger than left eye, but when i keep looking to the color of my right eye in mirror (which i love the color and send good signal to my brain) suddenly my right eye size go back to normal and equall size to left one , i think something changed in breathing, its like the air started to enter to lung direct not going to upper sinus near eye that make my right eye bigger?? Dont know, but its true, the breath is changed depending on your condition , and also the breath affect the human feelings When im watching movie in my phone and suddenly noticed my reflect on the screen, when i see it , my left eye relax because seeing something far, but my right eye have tension like it still looking to near object , its like the signal to looking to my reflect came just to my left eye!! my brain is always focused on my right eye , before i used to look to right and left and forward without thinking which eye to use and had no tension, i wish go back to normal Eye doctors said my eyes r fine
Hi! I wanted to ask- have you seen people being stuck with noticing their own thinking process until they feel how automatic they are? I havent found any information on that yet. And it sometimes terrifies me because then another questions arise:”how can i even help myself if im this automatic brain made out of meat”
I've had sensorimotor OCD (saliva) for 3 years. My biggest fear being that I will never be able to form relationships with other people because they'll judge me for being this way.
I wonder if you can overcome Sensorimotor OCD with tingling of the feet? I’ve been having for more than a year now and awareness or attention/fear or anxiety to it makes the tingling worse, how do you learn to accept that?
