Day 32 - OCD and the Buddy System - How it Feels When it Works
10:09 PM
This post continues from my last blog. In this series I am walking through a successful use of the 'Buddy-System' to assist and support with stopping OCD.
From my last post:
What happened was that I had someone to be accountable to, and together we had found the source of the compulsion in that particular moment, which was fear of judgment from the people I was about to go meet. In doing some self-forgiveness on that point, within the realization that it was actually projected self-judgment, I saw that I was in fact the cause and the source. This means that I had the power to let it go and diffuse the situation. Whenever I believe that it is ‘them’, and ‘the others out there’ that are responsible for making me feel bad and judged, I leave myself completely powerless to change it or do anything about my internal experience. It then feels like I am walking into a minefield, where I can have explosive reactions at any moment.
"For me, on this occasion, the buddy-system worked. Instead of falling into the OCD action of picking my skin before going to meet a group of people, I reached out to my friend who is a life coach, and together we found the source of why I felt the compulsion in that moment. Once I was able to find the source (read the first blog to see what it was), and I did some forgiveness on having created the source for myself, I was able to walk out of my house without having to go through the ‘usual routine’. This is quite a drastic contrast compared to what I am used to in these situations, and I want to talk a bit about that."
- See more at: http://dermotillomaniatolife.blogspot.co.za/#sthash.g5EKOzCQ.dpufWhat happened was that I had someone to be accountable to, and together we had found the source of the compulsion in that particular moment, which was fear of judgment from the people I was about to go meet. In doing some self-forgiveness on that point, within the realization that it was actually projected self-judgment, I saw that I was in fact the cause and the source. This means that I had the power to let it go and diffuse the situation. Whenever I believe that it is ‘them’, and ‘the others out there’ that are responsible for making me feel bad and judged, I leave myself completely powerless to change it or do anything about my internal experience. It then feels like I am walking into a minefield, where I can have explosive reactions at any moment.
One of the commonalities my friend and I discovered about what
triggers my OCD, is that it is often when I feel like I can’t direct the
situation I am about to walk in to. I fear the worst and then feel
powerless to change it. It’s like walking in to a self-created doomed situation. I have
also seen that this often causes the situation to be more ‘doomed’ than it
would have been if I had just changed my starting point before entering into it; It
becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. I know that people with derma can relate to
this, because we do it every time we go into a picking session: we create the
problems we fear, which is having blemished skin, thus exposing our disorder,and the fact that there is 'something wrong',
being judged for it and not being able to hide it.
So, I had to make the choice and decide, armed with all of
this information and empowerment, that I was going to leave my house without
picking. I had diffused the source of the OCD by taking self-responsibility for
the reactions in the form of judgments that I had been having and fearing,
which had been causing me to want to pick. I decided this was in fact projected
self-judgment and I forgave myself for doing it, and embraced myself as I
was/am, flaws and all. I also decided that I could direct the situation I was
about to walk into. I was going to direct it by keeping myself in check, and
not accepting and allowing my mind to go back into fear of judgment, and I
would instead take events as they came.
I had to focus on what needed to be done to get out of the
house, versus what I was being pulled into doing. I needed to get dressed,
brush my hair, check myself in the mirror to see if everything was in order,
make sure everything in my house was ok for me to leave, collect the things I
needed to bring with me, and that was it. The interesting part of this experience was that
such a simple thing as ‘getting ready to leave’, felt like walking through
quicksand. It was fascinating. I literally had to put one foot in front of the
other to keep moving because I felt like I was being sucked in to the OCD. It
was actually a physical sensation of being difficult to move, it was extremely
uncomfortable and it just felt wrong. It was like my mind was saying ‘nooooo,
stop moving forward, you’re forgetting something, everything will fall apart, you need
to slow down, stop moving yourself, go to the mirror instead….” And so on like
this. I mean, not the actual words, but the physical experience. It felt like
it might feel if you were to turn on the hot water in your bath, turn on the
oven and the hair dryer, and then start to leave your house.
Imagine the feeling of opening the front door to go out… everything in your
body and mind would be saying ‘no, you have to go back and turn of the water…
stop, turn around and go turn off the appliances.’ Except, these are rational,
practical considerations. I’m just making the comparison to
explain how it feels when you take a stand and make the decision to not go into
OCD.
The unfortunate truth is that stopping, and creating a new path is not pleasant, at all. In
the moment, it is not empowering, it is not graceful, and it is not an easy
moment. It Is hard, it feels terrible and wrong, and it is very humbling to see
the power of the disorder and how it has come to control the mind and body on
so many levels. BUT, and I say this with absolute certainty: IT IS WORTH IT!!! No pain , no gain, as they say. In this instance, this is the truth.
To be continued in the next blog. For now, check out this free course DIP Lite to help you slow down and direct your own mind. Or visit Maya Harel, the Life coach that has been supporting me, and do a free coaching session and life purpose test.
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