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Yh its hard cause if its a thought about something that actually happened then if you dont think about it ill feel guilty until I do and think of a way to reassure myself

Damn, people here are soo sure they can't do it. I decided to draw on tablet for any amount of time daily, to learn it with time. I started in January, and at this point I know mostly how to draw, and last week I've been drawing for 18 hours on art piece I want to finish. If you give excuses and don't start, it will never be a reality! Start anything at all, daily, minimum amount, and see how it goes.

Not anymore, but it took a while to get here. I was diagnosed at 30 so I had pretty solid impostor syndrome by then. But the more I understood about my brain the less shame I felt. When I got to where I felt like I could on my own, I went to therapy to resolve the rest. I did a CBT module targeted at self-esteem and it really helped me let go of the shame and feelings of inadequacy. Occasionally I still feel it momentarily but now I know those thoughts are incorrect and I have the tools I learned in therapy to deal with them pretty quickly. I hope you'll find your way to a better headspace! 💚 Although your feelings are valid, they are also not based in reality (you're not stupid & lazy, you have ADHD and are doing your best) and they can be reduced dramatically.

Me, I have a hard time keeping things in order, my room is a mess.

I swear, of all the other subs on Reddit, this one hits home the most.

dude!! i thought i was the only one who went thru this. ive never voiced this because i felt so weird about it. but yes i have to pee a whole lot of times before i go to bed. if i feel like there might be a little pee left inside me so i get up and go to the bathroom about 30 times a night. it's so annoying. also, when i get up to pee it makes me have to check all my doors, oven, fridge, sink and make sure they're all locked/off.

I’m fairly new to the ADHD diagnosis (I’m in my forties, and was diagnosed 2 or 3 years ago. I’m also female, assigned at birth) anyway I always felt like I understand - and I always believed that everyone around me understood, mental health professionals included - that obviously Jim Carrey had ADHD. I mean, obviously, right? But that made it so much harder for me to get my diagnosis. I mean, honestly, it didn’t make it hard for me to *get* my diagnosis... ... it just made it really hard for me to understand that I was even a candidate to be evaluated for this diagnosis. I mean, obviously, I was a super focused student. Obviously I was an exceptionally gifted over-achiever. Obviously I had no issue with a deficit of attention I mean, I was f***ing killing it on all the parameters where they told me it was important to create destruction. How much of a rude awakening was it for me to realize that the real world didn’t give a sh** about all my supposed achievements? How much of a wake-up cap was it to learn that the world literally wiped its bum with my resume (true story) but still wouldn’t invite me in for an interview? I’m in my forties, and gosh, I wish I’d understood my diagnosis earlier. But yeah...I always understood that Jim Carrey was probably ADHD. It honestly made it so much easier accepting my diagnosis... ...I mean, one of my heroes had been working with this condition, AND SUCCEEDING, all of these years. Ugh I’m blathering on... the whole point of your (u/humbled_lightbringer) - cool user name, btw - anyway, the whole point of your post was basically, like, low-key, look how awesome this dude is, just out here representing our community in the most positive and most empowering and best-feeling way ever! I know there’s a lot of hate for the whole ADHD is my superpower! shtick - and I hate that shit too - but this post just tickled my positive bone. I guess this is just my long, bloviated, overly exuberant way of saying, thank you so much for sharing this. This brought up a lot of memories, specifically of being validated by Jim Carrey’s humor, and I’m grateful to you for sharing.

Self-worth helps diminish OCD :) The more you start believing in yourself, the less emphasis you put on compulsions because you start increasing your belief in your ability to handle problems. When you have faith in yourself and your ability to work through things, you don't put so much stress and strain on the little things. Because you have faith in your own abilities and in your own future :) That's why the root of so many cases of OCD are actually truly gaslighting. Superstitious human histories and all of the cognitive dissonance and conflicts that exist in the world truly do not help. But i have spent the past few months focusing on my own personal development, childhood traumas, memories and ect. and I have made almost a complete and full recovery! :) & I have had OCD my whole entire life :) It doesn't help when we are financially stressed and stuck in scarcity like, poverty mindsets either! But I have faith that one day I will be able to help people get through those issues as well! :) Everyday I learn and that increases my ability to trust that I don't have to have all of the answers right now! Because I have enough work and discipline already put in to believe in myself that I will have what it takes to put in even more effort and learn even more in brighter days :) Increase your knowledge, increase your self worth! Tell OCD it can slowly but surely, one day just kiss your butt goodbye :P (: <3 ;)

I’m so thankful my husband is so compassionate and understanding, if he starts a conversation and I have too much going on in my head I can just say “I’m really sorry babe, I’m overstimulated right now. Give me a few minutes” and he’ll just respond “oh, oh yeah,my bad, take your time babe”. Never takes it personally. Hell he’s the same way with my anxiety if I snap at him when I’m over loaded.

came here to laugh at memes about my condition but these hit way too close to home

Can we make this an official semi-regular post? I’d also be down to subscribe to another subreddit that exclusively sends out messages like this every so often. It helps a lot.

Ocd is logical that's why it's scary. It may be irrational but its not illogical. The scary part is realizing that logic is something that exists in our heads and not in the earth

I’ve been working on a task that should take me an afternoon, maybe two if something unexpected happens. I’ve been on it for nearly a month now. No reason at all.

literally my mom. &#x200B; "You're in control of your thoughts." &#x200B; Yes thanks very helpful clap clap clap

Mines the exact opposite, I found 30 songs I really like and never deviate from, so the other 70 songs are ones I listened to like twice.

You can't tell me my symptoms aren't serious enough and still bitch at me for all the other things I am not doing right!

You're not on your own. It's really tough, I know. ❤

I know the information for myself because i learn the insitinctual "feeling" of doing the thing. Like muscle memory. But I couldn't pass on that knowledge and teach somebody else that thing. I wouldn't have the patience anyway! AMIRITE?! HAHAHAHAHA

This happened to me in high school when my OCD was REALLLLY bad. I used to work in the office during lunch and the secretary noticed me blinking like crazy and she was like... ahaha.... what are ya doin....? God that was embarrassing.

It's funny that I'm doing the same with my watch later playlist right now! 90 of 120 videos left haha

This is excellent because it isn’t confrontational at all, but is (too put it in the wise words of the ancient warrior poet Mr. Rogers) “an expression of care.” It is a MasterClass in succinct emotional intelligence both in standing up for the boyfriend to the “in-law” and also showing the “in-law” that she really loves their child. It isn’t passive aggressive, because the mother initiated a negative criticism seeking approval to validate her beliefs, and it was simply countered with fact that obviously resulted in 1000s of likes and reactions and affect you, Thanks for sharing.

No way. For me, I’d look at that obsession and think “how ridiculous... unless?”

Moral rigidity. It sucks, we need to learn how to be more flexible with our judgments. This is one of the hardest parts of OCD, because at least for me it is deeply rooted in my personality to have this moral code.

I wish I had this as a kid, fecking traumatic experiences I got from OCD when I was a little kid

And even if you smoke or drink or do drugs or don’t exercise and you get cancer it is still sad.

Omg. Yes. I have had pretty severe OCD for as long as I remember being alive. Looking back, there were VERY clear signs of this from when I was a young child -- for example, I pulled out every single one of my eyelashes when I was 7 -- but I didn't put the pieces together until I took some psych class in high school that described some of the symptoms. I mentioned to my mom that I thought I had OCD, which was totally brushed off and eventually even turned into a "joke" among my family members. My bedroom was often messy, so how could I possiblyyyy have OCD! According to them, I just "love being dramatic/different". [Note: I come from a very loving, close-knit family...I would never describe them as any type of abusive, and I know they care about me deeply, but they are historically *terrible* when it comes to understanding my struggles with mental health. I also have heavy ADHD & have been dealing with depression for most of my life.] I wasn't officially diagnosed with OCD until I was around 23..I was applying to grad school and finally decided to talk to my doctor about the ADHD I knew I had, but was never actually medicated for because that, too, was brushed off by my mom on account of my being "too smart to have that." Well anyway....turns out I *VERY* have both. I didn't mean to make this so long but I say all that to say.... IT IS SO GD FRUSTRATING HOW LITTLE EVERYONE UNDERSTANDS OCD. I try not to make a huge deal about my triggers/'quirks' in public, but people inevitably notice stuff. If/when I decide to share that "Oh, I actually have OCD...." the response I get like, almost every time, is "OMG me too, like if that picture was crooked on the wall I'd definitely fix it! // you should see how neat my bedroom is! // I like, always have to double check that I turned my iron off!" 🙄🙄🙄 I have a COUPLE of friends who are actually sympathetic to the issue & understand that it's a really difficult part of my life, but a lot of my friends are frankly just complete dicks and still don't treat OCD as a legitimate disorder, no matter how much/how often I try to explain. But don't worry, they'll still post about the importance of mental health on National Mental Health Day for Instagram!! Just an example since I'm already on a tangent here, but a few weeks ago I was away with some of those ^ friends for a weekend trip. One of my "things" is a magic number issue -- it's probably the lowest ranked in severity of all my triggers, but it's one that's followed me since I was little -- I can't set anything to an even number. Microwave times, TV volume, thermostat, etc. Anyway, someone asked to turn the temperature up to 70°. I was closest, so I simply went over to the thermostat and set it to 71°. I didn't say a word. But almost immediately I was bombarded with "how stupid" it was for me to care about the number it was set to. "Like, what could POSSIBLY happen if you just put it on 70?" + insinuations that I only did that to "try to be different." They also still drop comments like "yeah I was soooo OCD at work yesterday..." NO, YOU WERE NOT. YOU WERE NOT SO OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER YESTERDAY. It's fucking exhausting.

1000000000%. I make a kk noise to distract myself. Wish I would have come up with something less weird, but here we are lol

You are absolutely incredible in every way. Poetic. Absolutely beautiful image and color combination. This is a masterpiece. Thank you for sharing :)

Lol I forgotten I was having sex while I was inside of her with her on top of me. Possibly was the wine and edibles though.

When I was a child I used to tell people that it just meant that I worried a lot. Now, as an adult, I know that’s not what it is AT ALL

I know this feeling of never feeling you tried hard enough because you didn't try as hard as you.. Tried to try.

Does anyone with OCD ever get paranoid thoughts, like specifically paranoid about friends not liking them?

"But also dont look too nervous, they look for nervous people"

Damn well Now it’s 2:30 and I’m still doing this to myself :/

lol yeah, because of this I thought I have some level of psychosis or something before taking therapy

This shit makes me think. Also guys - look up baader meinhof phenomenon for some peace of mind.

This is part of the reason I know I need a phone break. And better phone habits. And better gaming habits. It's just so easy to be distracted *enough*, you know? Just enough that you're complacent in doing nothing but still being stressed.

I love this. So happy for you! This also helps so many people reaffirm we can do it❤️

Seeing this in a meme sounds so stupid but feels so real.

Yep. Takes 5 minutes to do. But 5 weeks to get done.

Sigh. ocd has gotten to the point i have to plan & make a list on how to have fun. 'Cause i cant simply sit down & enjoy a movie without ocd being a bitch about it. I've procrastinated so many things for years. I could have enjoyed so many things like a normal person if it weren't for this stupid illness.

I was honestly thinking this the other day: Why am I so smart, but my ADHD makes me so **DUMB**. A good critical and analytical thinker, but yet folding laundry is a really **hard** task...

this is like completely opposite for me. when i DO perform my compulsions, even though while I do it it’s good, right after it only makes me feel like shit and weak and suicidal and the guilt/failure makes me feel like i’m never gonna recover. anyone else?

Ughhh, why does this hit so close to home.. I mainly doubt myself due to my father telling me that I was just lazy and not trying hard enough throughout my life. That can really fuck with someone's head. I still doubt myself and have issues seeking therapy or help. I've went through a lot of trama throughout my life and now I feel like I am just an attention hogging freak. I feel bad right now just talking about it because it feels like a lie. ADHD is not fun.

Yep. My rote memory sucks, but telling me the "why" of something encodes it into my long term memory.

I like to do this epic thought where I think to myself ‘this will pass just like when you were thinking about x and x and x and x and x and-‘ and then have a mental breakdown cause now I’m worrying about all those things again

It's why I am shit at coding, but the best at my workplace when it comes to technical documentation. I have to articulate the sentences in a coherent way. It is physically impossible for me to write a sentence unless it makes sense in my head.

This! When I use to work and had a pretty stressful day, I had to clean my desk, keyboard, mouse and make sure everything was organized. I was working with health information so my desk had to be locked, so then I started my routine with checking the lock, lock it, pull on each drawer, pull on it again, get to the elevator and go back to check, Ive even turned my car around to check, and then since my husband worked at the same company but different department I would have him check before going home as well.

I used to have pretty strong contamination ocd. It's insane seeing people do all the shit i used to do when i was younger, like changing clothes when getting home and washing their hands all the time. I don't know if it's my depression but nowadays i'm not the neatest person. I still have a bit of contamination ocd left but not with germs.

I did that once in eight grade cause my mom forced me to do so. I forgot to put it in my bag on the day we were supposed to hand them in. Thank god for elder sisters am I right? Also, congratulations!!!

The other weekend I had a "Fuck it. I'm finally going to commit to doing nothing/having fun and just play computer games" weekend.... and I was also actually way more productive. After games I did some gardening, cleaned the house, meal prepped etc. I learnt that actively committing to SOMETHING even if it is the fun reward part first, actually made way for the second thing to be done as well. I'm going to try that from now on. If the hard thing to do is too hard... just commit to doing one tiny fun thing and see if completing an action spurs me into more action.

does it have to be a new planner ? i have a bunch of empty ones from 2017-2020

Tbh, I like how Chris is portrayed in parks and rec. I really appreciate being able to laugh at how silly we can be sometimes.

I would change stupid into stupidity. Because that is how it feels for most of us carrying this ocd around

Me: are you mad at me? My boyfriend: no My brain: he’s lying to you

Merely existing disorder I also like the description that it’s an interest-based nervous system but not sure how to turn that into a name for it

I hate that magical thinking bullshit so much. It's such an awful thing to tell someone with intrusive thoughts and mental illness, but people keep repeating it because it's an easy mantra to peddle.

yes, this is what i go through. everything is infinite loss hard to break out of that

This is so true. It’s why I’m writing a book where one of my main characters struggles with childhood OCD. It’s not a quirky little thing and it significantly impacts his happiness. His obsessions are religion based and manifest in reassurance seeking and praying.

Ehhh! Same boat my friend. She says I need prayer and rest. I'm atheist so it feels like she's implying my lack of faith causes ocd. So I get how you feel friend.

I don't have OCD but anxiety and I'm so paranoid of this, I keep checking to make sure I'm muted. Also, the damn camera. I hate that we have to turn it on during every class. It feels like an attack on my privacy

This post is amazing!! Thank you so much! I wanted to do this, too, and ran into the same problems, but none of the categories even close to fitting my situation really left me feeling so awful that I kind of shut down and gave up. But you just gave me the inspiration to try again, thank you thank you thank you!!!

Lol turns out I have depression and combo ADD / ADHD ( maybe ADD is not used anymore? ) too!! I've been recommended mood stabilizers because anxiety × depression × ADHD was presenting very strongly as extremely rapid cycling yet sorta mild bipolar / manic depression but my parents never let me have them, only Concerta because I think my old high school forced them. I do a bit better on Concerta but I'm wondering about Adderall ( illegal here ) and mood stabilizers as well as antidepressants. Apparently combining stimulants with these can have weird effects so anyone else on more than just ADHD meds?

Holy crap; I’ve literally imagined it the same way!

Yea it feels like my depression, ADHD, and anxiety are having a constant three-way and fucking up my head, and im so tired and bored but also restless and just AKSHFSGDOJF. Everything is either dully underwhelming, or painfully overwhelming. There's no in-between and it's exhausting.

Hey, I would really recommend talking to your doctor about your depression and maybe starting anti-depressants? If you're on those meds now, maybe it's a good time to ask about increasing your dose? I just had to do that last week...probably should've done that months ago, though. I was actually diagnosed with depression first, then ADHD (at a ripe old age), and I have to say that without starting anti-depressants I don't know if I would've been able to manage or even recognize my ADHD symptoms. The real amazing quality of life increase happened when I was on \*both\* medications and I can't exaggerate how much that combo helped. Dopamine and serotonin! Wild to think some people just have both...naturally?? You're completely correct that these conditions feed into each other in this really vicious cycle... I hope talking to your doctor about depression is an option! Everything you've articulated here is very real!

I once read a joke on my local social media: "What does someone who is bipolar say to their SO after sex? -Who was I?" First response: "That's schizophrenia, not bipolar" Took like 10 comments to figure out that it's actually called DID.

I've always had a messy room but my parents cleaned it when I was hospitalized because of my severe contamination OCD ._.

And then when you try to tell them politely to leave you alone and they don't get it so your anxiety kicks in and you have to tell them that the reason you don't want to talk to them is because their voice right now is like someone throwing melted kit kats at your face on a balmy 100 degree day after you just got out of the shower. Like go away, damnit!

What do you mean "not great"?? This is really nice! I like the shading. I agree with one of the commenters, the guy that called this trash didn't know what they were saying.

Had one of the worst I've ever had the other night. It lasted 4 hours. And the more angry, and anxious I get, the harder it is to stop. I know I'm not saying anything new but I dont type or post that much on here because I have a thing about even typing the right way. I've deleted posts just because of my ocd. Feeling good today though. I wanna keep it goin.

Never thought I’d be able to relate to Patrick so well

[Literally my last saved reddit post](https://i.redd.it/t7locejwugt51.jpg)

OCD IS NOT BEING A PERFECTIONIST YALL👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 P R E A C H

It's increments of 4 for me...4, 8, 12, 16... Hell, I even blink in sets of four

“i’m trying my hardest to try” is my response almost always

First post that popped up after opening Reddit lmao. I should get to cleaning and showering, thank you!

Its the reason i discovered reddit, this subreddit specifically.

allison raskin is my favorite voice when it comes to ocd content and speakers! she has a podcast with her friend gabby dunn, who has bipolar, where they give advice and talk about mental health/maintaining friendships with mental illness etc.

Oh fuck. Why do I get called out.. I have like 20 posts saved -_-

Oddly no not much for me. I generally haven't given much of a f@ck. But then again I also pretty firmly belive I may be OCD enough to figure out how to handle those negative consequences in most senerios. Peoples opinion are always gonna be pro and con when looking at the masses. Can't please them all of course, gotta keep some on their toes! If it's govt or some form of something recording or somethin, don't worry we know they are. They don't care lol. The internet is the world as it happens in peoples heads, and we are all just giant gross evil rage monsters in our heads. Express yourself how u see fit, just don't willfully hurt someone that isn't asking for it expressly and I think u should be good. Or alternatively, learn some stuff about Internet Security and Networking. Good to know

Agreed and I have the same experience. I've always assumed/thought it came from my parent's style of lecture and guilt trip, but maybe it's a more universal ADHD experience. The emotional disregulation means I cry the second anyone is firm or demanding of me, regardless of my emotional state a lot of the time. (And I'm a 350lb, 30yr old, 6'3" man) And opposition defiance means I, as a rule, will agree to people's faces and then resent it later and do whatever I want. I'm working on NOT defaulting to that, but it's definitely my instinct. I do it to MYSELF, even, and that's the cause of most of my self-destructive behavior. Meds have helped me react more evenly to things, but I'm finding they are not a pill-solution to this sort of stuff, which I didn't expect and am kind of glad for. I personally think it's important to use the meds to help build skills for all times.

Thank you so much! Sometimes that voice that tells me to do the complete opposite of what I wanna do gets loud and mean, but I keep reminding myself that my disdain for those thoughts is a reflection of my true morals.

I'll do it one more time, just to be sure... Fuck, I'll. Do it one more time, just to be sure... Fuck, I'll do it one more time, just to be sure... FUCK,FUCK,FUCK...

Yeah, that’s why I hate the “all OCD people are clean” stigma

Of all days today I needed this the most. Thank you so much.

Is that why when life gets in the way and the plans deviate I get seriously anxious? Like "wait, it's not in the plan- what do I do next??"

Everyone else has said the good stuff, so I just want to say that I really appreciate your use of an epsilon in your spelling of '"meth".

this is why im a little glad to have a slightly long distance girlfriend, talking over text is 1000 times easier for me and im kinda scared to talk in person, i feel like ill mess it up.

Or it's 4am which is basically 6am which means it's time to pull another all nighter.

literally how i visualized it in my mind with switches or locks or burners

I love those clothes on you! You are totally owning this outfit.

"am i homocidal" "am i a sociopath" "am i delusional" "do i have adhd" "do i have autism" "do i have insomnia" "do i have dissociative identity disorder" "do i have ptsd" "do i have hiv" "do i have a yeast infection" "do i have a skin disease" "do i have an allergy" i've literally search and done quizzes for things i show absolutely NO symptoms of because my ocd is convinced something has to be wrong with me all the time

Yes! It's such a relief. We're all feeling like outsiders in our daily lives, so it's nice to have a place where we feel accepted. There's something about my attitude that bothers some people. Not that I'm particularly negative or pessimistic–I'm just a little different–but it seems to scare some people because they see a lack of conformity as a threat. People keep trying to correct me, as if I'm too stupid to understand how I'm supposed to behave. It's all very subtle, but it still feels like a put-down. Nobody does that here. I mean, it also helps that my gender isn't as obvious as it is in real life, but that's more of a reddit thing than a r/ADHD thing.

I feel like with my ADHD I never feel satisfied. Too many thought and ideas go through my head each day, it’s impossible to keep up. Thus I feel like I’ve never reached my full potential and there’s so much more for me to do. It can be draining truly

This hit me very very hard. It's exactly what I've been experiencing too. Telling people I have things to do and then spending the whole day alone but getting absolutely nothing done. It's sad to imagine what my life would be like without this problem. I'd have my own design business for sure. I'd be a better friend, son, and brother. ADHD is crippling.

Just gotta keep so busy there is no time for the thoughts!

Honestly though, people are always talking about "calling of the void" and intrusive thoughts but, are these thoughts not normal? How else are you gonna avoid getting cut by a knife if you dont imagen bad outcomes? Like you walk over a road and look both ways.

My husband had to send me a reminder to talk to people at work about fixing my birthday days off as Vacation PTO instead of unpaid. I kept accidentally reading the text because I would forget, so he had to send it 7 times

LMAOOOO one of the best memes I've seen in a minute, stay golden OP