Dealing with OCD checking symptoms

Hi,

After many years of suffering from checking the doors stoves, water leak etc. I have finally found out that this is a OCD.

I am especially interested how you all deal with this and if you can share your opinions.

What are your symptoms with being checkers (I am wondering where how it can develop)

My situation:
- checking the oven, - fire fear
- checking the doors, many times, I am being sometimes late at work, - theft fear,
- checking the water taps - flooding the flat

Solutions
- Sometimes I am making pictures, - it works for gas ovens
- I asked my friend to make me a wireless sensors where I am notified when something is wrong
it works for water leakage, door closed or not, fire prevention - I have noticed that I am more calm with this,

Whats your ideas to deal with this ? I want to start dealing with this or at least minimize the compulsion.

Thanks
Tom

Hi Tom,

Have you been officially diagnosed? The symptoms you have can be part of OCD or it may be part of general anxiety and treated differently. Do you have any other symptoms? Obviously a professional needs to diagnose you but I was wondering.

Anyway, I suffer from OCD and my symptoms can be severe. For instance, a few weeks ago I went food shopping. Normally it would only take me 30 minutes to do everything I needed to. This time is took me five hours because of my compulsive behavior.

Luckily severe flare-ups are rare and after two weeks it was over. And it was over because I refused to perform any more compulsions. Naturally my brain was in fear of the ramifications of ignoring these thoughts but I played through them anyway.

And that's the advice I give you. Refuse to play-out your checking. Even if it causes you pain for a period of time. For me, when I refuse to give in, yes there is pain but it also subsides after a while, or it will decrease over time.

However, reading your post it seems you might have found a permanent solution to some of it. That might work too. Whatever stops you from repeating "rituals (checking)" over and over is probably the path you should follow. Again, mine is to refuse to perform rituals.

good luck,

Otter.