Question From My GF About OCD

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My GF has asked me to ask a question here.

I have issues with certain foods on my plate and although I can eat with the food on my plate , I prefer to not have it there and move it to the edge of my plate. This is not a major problem and does not cause me any stress. If I am eating out, my GF sometimes offers to take the offending items off my plate so she can eat it. I have just found out that she does this even if she doesn't want the food.

She wonders if it is the right thing to do to help me out or is it something that might get worse due to enabling.

She also wonders that if I need to check car door / house door a 2nd time , should she intervene and reassure me it's locked or let me carry on?

Everytime you give into a compulsion the OCD gets worse and the compulsion will be a little bit stronger next time. Conversely everytime you refuse to give into a compulsion and just endure the anxiety/discomfort, the compulsion will be a bit weaker the next time.

For example everytime I feel a compulsion to double check that a light switch is turned off or it will end up burning my house down(however illogical) I first become mindful that it is a compulsion then I force myself to not give in and just endure the anxiety. Because I've been working on this particular compulsion for a while, it rarely shows up now and the anxiety/dread only lasts for about 5 seconds before I am able to move on.

Oh my OCD is getting worse now..

If i don't give into something I get so very anxious. I worry myself sick until people around me ask me why I am depressed. Basically it depresses the hell out of me that not giving into that compulsion at that time has caused everything that followed to be out of order. I guess I can't live without giving into my compulsions. It just ingrained in me. It's like the dogs tail story...if I don't do it now I go back to doing it the next time. This is why I hate eating out.

Exposure Response Prevention CBT works really well. Find a therapist who works witb ERP CBT and give it a sbot.