When you are struggling with OCD symptoms you are likely to be feeling desperate to recover and to wonder what recovery will look like. You may also have moments when you doubt that recovery is even possible. It is important to remember that the path to recovery is not a straight line - progress will be up and down.

When you are having a down day after having made some progress try not to despair as unfortunately this is normal part of recovery. Down days can happen for all sorts of reasons, such as increased stress, a big trigger or even just being more tired. For whatever reason it can sometimes be harder to resist getting caught up in compulsions. Once you start ruminating or doing compulsions you can get caught up in the OCD cycle again. Before you know it you are down the rabbit hole and have spent hours caught up in rumination. But as soon as you notice this you can make a choice to stop it and try different strategies to pull yourself out of it and refocus back on other tasks. The more practice you have at resisting and pulling yourself out of compulsions the better you get at it and the easier it gets.

Over time you should see gradual improvement in your symptoms. What is important is that you are gradually building confidence in your ability to recognise, catch and stop compulsions and rumination. With more and more practice at this you should start to feel more and more confident in your ability to choose to not engage with any intrusive thoughts that might pop into your mind. Over time you will start to feel less afraid of intrusive thoughts popping up and less anxious when it does happen. You will be able to gradually reduce your avoidant behaviours and confront potential triggers with the confidence in knowing that you have the skills to handle whatever comes up.

Do I really have OCD?

It is also common during treatment to doubt that you even really have OCD. You may have a thought occur to you such as - what if these thoughts are really true and I am deluding myself about having OCD? Again with these type of thoughts it is important not to engage and get caught up in ruminating about them. The more you try to pursue that elusive sense of certainty about this issue, as with any issue, the more you will get caught up in compulsions and the more anxious you will become.