OCD Recovery Center (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder): OCD: Self-Care and Tools for OCD Recovery

Self-Care and Tools for OCD Recovery

Stress Management
1. Sleep Hygiene
2. Daily schedule: Time management, pacing, balance, breaks
3. Self-ownership
4. Morning feelings
5. Assertive Communication (especially helpful for those with obsessions of harming others)
6. Financial Balance
7. Avoidance of major and multiple stressors
Diet
1. Avoid sugar and refined foods
2. Avoid caffeine
Relaxation Response Training
1. Breathing
  1. Slower, deeper, more conscious
  2. Select your technique
  3. Tongue placement
2. Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR)
3. Autogenics
4. Meditation
Special Resources
1. Books and tapes
2. Yoga
3. Prayer / Higher Power
4. Centering practice
5. Cranial Electrical Stimulation (CES)
6. Tai Chi and Qigong
7. Aerobic exercise
8. Anxiety Self-Care Protocol
Phytomedicinal and Nutritional Resources
1. Free Form Amino-Acid Complex
2. Omega-3 Fatty Acid
3. B-100 Complex
4. Gamma-aminobutyric Acid (GABA)
5. N,N-Dimethylglycine
6. Inositol
7. 5-hydroxy-L-tryptophane (5-HTP)
8. St. John's Wort (Hypericum Perforatum)
9. Valerian Root Extract
10. Passion Flower
11. Kava Kava
12. Chamomile Tea
13. Hops
14. Lemon Balm
15. DHEA
Support Systems
1. Enabling versus support
2. Core family
3. Friends
4. Colleagues
5. Support group
6. Internet
7. Organizations and newsletters
  1. OC Foundation (203-315-2190)
  2. OCD Foundation of Michigan (313-438-3293)
  3. Awareness Foundation
Cognitive Self-Talk
1. Mediation
2. Thought Stopping
  1. Head shake
  2. Rubber band
3. Onboard reminders
4. Decreasing overvalued ideation
5. Brain noise and detaching
6. See "Some Thoughts on the Art of Living with OCD"
Obsession-Specific Tools
1. Encourage the person to feel and express their feelings (tears, anger, fear). Try and redirect attention away from:
  1. Ruminations and obsessive thoughts
  2. Verbal reassurance seeking
  3. Analyzing the OCD
2. Focus on the positive behaviors that the person has rather than the OCD.
3. "Overperform" the ritual in order to drive it into extinction.
4. Provide rewards for any and all progress.
5. For obsessional slowness and getting "stuck":
  1. Thought stopping ("STOP")
  2. Thought backtracking to the present
  3. Rubber band technique
  4. Demonstrate behavior
  5. Focus on motor intention and sensory-motor cues while performing ritual in slow motion
6. The primary skill needed to transcend obsessions is to shift your focus inward (through centering, physical techniques, etc.) and then actively relax
7. Feelings versus thoughts
8. Always de-escalate
9. Detaching and letting go
10. Keeping focus on self
11. Disinhibition and spontaneity
12. Non-doing
13. Saying "No" to shoulds
14. Self-love and internal respect
15. Choices and "wanting to"
16. "So what" - Lighten up!
17. Head Shake Technique
18. Let go of perfection
19. Be unilateral versus dependent
20. Be kind to yourself - especially about your OCD
21. Live in the now
22. Accept everything
23. Appropriate expectations
24. Wandering exercise
25. Encourage a "Just be and don't think." Approach on a continual basis. OCD lives in the mind. Redirect the person to experiences versus thoughts.
26. Change the setting. Take a day off and go to the beach, grandparents, visiting friends, hiking, etc. Make note of positive changes experienced and take these experiential learning's back to the regular routine.
Surrender to the feeling (anxiety) instead of staying numb by doing the OCD. OCD covaries low self-esteem and not finding your voice. OCD is the final expression of self-denial - shoulds lead to OCD! That is what depression is about (losing your spontaneous energy!)
If you do a "behavior" - at least follow it with an "exposure".
Reduce pressure related to change by:
1. Decreasing expectations.
2. Following common routines.
3. Reducing life stressors. (Cancel a few, but not all, activities.)
4. Making sure person knows that they control speed and direction of treatment.
Increase physical activities which are not OCD-laden such as:
1. Aerobics
2. Sports
3. Recreation
4. Walks
5. Bike rides
6. Special practices such as yoga, qigong, etc.
Remember that anxiety drive or fuels OCD. Find ways of relaxing actively and deliberately such as:
1. Back rubs
2. Hot baths
3. Breathing techniques
4. "Relaxation dots" and ques
5. Special practices such as biofeedback, autogenics, meditation, guided imagery