Conquering OCD: The Long-Term Freedom Approach

The OCD and Anxiety Podcast by Robert James Coaching. Music.

Hello and welcome to the OCD and Anxiety Podcast where we explore how to have a more positive relationship with anxiety disorders taking back control so that you can start living the life you choose and not the one chosen by your fears. Music. Hello and welcome to episode 476 I hope that you're doing very well wherever you are today and if you are struggling with OCD and anxiety and you would like to get some support with that Well, you can get a free discovery call with me.

To get that, you can head over to my website, robertjamescoaching.com. There you can book in directly for that free discovery call. Or if you prefer, you can send me a message and let me know about what you're struggling with. Please do remember the podcast is now on YouTube. You can search for the OCD and Anxiety podcast by Robert James Coaching. And you can also follow along on Instagram. My Instagram handle is at Robert James Coaching UK.

Today we're diving into a topic that I believe can completely change how you approach your OCD recovery and that is the OCD short-term game versus the long-term freedom approach. If you've ever found yourself giving into compulsions just to feel better in the short term and in the moment well you're not alone. I did this for years and OCD is a master at convincing us that short-term relief is the answer. But the truth is, those quick fixes can actually keep you stuck in the cycle of OCD.

In today's episode, I'll break down why this happens and share practical insights and tips to give you strategies to start playing the long-term game, one where you'll find real freedom from OCD.

So if you're ready to learn how to break free from that short-term trap, let's get straight into it. OCD thrives on immediate relief. When an intrusive thought pops up, it feels incredibly uncomfortable, almost unbearable, and we find ourselves doing the obvious thing. Of course, we want to get rid of it. We want to push it away. It's a very uncomfortable thing when a thought comes up, And at times OCD is very creative.

It has this way of making us, you know, worried about the things that are kind of most important to us in our lives. OCD is brilliant at kind of coming up with the things that we, you know, that we're going to get most stuck on. So, you know, whether that's relationships or intrusive thoughts that you really dislike in one way or another. OCD is brilliant at coming up with those things and creating the sense of urgency where we feel that we have to do something about it.

We have to prove that thought wrong we have to push it down we have to kind of get rid of it in various ways and if we don't then there's this horrible judgment that comes up this sense of shame the sense of bewilderment you know what's wrong with me why am i experiencing thoughts like that there must be something awfully or deeply wrong i have to do something to feel better and you know of course that that kind of gets us stuck in the trap because then we start performing compulsions you know

maybe we start trying to get reassurance or we start looking online what do those thoughts mean you know and we're kind of doing everything we can to try to have more certainty to feel better in the short term but you know actually all we're really doing is getting ourselves more and more stuck and of course the way out of that is to.

Start playing a bit more of a long-term kind of game and that may that may seem very difficult to do because if you've been doing this for a long time you may feel that you know you're stuck in this kind of trance like OCD state and it's very difficult to stop doing that but actually at any point you can start learning to have a different relationship with OCD you can start developing you know a different way of responding to it and so playing this long-term game

as we're going to talk about today really is something that you can do. Unfortunately with OCD every time that you engage in a compulsion you're reinforcing the idea that the thought was actually important and needed solving. You needed to kind of disprove it and while those few seconds or minutes of relief might feel good they come with a hidden cost. The brain learns that the only way to feel better is through the compulsion. And the more that you avoid discomfort.

The stronger that it becomes. Short-term gains often lead to more intrusive thoughts, keeping you stuck in the OCD cycle almost indefinitely. And this is why so many people feel trapped with OCD. They're constantly looking for quick relief, but the relief never actually lasts. Long-term freedom from OCD isn't about getting rid of those intrusive thoughts. It's actually learning how to respond to them in a more productive and helpful way.

So instead of reacting immediately what you need to do is you need to learn how to sit with the discomfort of that thought and the feeling that accompanies that. Acknowledging that there is some kind of uncertainty there but also realizing that you don't have to engage in a compulsion. The long-term game is challenging because it often feels like doing the kind of opposite of what you really want to do. What you really want to do is, of course, feel better as soon as possible.

You don't want to put up with that discomfort. You don't want to feel uncertain. You want to have that certainty and feel better. But actually, you know, when we play the long-term game and we start practicing just allowing a little bit more uncertainty, a little bit more discomfort, you can start to prove to yourself that actually you can put up with those things.

And when you can do that you know you do start to feel better it's not about kind of playing this long-term game and then kind of suffering in uh you know kind of indefinitely with the OCD it's not about that at all actually when you play this kind of long-term game what you're really doing is you're saying in the short term I'm going to put up with this discomfort I'm going to allow this kind of pain to be there in the background but you know I'm doing this in order to feel better in the

long term because when you allow that discomfort and uncertainty to be there at some point you will kind of move past it anxiety doesn't stay the same indefinitely at some point anxiety always comes back down again you know and you know that question that was running through your mind that intrusive thought whatever it whatever it was it won't seem quite so threatening anymore because actually you've allowed everything to calm down,

you know, by not immediately trying to make yourself feel better. If you're someone who listens to this podcast, chances are you're looking for real ways to break free from OCD.

Maybe you've thought about getting support but feel hesitant to start coaching or perhaps you're looking for something structured that you can work through at your own pace. That's exactly why I created OCD Elements Foundations for Freedom, a step-by-step course designed to help you understand OCD, change your relationship with intrusive thoughts and take back control of your life. This course is for you if you feel stuck in repetitive OCD loops and need practical strategies to break free.

You want a clear structured approach that guides you through the most effective techniques for managing OCD. You're interested in acceptance and commitment therapy and want to learn how to apply it in a way that truly works. You'd like to learn from someone who has been through it personally and understands exactly how you're feeling. Here's what people are saying about the course. The methods in the OCD Elements course have helped me immensely with OCD.

You do have to work hard and commit to the process, but Robert explains all the concepts really clearly and he is really inspiring as he has been through it all himself and knows exactly how you're feeling. I was really in a dark and hopeless place with Sensory Motor OCD, but working with Robert has allowed me to start living my life and pursuing my goals again, and gradually making a recovery.

Another person says, I have tried various counsellors and therapists in the past before I came across Rob's coaching course. I find the acceptance and commitment therapy approach incredibly beneficial. It's helped me develop a much better understanding and relationship with OCD. These tools have already made a huge difference in my day-to-day life and I feel confident about the future. I would recommend this course to anyone.

As a listener of the podcast, you can get 50% off by using the promo code BREAKFREE at checkout. The link to the course is in the show notes, so if you're ready to take the next step, head over now and check it out.

So if you're struggling with this I'd like you to to practice this this technique it's called postponement it's very simple and all you need to do is you know for about five or ten minutes after you get triggered do your very best to kind of refocus your attention onto something else and to not figure out the obsession to not perform that compulsion the idea is to do anything other than performing that compulsion for at least five minutes or 10 minutes.

Some people like to postpone for longer. You know, maybe they have a specific time at 5 or 6 p.m. A bit later in the day where maybe then they allow themselves to think about that thing. You know, but the idea is to postpone for a certain amount of time that you decide upon. Five minutes, 10 minutes, an hour, or maybe later that day.

And during that time that you're postponing, you're going to do your very best to let go of doing anything about that obsession and just trying to allow the discomfort to be there and most probably at some point you'll begin to feel a little bit better because the moment will pass the anxiety will change and that thought perhaps won't feel so threatening anymore if you'd like more support i do offer a free discovery call where we can talk about your specific challenges

with OCD and how I might be able to to help if you're interested in that please do head over to robertjamescoaching.com to book your spot so many thanks I really hope that you found that helpful if you have any questions at all about anything I spoke about today do please let me know and please do subscribe for more content like this and I will see you next time and now just a quick reminder of my disclaimer any information that you view on my website instagram page facebook group or anywhere

else online or any information that you listen to on the podcast is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for actual medical or mental health advice from a doctor, psychologist, or any other medical or mental health professional. Music.