Feeling Stuck by OCD Setbacks? How to Regain Momentum

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 440. I hope that you're doing very well today wherever you are and if you are struggling with OCD or anxiety and you would like to get some support with that Well, you can by heading over to my website, robertjamescoaching.com, and there you can book in for a free session. Or if you prefer, you can send me a message and let me know about what you're struggling with.

In today's episode, we are looking at something that I think every single person who's dealing with OCD deals with at times, and that is setbacks. These can feel like massive roadblocks, but I want to talk about why setbacks are actually part of the process. even if OCD tries to convince you otherwise. In this episode I'll be breaking down why setbacks happen and how OCD amplifies the frustration and why you're still moving forward even if it doesn't feel that way.

Plus I'll be sharing practical tips to help you navigate these bumps and regain momentum. So stick around and if you're looking for more resources head over to my YouTube channel where you can find lots of extra content. I'm trying to post a lot of videos there right now. And so, yeah, if you could subscribe, that would be amazing. So many thanks, guys. If you have any questions at all, do please let me know. And off we go.

I remember one of the first times I thought I had OCD all figured out. I'd actually just started learning about acceptance commitment therapy. And for a while, I really felt like I got it under my control. I thought OCD can't mess with me anymore. I really got this down. But then not long after that, I had a moment where OCD crept back in with full force, reminding me that it was far from over.

And then there was another time when you know i was actually beginning a new job and again i felt like i kind of found the cure for ocd i was applying new things and i was working them and i thought great it's gone it's i've really uh got rid of it and and things were calm for a while but just when i'd settled into that new job ocd showed up again and this time it made that that job really difficult my daily normal tasks were far more challenging than they should have

been and these moments were humbling reminders of just how sneaky OCD can be especially when we're convinced it's actually out of the picture and these kinds of setbacks are common and they're. Closely tied to the mindset we have around OCD when we actually expect to be quote-unquote cured or think we found the one perfect answer that'll keep OCD at bay perhaps forever we're really setting ourselves up for a trouble.

OCD feeds off perfectionism and the more we demand total control the easier it actually is for the OCDs to kind of keep us stuck to keep us in that battle looking for certainty.

The reality is that recovery doesn't have guarantees or or neat solutions and that's actually okay instead of looking for the cure it helps to focus on finding ways to handle these natural setbacks without letting them actually define us without believing that having a setback is forced us to go back to square one it may feel like that at times but the the reality is that you know you need to have these setbacks that they actually are an important part of having OCD.

No matter the fact that it is incredibly frustrating when you do feel that you've made some progress, only for you to feel that you're taking two or three steps back, or even more, you're going back to square one. I think part of it is because OCD has a way of tricking us into thinking that if it's showing up again, we must have somehow messed up massively.

We've done something very, very wrong. but actually a lot of the time that that simply isn't true imagine that you're climbing a mountain along the way you're going to hit rocky patches and challenging terrain it's just part of you know that that climbing experience a rocky patch doesn't mean you've slid back to the bottom of the mountain it just means you're dealing with a tough section of your path and setbacks are just a part of that journey not actually an

indication that you've you've lost ground actually you know if you have a setback what it shows that you you've made some progress that you've actually been working on it and you have been developing yourself maybe you have been learning new skills and you've been applying those and maybe you've had some progress so actually rather than it being a negative thing it's just something that happens sometimes particularly when you're learning something new.

A quick heads up, if you're finding these tips useful, you might enjoy checking out my YouTube channel, the OCD and Anxiety Podcast by Robert James Coaching. I'm sharing daily quick tips to keep you on track. Plus, I'll be doing weekly deep dives into different OCD themes. And here's the best part. These deep dives are exclusive to YouTube, so it's content you won't find anywhere else. Just search for the OCD and Anxiety Podcast by Robert James Coaching and subscribe for regular insights.

So let's talk about what to do when setbacks happen because they will and knowing how to handle them when they do is going to make you feel more prepared and it's going to be more likely that you're going to find the right things to do in that situation. So first, I think a really important thing is to embrace imperfection, even when you're learning how to manage OCD. If you're aiming for a flawless journey, OCD will find ways to poke holes in that goal.

The truth is, expecting perfection just sets us up for disappointment. Instead, we can start to expect the ups and downs, to accept that progress isn't a straight line. Embracing those bumps along the way actually helps us to respond to the difficult days with more flexibility and less judgment. Now, I know that's not an easy thing to do, but recovery doesn't demand that we're perfect. just that we keep moving forward even when things get difficult and a little bit messy.

The second tip is to stop measuring progress by today's feelings.

OCD loves to tell us that if we're struggling on a particular day, it must mean all of our progress was for nothing, as if one challenging day could somehow erase all of the great work that you've done.

But you know one day or even a rough week isn't a measure of failure you know think of your progress like like you're planting a garden now we there will be days when you don't see much growth at all but if you take a step back you'll see that things are flourishing overall try not to judge yourself by today's feelings look at the bigger picture if you can over the course of a few weeks or months a setback doesn't mean you're back at square one it's actually

just another part of the process lastly let's talk about humor and self-compassion two things that are powerful yet easy to overlook humor believe it or not can help take away some of OCD's power sometimes just acknowledging how persistent OCD can be in its routine can add a touch of lightness I mean it's almost comical how predictable it is sometimes saying to yourself oh here it is again just doing its usual thing can actually

take away some of its weight we don't have to come up with something enormously witty i certainly didn't. But actually, just using a silly voice with it or making fun of it, being sarcastic with it, these things can actually really help to keep it in its place. And, you know, equally, you know, meeting up with friends who you enjoy spending time with, people who have a good sense of humor and having a good laugh, it can be really, really beneficial.

Because with OCD, so often, we're just taking it so seriously.

We're taking it at face value. you and that really doesn't help us when we can interject a little bit of humor it can make a really big difference to it and equally important is self-compassion you're not failing because you're dealing with a setback you're actually succeeding because you're staying in the game so go easy on yourself a setback doesn't mean you're you're back to zero it means you're human and you're moving forward even if it's you know a little bit difficult

at times and also try to bear in mind things like the growth mindset which reminds us again that challenges and setbacks are good because you know without setbacks you're never going to really learn anything and so every time you have a setback remind yourself this is an opportunity to develop yourself more to learn from it i know it's frustrating i know it's difficult at times i've really been there myself with so many different setbacks but if you can try to keep

it in perspective in this way you can let go of it and move past it much quicker So there we go, really hope that you found that helpful.

If you have any questions at all about anything I was speaking about today. Do please let me know and I will see you next time.

Just a quick reminder that if you want to get a free session, all you need to do to get that is to head over to my website www.robertjamescoaching.com and there you can leave me a message and we can arrange the free session, 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 doctor. Music.