Recently I've found myself haunted by drooling OCD, and every afternoon I'm particularly moody and panicky, not knowing how to cope. The pressure of school is so great that even looking at my cell phone is easily distracted, and a few minutes go by if I don't pay attention. How can I keep the pain of drooling OCD from affecting my studies and mood? I've been to a therapist and it's gotten a little better, but as soon as it's afternoon, or in a quiet environment with lots of people, the symptoms pop up again.
Hello friend, I am please say.
You say you've been having problems with compulsive drooling lately, and that you're unhappy and scared in the afternoon. What are you afraid of?
Let me put it simply: obsessive-compulsive disorder is actually one of the most draining of anxiety problems. It's characterized by recurring thoughts, impulses, or images that cause you to feel fear or worry so that you can't help but repeat certain behaviors or mental actions, such as your current drooling compulsion.
As you can see above, compulsion is actually the body's way of trying to relieve anxiety.
Minimize the use of words such as "must", "should" and "have to" to avoid unreasonable ideas. For example:
--Replace "I have to be recognized by others" with "Of course I want to perform well and be liked, but it's not necessary, and my value is not defined by that."
--Replace "I failed the test, I'm a failure" with "Even if I don't do well on this important test, I won't keep failing, I'll have plenty of chances to succeed in the future."
--Replace "It's over! I can't make any more friends" to "Maybe I did something stupid that affected the relationship, but there could be other reasons. If it was really my problem, I can learn from it and do better next time."
Give yourself and others more faith, hope, determination and care
--Trust that you can handle things and not get too anxious even if things go wrong.
--Let go of those unrealistically high expectations and replace them with more realistic ones.
--Set goals for your life's learning and achieve them with enthusiasm.
--Try to find something you're really interested in, get into it, and don't keep guessing what other people think or trying to please them.
I am please to say that I hope these are helpful to you.
References:
[US] Albert Ellis, translated by Li Weijuan. Controlling anxiety [M]. Mechanical Industry Press, 2017.
