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Is journaling bad for OCD?
Journalling and audio journaling are tools that can be most effective with OCD sufferers who are already undergoing treatment and who are able to identify when they are feeling triggered. For some OCD sufferers, writing is a trigger. Some studies have suggested that people with OCD are more creative than others. Because OCD sufferers have great attention to detail, they can spend hours coming up with new ideas, brainstorming things, and working on projects. In fact, art and music therapy are often used as an outlet for people with OCD. Despite the challenges, many people with OCD lead a successful and healthy work life in jobs that are meaningful and rewarding. At APM, we’ve seen first hand how having the right job in a supportive environment can lead to life-changing benefits. But journaling isn’t for everyone. Some people find that it doesn’t feel calming or fulfilling and the stress of finding the “perfect” words to put on paper can be overwhelming. As a child, I would get super excited every time I got a new diary or notebook—and then stress out if I missed writing for a few days. Write down your unwanted and intrusive thoughts, noting what rituals or compulsions you did to try to combat these thoughts. Be careful though, while journaling can help you objectively look at your thought patterns, it can also make you self-obsessed. Talk to your therapist about beneficial ways of using journaling. Journaling also helps people hone their focus so that they think about only one thing at a time. When you write your thoughts by hand, you can only write one word at a time. Your thoughts slow down to match your writing speed and you’ll find that it’s easier to slip out of your overthinking mindset.
Is journaling good for OCD?
Keep a journal Write down your unwanted and intrusive thoughts, noting what rituals or compulsions you did to try to combat these thoughts. Be careful though, while journaling can help you objectively look at your thought patterns, it can also make you self-obsessed. This might just be a silly example, but it is possible that a compulsive journaling habit can cause you to constantly overthink your life. This can keep you from living in the moment and enjoying your life as it goes. According to Stosny, journaling can become dark when you it makes you live too much in your head, makes you a passive observer in your life, makes you self-obsessed, becomes a vehicle of blame instead of solutions, and wallows in the negative things that have happened to you. Write down your intrusive thoughts. This has two benefits: first, it forces you to slow down your thinking and tendency to worry because you can’t write nearly as fast as you can think. The best way to put an end to the cycle is to practice exposure and response prevention. This means you “accept” the thoughts, live with the uncertainty, and refrain from engaging in compulsions.
Is journaling good for people with OCD?
Keep A Journal One of the most common tips to overcome OCD is journaling, and for good reason. You may not be fully aware of your most common or intense intrusive thoughts and compulsions unless you write them down. Experts aren’t sure of the exact cause of OCD. Genetics, brain abnormalities, and the environment are thought to play a role. It often starts in the teens or early adulthood. But, it can also start in childhood. Ignoring symptoms of OCD will not cause them to disappear, and they’re not going to just go away. That’s not the way OCD works. In fact, ignoring symptoms, telling yourself that you’re not really that bad and you can manage the disorder by trying self-help for OCD will only exacerbate the situation. The preferred treatment for harm OCD is exposure and ritual prevention therapy (ExRP). ExRP is a form of cognitive-behavioral therapy that helps you gradually become less reactive to situations or thoughts that cause OCD symptoms. It does so by making systematic use of exercises called exposures. There are some supplements that have been researched in OCD treatment studies such as vitamin D, vitamin B12, folic acid, homocysteine, trace elements, N-acetyl cysteine, glycine, myoinositol, St John’s wort, milk thistle, valerian root, curcumin and borage.
Does journaling make OCD worse?
Journalling and audio journaling are tools that can be most effective with OCD sufferers who are already undergoing treatment and who are able to identify when they are feeling triggered. For some OCD sufferers, writing is a trigger. Journaling helps keep your brain in tip-top shape. Not only does it boost memory and comprehension, it also increases working memory capacity, which may reflect improved cognitive processing. Journaling might just be the thing to help you rewire your brain, whether it’s a shift in attitude you seek or you’re trying to reach other life goals. Research even points to health benefits that can result from keeping a journal, such as increased immunity and reduced stress. The most common application of aversive therapy in OCD has been the “rubber-band snapping technique,” whereby the patient wears a rubber band on the wrist and is instructed to snap it every time he or she has an obsessive thought, resulting in a sharp pain; thus the pain and obsession become connected. Journaling also helps people hone their focus so that they think about only one thing at a time. When you write your thoughts by hand, you can only write one word at a time. Your thoughts slow down to match your writing speed and you’ll find that it’s easier to slip out of your overthinking mindset. Journaling can be a great self-care idea for introvert. It gives us a chance to reflect in solitude and channel our thoughts into words. If you have trouble sitting still for an hour every day, journaling can be a less intimidating alternative. So often, we let our minds slip through our jam-packed schedule.
Does writing things down help with OCD?
Write down your obsessive thoughts When you begin to obsess, write down all your thoughts or compulsions. Keep writing as the OCD urges continue, aiming to record exactly what you’re thinking, even if you’re repeating the same phrases or the same urges over and over. Keep a journal Write down your unwanted and intrusive thoughts, noting what rituals or compulsions you did to try to combat these thoughts. Be careful though, while journaling can help you objectively look at your thought patterns, it can also make you self-obsessed. Although OCD is a severe mental illness to have, other mental illnesses also often occur with it, such as Body Dysmorphic Disorder, Panic Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), and depression. Individuals with OCD often have certain chemical imbalances present in the brain. Changes in the neurochemicals serotonin, dopamine, and glutamate are normally present in OCD cases. The two most common diagnoses associated with intrusive thoughts are anxiety and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). They can also be a symptom of depression, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Bipolar Disorder, or Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
Can journaling make things worse?
Sometimes keeping a journal of your thoughts, feelings, and experiences helps, but often it makes things worse. In general, it is likely to hurt if it tries to help you “know yourself” in isolation and helps if it leads to greater understanding and behavior change in your interactions with others. Journaling can make you feel worse when you brood on the page, when writing is just a method of venting in which you constantly reinforce the story at the core of your reactions and emotions. In this case, indulging your anger only prolongs it — and your suffering. Jim Rohn said, “A life worth living is a life worth recording.” Most successful people keep journals and there are many reasons why. A journal not only gives you a place to record your thoughts, but it also allows you to analyze where you are, where you are going and where you have been. While a journal cannot replace a therapist, it can be therapeutic. What a journal can do is help you to notice patterns in your behaviour and emotional responses. It’s an opportunity to reflect on your experiences, feelings, thoughts and behaviour.