interesting words to use instead of "OCD"
- finicky
- painstaking
- fastidious
- particular
- precise
- scrupulous
- conscientious
- persnickety (it’s real word i promise)
- accurate
- meticulous
- punctilious
- exact
basically there are loads of really cool words out there, (persnickety!!) so you don’t need to appropriate OCD for your own use if you don’t actually have it!
- what I say: "Life's just been so busy! Sorry I ( didn't get back to you, flaked on you last minute, pushed off deadlines).
- what I mean: The anxiety got to the point of paralysis. I really did want to do all those things, but I got overwhelmed and fell back on my tried and true coping method: procrastination. I'm sorry.
“This tendency was exemplified in the President’s speech, when he stated: ”We all know somebody — a family member, a friend, a neighbor — who has struggled or will struggle with mental health issues at some point in their lives.” Note the construction of the sentence: “We all know somebody – a family member, a friend, a neighbor – who has struggled with mental illness.” The person with mental illness here is always someone else. They are always removed from ourselves. They are the people we help, the people we are sad for, the people we want to save. The people who are sick, the people who are hurting, the people with the problems – they are categorically not us. They are other. They are, moreover, specifically not the implied audience of the sentence. The implied audience is the people who “know somebody’ with a mental illness. Obama probably wanted to evoke sympathy for people with mental illnesses. But in doing so, he reinforced the trope of the mentally ill as the “other” – as people who aren’t worth speaking to, and about, directly. Despite the fact that one in five Americans suffer, or will suffer, from a mental illness, and thus make up a fairly sizeable portion of the audience. Thing is, I do actually know a family member, a friend AND a neighbor who has struggled with mental health issues. You know who else has struggled with mental health issues? Me.”
—The “Family Members, Friends, Neighbors” approach to Mental Illness: Analysis of 2013′s National Conference on Mental Health | Culturally Disoriented“I'm sort of OK as long as I sit perfectly still on the couch here. Like how you don't realize how drunk you are until you step off the bar stool, the real trouble starts when I try to get up and do anything.”
—Showering Is For Happy People (Article on depression).
My own personal tips about how to cope with anxiety.
1) Cry if you need to. I always feel a bit better after a good cry. Cry to someone, cry on your own, scream shout. Just let it all out of your system.
2) Distract yourself if you can. Listen to your favourite song. Watch a funny YouTube video, watch your favourite TV show. Drool over pictures of your favourite celebrity.
3) Open a window or go outside. Take a deep breath and breathe in some fresh air to help clear your head a bit.
4) Write. It. Down. Whatever is in your head, jot it down in your diary, or just on a piece of paper. Seeing it on paper can often help rationalise what you’re worrying about.
5) If you can, speak to someone. A friend, your parents, a doctor, therapist. Even me. It just helps to vent, or talk it out.
6) Lie down on your bed, on the floor, breathe deeply, put on some music and remind yourself that you are here, you are present, you are ok.
7) Go for a walk, a run, go to the gym. Exercise does help.
8) Read a book. Escape into it.
9) Find some quotes to help. There are a lot of anxiety related ones out there that reassure me and make me feel less alone.
10) Remember that you are NEVER alone. YOU ARE LOVED. You are valuable, you are beautiful, you are worth it.
“Breathe. You’re going to be okay. Breathe and remember that you’ve been in this place before. You’ve been this uncomfortable and anxious and scared, and you’ve survived. Breathe and know that you can survive this too. These feelings can’t break you. They’re painful and debilitating, but you can sit with them and eventually, they will pass. Maybe not immediately, but sometime soon, they are going to fade and when they do, you’ll look back at this moment and laugh for having doubted your resilience. I know it feels unbearable right now, but keep breathing, again and again. This will pass. I promise it will pass.”
—Daniell KoepkeHelp with Learning to Love Yourself
1. Treat other people with kindness and respect. Choosing to bring joy to other people’s lives will increase your happiness and self respect. Also, often when we treat other people well, they start to treat us in the same way, too.
2. Learn to let go of what happened in the past. You deserve a new start and a fresh beginning. We’ve all messed up and experienced bad things. So don’t allow these memories to rob you of your future. You’re not just a product and a victim of your past. Acknowledge and work through any negative emotions – then put them behind you and start to live again.
3. Work on forgiving yourself. Related to number 2, don’t punish yourself for past failings and regrets. Instead, see them as a lesson, and a chance to learn and grow. Don’t ridicule, demean or devalue yourself. That was then – this is now … You are different - so move on.
4. Keep a journal where you write your thoughts and feelings. When you’re feeling positive, try to savour those emotions and a build a memory trace of all that’s good and positive. When you’re feeling negative, try to show some self-compassion, and seek to be gentle and kind to yourself. You need to work on validating and affirming yourself – not treating yourself like your worst enemy.
5. Be persistent as you work on accepting yourself. A key part of love is unconditional acceptance. So work on loving who you are right now. Only then will you be able to work on changing – because you’re able to accept who you are at the core.
6. Trust yourself. You’re not here to please others. Learn to trust your intuition. You can trust you own judgments as you know what’s best for you.
7. Practice saying “no”. It’s okay to say “no” without feeling guilty. You have the right to decide what you’ll do with your life.
8. Practice receiving and accepting love from others. Know you’re worthy of love – and other people really mean it when they say that you matter, and they love and care for you.
