OCD and bad anxiety. How to cope with them both?

If it is interfering with your functioning, you should probably talk to a therapist and/or maybe a psychiatrist for meds.

I’m a procrastinator who hates to be late. It sounds like we were made for each other.

My own “strategy” has been to set most of my clocks ahead by around 20 minutes or so. (I’m not too thrilled that my cell phone won’t let me do that, but I’m trying to accommodate.) Yes, it’s elementary and easy to do the mental math to figure “Okay, I’m not late yet, I can put this off for a few more minutes…”

But when I glance at a clock and see at a glance that “I need to leave for work 5 minutes ago” (before I’ve done the math, in other words), then it helps to jog me out of my complacency and start to act, right now.

But some things are outside of your control. You leave for the dinner date in plenty of time but an unexpected traffic jam happens, or you get a flat tire. Then it’s time to take a deep breath and live only in the moment: “What do I need to do now?” And then do that thing and forget about “plans” and “commitments” and the other things that you cannot address while doing what you need to now.

Not having any form of anxiety about anything in the world at any time for the past several decades (but having concern and attention for lots and lots of things that most people don’t even know exist), I don’t know if it’s fatuous or stupid to give an OCD / anxiety sufferer advice to “live in the moment”, but if you can learn to do it, then it’s doubtful that the OCD and anxiety would be big issues any more.

I work in the mental health field, but I am not a diagnostician.

First, thank you so much for sharing your story. It takes a brave heart to share.

OCD and anxiety are signs of mental illness. They are real, and they harshly impact the quality of life of anyone who suffers from them. My daughter has Generalized Anxiety Disorder.

I suggest you speak to a psychiatrist very quickly. Tell the doctor about all your problems. Everything. Openness will give the doctor the information to treat you correctly.

The doctor will probably prescribe medicine. Take it as prescribed every day. My daughter’s medicine made an enormous difference for her. She was sad and morose before. Now she’s a normal teenager with all those issues. It’s a joy.

Ask the doctor for specific strategies to cope with your illnesses. The doctor will have many excellent ideas.

Again, thank you and good luck.

I agree with @Hawaii_Jake- get some help.

I suffer from anxiety and depression, most likely as part of my overall post-traumatic stress diagnosis. It’s not OCD, but I had obsessive habits from the anxiety. It took me years and years before I was willing to try medicine and it has been the best thing for me. The description ‘sad and morose’ accurately describes how I was for several years, even when I could see things that were positive and should make me happy. The medicine gave me boundaries for my emotions and gave me the opportunity to really work on what I needed to work on.

I can’t say “Do this!” because we all are very different, but I do encourage you to find a therapist or doctor that works well with you.

It is important to mention, also, that I also had a full blood analysis and also found out I had severe anemia, which made things worse. Have your physical doctor check you too—there may be something physical going on as well as mental.