Quick Tip: Be Prepared for OCD in Downtime

One of the beneficial aspects about being at work is that you are able to focus in on say, the spreadsheet you are working on, rather than whatever OCD fear your mind wants to conjure up in that particular moment. But the counter to this is that OCD often tries to take advantage of times when your mind is wandering and unfocused. Frequently, OCD would strike when I was doing something simple like walking to my car or settling into bed. Times when my mind was essentially blank and so OCD jumped in to try and fill the void. And so there isn’t really any specific advice to give in regards to these types of events, rather just a general reminder to always be prepared for OCD in these moments. Now, it shouldn’t feel like you are in a warzone where you are always fearful that the next bomb is about to hit right on top of you. Instead, it is more just a back of the mind awareness that OCD will seize any available opportunity and that being mindful of this reality can help reduce the difficulty of surprise OCD incursions. And no matter what, OCD will still jump you from time to time, but if you are more conscious of when OCD might attack, then it can be easier to react in a healthier and more productive way. And in the end, this process can actually seem moderately counterintuitive. People with OCD want their OCD to go away so they never have to deal with it again, but sometimes in order to reach this end goal, it can be useful to understand and think a little bit more about OCD and its tactics. As Sun Tzu and basically every general ever have said, “Know thy enemy.”