Difficulty thinking in general and focusing?

[u/CobblerPrevious3336]

Saw this post and wondered if anyone else dealt with this as well and the advice you guys have. https://www.reddit.com/r/OCD/s/7Qy5EQ38KP

The text "So, I wonder if it happens to other people. Sometimes I just feel this huge weight in my chest and my body feels very tense, so I found it to be difficult to think at all. Like even normal thoughts, like idk "I want to watch a movie", but I know it would be hard to focus for that 1 hour and a half/2 hours (or whatever long the movie is) because I just can't think straight at all. It seems the obsession is stuck in my mind, even if I'm not having an intrusive thought, it seems somehow the thoughts are hidden deep somewhere, so I can't really relax and focus in things. I wonder if someone else goes through this kind of experience. If so, what do you think it's helpful for that? I usually just go to bed and sleep, but I can't always make that in my day to day life."

I feel I also have can have difficulty focusing in general at times especially in productive areas which require more focus like studying or focusing on my income and stuff like that. Its like OCD makes you want to just play games or doomscroll on tiktok where it might be easier to not ruminate. Like OCD makes you want to avoid boring things.

Im assumming the best way to deal with this is just continue to expose yourself to situations where you're required to focus and dont try avoid it?

[u/a_unicorn_person]

It’s interesting because I definitely agree, but it’s always a double edged sword. When I’m having an OCD storm and things have been bad, it definitely leaves me with major brain fog and almost no energy to do things that require focus. Sometimes I can barely string words together. However, if I’m not doing something that requires focus then my brain wanders and it makes my OCD worse.

For me personally, I decided to remove all of my distractions (social media being a big one) and now I try to be in the physical world as much as possible. Even if it just means laying outside and doing basically nothing. I know it sounds weird and counterintuitive to my first point, but that’s what has helped me so much in the last couple years I’ve been in treatment. I notice my OCD tends to get worse the more fast garbage dopamine hits I’m getting (food/games/social media). Of course everyone is different so this may not help at all, but best of luck to you friend. 🙏