For me, reaching recovery was so much more than just completing a couple years of ERP (Exposure and Response Prevention) therapy. It was also the 100 other little things, like creating a calm home by slowing down, getting into nature more, healing my gut etc. This post, won’t go over the 100 things. But, I will highlight the specific OCD resources I found priceless while I was in my worst years of living with OCD. I found these resources on my own. I had no one to guide me through this journey. I am compelling this short list, to direct you to the right people or publications that can help you to also reach recovery.
After I started recovering from sudden onset of OCD in my twenties, I finally began to talk about it. Not a lot, but enough that I would be able to guide some others through the recovery process. If you were to write me an email and ask for help of what to do for your’s or your loved one’s OCD- these are the things I would tell you. You may not favor everything that I did, and thats fine. You don’t have to find value in every resource. There also is more resources available than there were 5 years ago when mine first started- and that’s a great thing.
I enjoy talking about OCD recovery. However, I am so much more than my OCD- and you are too. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life dwelling on what I went through. So for me to not NEED access to all of the OCD resources anymore is a huge point of progress. In the past, I needed to listen to podcasts just to get through the day. So if I have missed some great resources, please tell me in the comments. I may be “out of the loop” on some things- and for that I am extremely grateful. OCD is not in control of my life anymore. I am not my OCD, it’s just that thing that sits over there in the corner- and that’s just fine.
Related: The devil’s voice: OCD recovery
To clarify, I am not an OCD therapist. I have no training with the illness. I only have personal lived experience. This is why I am point you to other resources who are properly trained to treat the illness.
For more understanding of what OCD is, check out this post by NOCD: What is OCD?
1. Proper treatment
I completed my OCD therapy through NOCD. However, they were not my first therapist… or my second. My second therapist did have an “OCD specialist” title that was terribly undeserved and she contributed to making my OCD worse.
When I had my first appointment with my NOCD therapist, she was the only one who called me out on my avoidance of saying specific words. She asked me to say one single word, and I cried- because I was too afraid.
Having a proper diagnosis and a proper therapist made the world of difference.
ERP is not the only type of therapy used in the treatment of OCD. ACT and CBT also have success stories. Each person responds differently to different treatments. Most importantly however, please be sure your treatment center, or therapist is thoroughly trained an experienced in dealing with the complexities of OCD. For that, look here or at the IOCDF’s website. Remember, my second therapist was also an “OCD specialist”. This was imply not true- and I’m not the only one with this story.
2. Podcasts
There are many differnt podcast with great value to the OCD community. I however, found none more valuable than The OCD Stories. I loved the personal journey stories, that are so different from person to person. If you’re looking to feel that you are not alone- this will be a tremendous help. He also has many different therapists as guests shedding light on their specialities or specific steps you can use toward your recovery.
You even can learn the different ways that OCD is treated to help decide which may be the right one for you.
This has been produced for many years and it is a terribly valuable vault of insight and information for OCD treatment.
Other great ones to recommend would be Kimberly Quinlan’s Your Anxiety Tool Kit or Jenna Overbaugh’s All the Hard Things.
3. Support groups
When I first started with NOCD therapy, they did not offer free support groups. They did offer a community chat. While I can understand the purpose of this chat, I personally found it an easy way to get sucked into other’s obsessions.
Later on, they added the support groups after I had been in treatment for about a year. I did enjoy going to these support groups. The support groups are free– even if you are not currently in treatment. The groups are operated by a NOCD trained therapist, and have different categories that would make it easier to find someone who you relate to. If you look here, you, can see all the different group focuses. You can find everything…like harm, or mental compulsions, managing recovery, relationship, autism and OCD. You can even groups specifically created for family members, if you yourself are not living with OCD, you can learn how to better support those who are!
This is brilliant. I actually found it personally helpful to hear from others who were both behind me in their journey as well as ahead of me. It was nice to share insights I had learned with others- as well as hear from those on the other side of recovery as promises of it can get better.
These groups are offered every day of the week., day time and evenings. You have no excuse. 🙂
4. Books
My number 1 read for understand living with OCD better would be Brain Lock by Jeffrey-M-Schwartz. This goes both through understand why OCD is the way that it is, to real life stories of various representations, to actionable steps to aid in your recovery. A great read.
Overcoming Unwanted Intrusive Thoughts by Martin N. Seif and Sally M. Winston the first book I had read. I liked the actionable steps it gave- although I remember specifically being bothered that it did not use the OCD title in any part of the book. But, that was just me, being sick, with the doubting disorder and needing to know for sure that I had OCD.
Speaking of, Needing To Know for Sure also by Martin N. Seif and Sally M. Winston is another great read I would highly recommend. This book is CBT based with practical clear examples and steps of how to respond to OCD thoughts.
I said before how I fully enjoyed hearing stories of other sufferers throughout my whole illness. So books like Is Fred in The Refrigerator by Shala Nicely, or Pure by Rose Cartwright. Pure was even turned into a television series which I had watched too. It did do a great representation of depicting the spiraling thoughts and intrusive images someone could be dealing with. Although, the focus is solely sexual and this may be upsetting or undesired to some viewers. More of Rose’s story can be read here.
Most recently, I read Turtles All the Way Down by John Green. This is a young adult fiction book where the protagonist suffers from OCD. Young adult fiction is not my personal taste. I read this solely for curiosity to see how the OCD was depicted. John Green used this book as a way to share some of his personal experience living with OCD and a way to spread more awareness of it. For this, I am thankful.
5. Instagram accounts
For instagram accounts, I think this comes back a lot to personal preference or possibly a specific OCD sub type. I personally really liked how clearly Alegra Kastens depicts her personal experience living with OCD. Now, as an OCD therapist- she shares both hope of healing and practical help.
Truly, there are so many accounts that help to spread hope, or awareness that are truly valuable. After I began recovering, I actually unfollowed many of these accounts because it was a part of my journey to recovery. I didn’t need them anymore. This is not to say they are not valuable. Being able to not focus so much of my energy to healing is a major point of progress- and for that, I am extremely grateful.
6. Journey Stories
By journey stories, I mean any kind of account where people share their own experience living with OCD. OCD manifest so very different in forms and length and intensity. No two are exactly the same. These stories, like those shared in The OCD Stories podcast helped me to find something to identify with. They also provided hope. I clearly remember Alegra Kastens saying that she felt 95% recovered. 95% to me felt absolutely unbelievable. But here was a woman, saying that it was possible. That hope was a fire under me.
NOCD had a specific page dedicated to journey stories. I even submitted my own, which I later posted on this very website. You can read that here.
Or read more stories from others here.
The Mighty also accepts articles written by all walks of like with various health concerns. You can find any relating to generalized anxiety, to depression or even specifically OCD.
7. Care for your body
There is no 1 thing that healed my OCD and depression. I still have OCD. However, I would never have been able to recover enough to fight back against this illness without taking the time to care for my body and provide it the nutrition and rest it needed.
My worst days living with OCD, always came after a poor night of sleep (or no sleep) and on my period days. There is a psychical health component 100%. Please do not ignore that.
My body had been fighting chronic whole body inflammation for years before my OCD ever set in. I had been dealing with chronic migraine for years before OCD ever set in. I’d been battling an auto-immune disease for years before OCD ever set in. I unknowingly had parasites and dysbiosis. So, when I actually began repairing my health piece by piece, I actually started to recover.
I created a free mini course showing you the same steps I used to aid in my recovery. You can access that here.
Now, I’m in a place where I often forget I have OCD at all. I still have anxiety and symptoms. I still struggle with body repetitive behaviors. But in no way am I the girl who spends her days staring at the wall with empty haunted eyes while her kids ask, “Mommy, why aren’t you talking?”
Related: Supporting anxiety and depression with nutrition
Related: Self care for depression: 10 things you need to try
For more information on proper treatment of OCD, please reach out to NOCD to schedule a free call
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. I do not recommend products that I have not personally vetted.
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