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Question: Dear Kelly, I am suffering with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and it is getting out of control. I organise my wardrobes and drawers over and over. I am also putting all the music collection and books on the shelves in alphabetical order, if one is misplaced, I go crazy. My family is exasperated with me and I know I have a problem. Please help. How can I stop being so obsessive?
Answer: OCD is merely a coping mechanism and habit that is picked up by an individual to feel emotionally secure. It is a temporary emotional high of comfort, plus a lot of anxiety. OCD can be cured and here are my three steps to change it.
1. Remove the label of OCD. When we label ourselves with disorders and conditions, we feel limited to change the condition. Replace the OCD label with ‘I have a habit to feel temporary comfort via organising things’.
2. Get into a deep understanding mode of the fact that you carry out these actions of excessive organising to feel relief. Your coping mechanism towards stress and upset is to tidy things. As you tidy things, you feel in control. Yet it is an illusionary and temporary high. Then you revert back to stress and anxiety and looking for the next thing to ‘change’.
3. Replace your stress, anxiety and negative emotions with longer periods of happier emotions. Happiness, peace and confidence are emotions that are created via positive thoughts. Learn to deal with your stress triggers in the moment via meditation, deep breathing techniques, mantras or audiobooks. As you learn to control your emotional state, your OCD will become a thing of the past.
