the best advice i’ve received from a therapist is to do my best to repeatedly do the opposite of what my brain tells me to do   not just not do it do the opposite it’s really hard but it’s just such a victory when i decide to only brush my teeth once despite my brain screaming to do it again and then my family doesn’t die it’s liberating   this is stupid but i got in a wreck this last summer and it basically made my ocd intensify 3x everything behind the wheel is slow calculated and precise i’m never not scanning the road 10 cars ahead despite the fear i try every once in a while just to go “ok i’m gonna drive fast now” and i do and my tires keep me on the road the car handles it   the other day i tore up a windy road in the rain my crash was a hydroplane in the rain and it was just so freeing to do that and realize that am not driving on ice whenever i am on wet pavement hell man i drove in the snow earlier this week   it’s amazing to be at this healthy spot now when 2 months ago i was calling out of work when it rained it was nice to sit there and actively act against my compulsions it felt like the first time i did something fun against my parents’ wishes that’s what my ocd brain feels like a helicopter mom