I am celebrating 4 years recovered, no meds, and free from intrusive thoughts. Almost didnt make it out. Great to hear there are more that got their life back. It is possible.
I tried cutting out compulsions several times and made lots of progress, inevitably relapsing back into them due to safety seeking, reassurance and comfort, and most of all, habit. But I really turned a corner in recovery when I finally asked myself "am I living a fuller more meaningful life when I quit compulsions or when I am practicing them?" The answer was clear as day. Even though I felt more in control doing compulsions - I was miserable. With this, even though I still felt scared and had to accept a lot of "terrible" things, I committed to ridding compulsions from my life, confronting my demons and dismantling the systems that had landed me here. It was an uncomfortable and grueling process wrapped up with beauty and big milestones. It still is - that's life. But it has gotten immensely easier to walk this new path and I am far, far happier and more fulfilled than I ever was before. I welcome experiences and trust myself to handle them. There is no greater gift than that.
Thanks for sharing that, Lea! Asking those questions and taking those steps towards the uncomfortable feelings are so useful. It's been amazing to see the steps you've taken and the skills you've developed around these practices :)
Honestly the only thing that made me see life in a way other than the distorted one my mental illness presents to me are your videos. What can i say other than thank you for existing and making this content.
Wow, what an honest and candid video, Mark. This answers many of my questions about recovery in such a sincere way. I am looking forward to the videos ahead. Thank you for all you have provided us over the years, and for continuing to share so that others may benefit.
Its funny how things sometimes needs to become really bad before you trust your realization that you are doing something wrong LOL. I've been through a couple of your videos now and feel like i am back in my own face already. There is something poetic in bevoming friends with your thoughts and surprising even yourself that its making things better pretty quickly. Bye bye irrational fears, hello to myself. Thank you Mark!
Wow so happy that I found your page I battle with anxiety & depression for many years & just watching this gives me so much hope that I will overcome this terrible mental illness one day ❤️🙏🏾 Through the grace of God
I came across your channel when I was at my worst.. I struggled with harm OCD. I would have intrusive thoughts about stabbing people I love and it made me feel like I was going crazy. I thought one day I was going to snap and willingly hurt people I loved the most. But with tools I learned form people like you I was able to overcome my mental prison. If I can recover anyone can I promise.
@AustinCole-i1g Thanks for sharing that message, Austin! It's great to hear these tools found you when you needed them and you turned them into real change in your life. 😁🙇♂️
@@everybodyhasabrain hey man thanks for the reply !! I was wondering if you knew about the connection between low Testosterone and OCD? Apparently if you have OCD and low T existing together Testosterone replacement therapy can significantly elevate OCD symptoms. that was another huge part of my recovery just wondering man!! Thanks for all you do!
@@smit452 Have you learned about cutting out the compulsions? This video is in a playlist all about recovery. It could be a place to start learning about what's involved: th-cam.com/play/PLpVLVNDBy005GtVhw-bixMUiX8ejOPiyb.html&feature=shared
@@everybodyhasabrain thank you for replying Mark, if I have self harm ocd and big anxiety am I in danger? It is possible to recover after so many years?
Happy 10 year anniversary of this channel Mark. You have helped me a lot in my struggles with OCD.! Though I still struggle, I strongly believe I can win! Love from India❤🇮🇳
If you are watching this video, you probably need some reassurance that is indeed possible to recover from serious metal illness. It is. I have been there, it is! I know how you feel, I know it feels hopeless, like you relapse all the time, and that sometimes the possibility of being stuck in this diagnoses becomes an obsession in its own right. Probably the worst one of them all. It's not true. You can recover. Trust the process, do the things you like, follow Mark's advice (it was precious for my own recovery). Hang in there. It is SO worth it! Also, stop obsessing over wheter it is possible and just do it! After all, it's not like you have any other choiche! Come on! 💪💪💪 EDIT: by "stop obsessing" i mean "continue obsessing but accept it as brain-chatter, feel the fear it produces, dismiss it compassionately and move on to do the healty things you want to do". Of course.
Good man! We appreciate everything you’ve done and continue to do for the mental health community (everyone really) it truly means the world to us. Thank you.
I appreciate you. I suffer with intrusive thoughts. I am in the midst of recovery. But i still am not understanding them. Feels like I am crazy (as you state judging) them and that no one is safe around me. Haven’t started therapy yet. I appreciate you
@@everybodyhasabrain Honestly, I mean it. Your description of the condition exhibits a contemplative approach. It is obvious that you have thought about this well, and I would like to let you know that it has helped me formulate my own thoughts about it. To a life with less OCD :)
I can relate to you so much, especially the harm OCD. I’m so glad I found your page. I’m having a really hard time touching knifes. Thank you for sharing your story!
I had harm ocd. For me I thought I was going to willingly kill people I loved.. my Brain would have these thoughts and it made me think I was going crazy, I recovered!
Today I realized that I fight with anxiety and this fight makes it only stronger. I saw another video of yours where you said the same thing, but that idea need to be realized on own experience. I want to thank you, as many people want, I sure of it.
Hi Mark, just wanted to say that you are the man I want to become in the future not just intrusive thought free but a good human being and an even better man, You and my father are the only people I look up to and I just want to say a big big thank you….
Mark, I am from India. You are a gem. I keep on ruminating about something very absurd. I got admission in my grad college through a competitive exam. The results came online, but an official result used to come through post mail. Due to some address issue , that mail never came. When i took admission in college, they gave me admission but asked me to submit the official result. 4 years passed , i graduated from college and got my degree. But now i remember that i never submitted that doc, neither the college bothered. But this fear keeps on popping that at some point of time , the college will call me cancel my degree and my whole life will be over and i will feel a terrible shame and i will be called a fake. I sound ridiculous, but i cant do but think about it again and again
With these types of fears, I find it useful to do something I call "Stealing Happiness". Brains love to throw up these fears that something uncontrollable will happen to us and we'll lose EVERYTHING! It is natural we fear loss. But if we start reacting to the fear, we will miss out on life and we will lose things. So what helped me was giving myself trust to handle whatever happens, and commit to building an even bigger life to lose. Maybe I will lose it all! But I lived right now.
Hey Mark, happy 10th to ni begin with. You kept me alive last year ! How to handle a bad relapse and you are thinking, feeling the same again ! Same anxiety and compulsions !! I was ready with uncertainty but that one thought just one thought or rather feeling of what if I am going the same depression way last year has taken me to same path !
It's great you can see that! Doing compulsions around a fear of some bad thing happening is only going to create more bad things. It's useful to cut out compulsions like that
@@everybodyhasabrain i agree Mark. But I didn't wat to take go the route being depressed until wanting to be no more in a new country (i moved just at the time of the pandemic) i went home a few months back and was back on track since then (or so I thought) and once the anxiety sipped in I doubted if the last recovery was because I went to my home country. That feeling grew and quickly became necessity for the compulsions so much so that I booked ticket to go back and now thinking if that's going to solve the problem and then there will be nowhere else to go ! Oh this monster ! I had no themes whatsoever just the theme of if this is compulsion, if I am doing it right, will i become suicidal again and I am back where I was last year ! May be going back to the home country would be a better idea.....May be may be not. Oh this monster ! I have so much respect for you Mark. You were able to come outta it for GOOD !
These are helpful questions thanks for this example. I use your meditation and journal now and have been doing exposures in therapy. This channel helps!
As always very informative. It has been about 6 years since I stumbled across your youtube channel for the first time. It is embarrassing for how long I was trying to recover by fixing a problem. Also before being aware of what OCD is I was really into personal development stuff, unfortunately it was also mostly about fixing a problem. So in total I have 20 years of useless experience of trying to fix a problem. If I have invested those 20 years into practising something useful with the same intensity then probably I would be very rich and accomplished person now :)
Currently on my journey to recovery. However, it’s been a real struggle, since my instructive thoughts involve having no control over my body, and that there’s nothing to recover for and I should just die from onslaught of panic attacks. Like let it cause a heart attack. It’s weird, because I don’t like the feeling, but it’s like my mind won’t allow me to move on. I’m terrified I won’t get through it.
I've built this belief and have come to terms with the fact that life has no meaning and I want to enjoy this gift that also feels like a curse. I used to believe in nothing after life and was ok with that back then but once dpdr and depression hit it's like I believe every single thought that comes to mind. I try to stay off quora even tho it's so tempting and want to find an answer that I'm comfortable with. I feel like I believe and think about the worst when it comes to mind and just obsess over that thought or topic(religion, spiritualilty, philosophy) I sometimes just feel completely confused with reality and the purpose that comes with it, and my dpdr and depression circumstance. I'm starting therapy finally after they cancelled on me 2 weeks ago. And in that time I've built these beliefs which I'm kinda angry because. At times I feel like theres a missing piece to my life but I cant seem to figure it out. I used to enjoy life without a worry in the world hanging out with friends, going places, fancy restaurants, video games, fun with pets, loved playing guitar and so much more minor details. I did find this video helpful and am going to be definitely checking out the rest of your stuff❤❤
Great video, Mark! Honestly I don't know how it took so long for you to get depressed since you had so many symptoms and compulsions around so many things from a very early age.
Thank you so much for this video and I’m glad you’re doing doing much better. I also agree that OCD can be beat but I used the term remission since it can come back. I was free from OCD for about 10 years and medication really helped but I have it again after a series of stressful events in my life. This time is much different than my first time, especially because I have depersonalization and derealization and major depression with anhedonia. How do you overcome this if you can’t feel pleasure or enjoy anything/like anything or be yourself? Also my themes for OCD are very different this time around, it’s mostly targeted my hobbies/interests/passions that I’ve had for over 20 years along with fearing I have a different mental illness like schizophrenia, bi-polar, or borderline personality disorder. My first time with intrusive thoughts were very much like yours with harming other people, afraid of knives, children, animals etc. I would ask a million times if my parents thought I was a killer, rapist, pedophile over and over and looking back it’s actually kind of funny because it’s just so ridiculous now. Sorry for so much info. I’m just unsure of how to get better this time with things being so different than the first.
I struggle with Anxiety and Ocd since 2006. It was very manageable for 17 years. Very stressful events: I got so sick with daily OCD and anxiety. But for 17 years it was not bad at all. I still have hope I will be back to “normal”. I read, walk in the park etc. And watch Ocd stories on TH-cam. That helps a lot! Stay strong!
Hows your dyscalculia nowadays? They told me its something like dyslexia, something you need to find ways to work around, or play to something else thats more suits out strengths, which means minimizing jobs/professions that involve the heavy usage of numbers
I would not take the avoidance approach. What I did was download a bunch of math apps and just start working with numbers from scratch. I work a lot with numbers now and purposefully took on doing my own taxes for several years and was ok charge of budgeting for a charity I ran. It was scary at first but then it was about learning skills and putting systems in place to do things well
I don’t know if anyone in here is experiencing what I have. I am dealing with morbid intrusive thoughts about my kid for past 19 years. Sometimes are so bad and I feel so guilty. I love my baby so much, wonder what did I do so bad that God is punishing me so much!
Checking if people experience something similar is the type of reassurance compulsion that fuels more intrusive thoughts. Instead of seeing this as something brought by God, it'll be more useful to recognize it as the natural outcome of compulsions like that. Cutting out compulsions is a useful way to get started on making mental health changes
Love your videos so much! You always say that building mental fitness is about giving value to the things we do care about but my anxiety makes me constantly question whether my relationship is right for me or not and whether I love my partner or not. (ROCD) I know I shouldn’t get too attached to the theme of the anxiety but I bring it up because I’m scared I don’t even have these OCD compulsions in other areas of my life and I’m just kidding myself with this. Any help would be appreciated
It can really help to see that anxiety can't make us question something. We may notice a feeling or some uncertainty and try to scrub it away. But saying that anxiety makes us do compulsions is the same as somebody saying that a contaminated feeling makes them wash their hands again and again. The more you judge that uncertainty as something that shouldn't be there, and the more you try to clean it away, the more uncertainty you'll create!
@@everybodyhasabrain Wow, I didn’t expect such a quick response! I think I should’ve been a bit more clear with my original question. I understand what you’re saying about the questioning being a compulsion rather than it being automatic and I agree. However my main concern is about whether or not putting in work and moving forward in this relationship is actually worth it. Without “calculating” that, how do I actually know what to do. And calculation really seems like a compulsion here but also for some reason a necessity to move forward in the relationship
I am in a better places after a severe ocd relapse and going 15yrs without many symptoms. Severe anxiety came on and then ocd latched into everything. I had every single theme. I believe I was having psychotic symptoms with ocd. I believe recovery is possible but it takes hard work and you have to ignore a lot of it. My experience having it for over 15yrs it can come out of nowhere, grief, moving or any kind of life changes sets it off. It kinda just lurks in the background now. I’m prepared for it to go into the front seat and hopefully I don’t forget the tools I learned
Enjoy putting the tools into practice. Something that helped me a lot was seeing that there aren't "themes". It's all just the brain throwing up stuff. Uncertainties about some bad thing happening. So we don't have to engage with the content. It's just the latest uncertainty.
@@kristymarie6065 I would approach things differently. It's about me having skills and me making choices. It doesn't matter what my brain does. My mental health has nothing to do with the presence or absence of stuff my brain throws up. It's nice if it does something useful but I wouldn't expect it to. That's just gambling. I prefer to be the one that knows the tools and practices them
Dang dude. I'm like a low grade you. That's crazy, there are so many of the things you describe is like what I go through but I'm really self aware so a lot of time I can catch these composition before they got out of control. Can't tell you how many time I did the stove thing and with doors to. Checking and rechecking even when I've felt the object it self.
Hi mark! I happened to see your convo with a user saying it’s almost impossible to recover from intrusive thoughts and seeking reassurance. I get you don’t have to reassure them since it’s a compulsion and you said you are not a good fit as a therapist for them. However, being myself in the middle of an OCD relapse, I found it a bit harsh. Sometimes it seems impossibile to recover and compulsion are difficult to control. Why wouldn’t you be a good fit for people having difficulties believing in themselves?
@ciao3926 Did I tell them the issue was that they don't "believe in themselves"? That doesn't sound like something I would say. I don't know what that would mean. Was it a different reason? There are a bunch of scenarios where I wouldn't be a useful support for people and they're looking for something very different from what I do. In those situations, it's much more useful for people to connect with the types of things they're looking for.
Do you reckon thought challenging, and just sayinf tbunfs like" oh theyre just thoughts, who cares" is also ok to do? Would that be ok to do? Im trying to do that to change relationship with thought's
I'd see that as the same relationship: it's still just talking to thoughts and putting them at the center. It could be useful to see that, in this relationship, the content of what we're saying is not nearly as important as what we're spending time and energy on. Even if I'm telling a thought it's not important, I'm still engaged with the thought and elevating it in importance over other things in my life I could be engaging with. That would be like telling a tree it's just a tree every time I walk past it. If you watched somebody do that every day, you would probably assume that tree is very important to them. And maybe it's more than just a tree or why else would they need to talk to it?!
Whether somebody does therapy or they taking medication or they do both, they still have to make changes. Multiple research studies have shown that using self-help books is just as effective as going to a therapist because either way, YOU are the one that's going to make changes. It's no different than physical fitness. If you just talk with your personal trainer but you don't actually do anything or change anything, then why would anything change? So it can really help to approach any help with mental health not as a "treatment". It's not something that's done to you. It's an opportunity for you to access and learn skills.
I have a question.. when you went to get help, did the provider have all the skills that you needed or did you have to jump around with providers or did you have to create your own methods and are these put together someplace? thanks to anyone who knows!
I understood that all of these mental conditions like sticky thoughts, anxiety, ruminations are chronic, by that i mean If you get over this you still have a chance to be in a relapse 🤷🏻♀️ And the most important thing is to understand that its okay, and the next time when your brain starts to throw thoughts like did it before you will be ready for that, and you will know how to react to that🙂 we are just built differently , we are much sensitive than others, idk how all of you think about this but im pretty sure that this is in our Gens. So lets just relax and live our life without making it difficult and lets realize that this is part of us, we just need to learn how to live with it, and not let the thoughts rule and ruin our lives.
Are you saying that the presence of terrible thoughts is a disorder? So do you mean I could someday have thoughts about truly horrible violent things, like empty donut boxes again?
@Adam-l5b4l sorry, I'm not sure what you mean but I also wouldn't have a random opinion on some group of therapies. I have lots of opinions on types of beer and chocolate bars and how much cream to put on a plate of chilaquiles, though.
@everybodyhasabrain OK thanks for reply, one other question, but do you think ocd comes from trauma? Or is it all genetic and something you're born with?
@@Adam-l5b4l This is an example of classic reassurance checking compulsion. There are also many more options than the two you proposed. It could really help to take this time and energy spent on compulsions and instead invest it in things you actually want to be growing in life.
@everybodyhasabrain thanks again for your response, just one last question, I feel as if im using erp as a compulsion, like using erp as a "cure" and therefore making myself worse. What would you suggest I do from here? Thanks a lot
Its crazy today i went on and on to find out what i have cause since 4 days i dont hear normally voices and only when i overthink stress myself out is there a way out of my mental illness? I got better i am still in disbelief
I do coaching online BUT my coaching practice is full right now. So I started up an Instagram Subscription channel to have a more accessible option. It's more affordable and doesn't depend on how many Zoom calls I can fit in a day. I post most days and the posts I make there go more in-depth than on my public Instagram channel, and they're all in response to topics and questions brought up by Subscribers. It's intended as a customizable self-help resource. I also answer DMs there from Subscribers first and do bi-weekly Q&A sessions for Subscribers. If you'd be interested in that, let me know if you have any questions, and you can find a Subscribe link near the top of my Instagram profile: instagram.com/markwfreeman
@BISLERIFRESH That's not how I approach things. I would start by asking what the person wants to be doing in life and then we'd explore how to do that and, as part of that, we'd explore compulsions to cut out and exercise to build capacities, like focus, how to move attention around, etc
I have not been to a gym in almost 3 years. So the only thing I bench is the ground. But I imagine the ground is quite heavy. When I push it away, it always seems enormous!
Chronic just means that there's no cure but you can recover. Or manage it on a way it doesn't brother you. I am doing therapy. My therapist told to me this is going to fcking hard. But I have to trust him and I hope he and his supervisor are right about everything.
It would defeat the purpose of the video to practice a compulsion like that so please definitely DESTROY whatever invented meaningless meaning the brain is attaching to a bunch of pixels on the screen
Not trying to be critical here but I looked up serious mental illness and OCD is not mentioned at all. OCD is difficult but wouldn’t it fall underneath the more severe mental illnesses. Great video BTW, I hope to recover someday.
OCD takes up a lot of cognitive space and causes a great deal of distress and impairs people’s lives, and the fact you undermine it tells me you don’t suffer from it. What an ignorant comment. OCD is rooted in an inability to regulate one’s feelings and anxieties.
@@gingerisevil02 OMG, you totally took my comment out of context, one of my obsessions has always been losing my mind, so I was commenting for reassurance about why he was saying OCD is a serious mental illness... I was diagnosed with severe OCD at 14, and have had it for my most of my life, you don't know me!! So why are you passing judgement on me because you are assuming I meant something I didn't... And I agree that it causes a great deal of distress I deal with obsessions and compulsions everyday! You are actually ignorant for attacking me because I was seeking reassurance from Mark about what he was talking about(one of the biggest symptoms of OCD)! You totally misunderstood what I was saying maybe inquire before you attack me and tell me I don't have OCD, because I do!!!
@@everybodyhasabrain I didn't say OCD isn't serious!!!! I have severe OCD, I didn't know OCD was classified under a serious mental illness in the DSM, my bad! Obviously it's serious, i've suffered with severe OCD for 24 years. I even asked wouldn’t it be classified under “severe” mental illnesses, because I am aware how debilitating it is obviously!! One of my main obsessions has always been worrying about becoming Schizophrenic, so when you said it was a serious mental illness, my disorder latches onto that and causes black and white that it falls under serious mental illness like Schizophrenia, my bad... Not sure why you're attacking me either, when my OCD was triggered, you're actually totally attacking me because of the very disorder that you are trying to help us get free of, I hope you understand, I misunderstood what you meant, my bad. Guess i'll unsubscribe now, my GOD! You actually could’ve politely inquired about my confusion, instead of being rude, pretty unprofessional.
I am celebrating 4 years recovered, no meds, and free from intrusive thoughts. Almost didnt make it out. Great to hear there are more that got their life back. It is possible.
Congratulations on the steps you've taken!
@@dyonbakker4630 exercise, nutrition and surrender
@@DreamGarageApp right now i don't even feel that it's possible. Comments like these give me hope
@@agg5324same…
Congratulations
I tried cutting out compulsions several times and made lots of progress, inevitably relapsing back into them due to safety seeking, reassurance and comfort, and most of all, habit. But I really turned a corner in recovery when I finally asked myself "am I living a fuller more meaningful life when I quit compulsions or when I am practicing them?" The answer was clear as day. Even though I felt more in control doing compulsions - I was miserable. With this, even though I still felt scared and had to accept a lot of "terrible" things, I committed to ridding compulsions from my life, confronting my demons and dismantling the systems that had landed me here. It was an uncomfortable and grueling process wrapped up with beauty and big milestones. It still is - that's life. But it has gotten immensely easier to walk this new path and I am far, far happier and more fulfilled than I ever was before. I welcome experiences and trust myself to handle them. There is no greater gift than that.
Thanks for sharing that, Lea! Asking those questions and taking those steps towards the uncomfortable feelings are so useful. It's been amazing to see the steps you've taken and the skills you've developed around these practices :)
I’m so annoyed that I’ve been watching mental health videos since TH-cam started and I’ve only just came across this channel?!
You found it now!
Honestly the only thing that made me see life in a way other than the distorted one my mental illness presents to me are your videos. What can i say other than thank you for existing and making this content.
I'm so glad these tools have helped on the adventure!
Yes it is possible, I am an example!
Absolutely!
Mark is a very good human Honestly been helping me
Since 2015
A real human being and a real hero
Yes. Fully recovered.
Enjoy the exploring ahead!
Wow, what an honest and candid video, Mark. This answers many of my questions about recovery in such a sincere way. I am looking forward to the videos ahead. Thank you for all you have provided us over the years, and for continuing to share so that others may benefit.
Thank you for watching and being part of the community.
Its funny how things sometimes needs to become really bad before you trust your realization that you are doing something wrong LOL.
I've been through a couple of your videos now and feel like i am back in my own face already. There is something poetic in bevoming friends with your thoughts and surprising even yourself that its making things better pretty quickly. Bye bye irrational fears, hello to myself.
Thank you Mark!
😁🙌 it is useful to give that trust to ourselves and our awareness!
Wow so happy that I found your page I battle with anxiety & depression for many years & just watching this gives me so much hope that I will overcome this terrible mental illness one day ❤️🙏🏾 Through the grace of God
I'm glad you're finding these videos useful! Enjoy the steps ahead :)
I came across your channel when I was at my worst.. I struggled with harm OCD. I would have intrusive thoughts about stabbing people I love and it made me feel like I was going crazy. I thought one day I was going to snap and willingly hurt people I loved the most. But with tools I learned form people like you I was able to overcome my mental prison. If I can recover anyone can I promise.
@AustinCole-i1g Thanks for sharing that message, Austin! It's great to hear these tools found you when you needed them and you turned them into real change in your life. 😁🙇♂️
@@everybodyhasabrain hey man thanks for the reply !! I was wondering if you knew about the connection between low Testosterone and OCD? Apparently if you have OCD and low T existing together Testosterone replacement therapy can significantly elevate OCD symptoms. that was another huge part of my recovery just wondering man!! Thanks for all you do!
Please please please tell me HOW I am suffering from harm ocd and anxiety but self harm ocd the most.... 9 years now... how to stop this?
@@smit452 Have you learned about cutting out the compulsions? This video is in a playlist all about recovery. It could be a place to start learning about what's involved: th-cam.com/play/PLpVLVNDBy005GtVhw-bixMUiX8ejOPiyb.html&feature=shared
@@everybodyhasabrain thank you for replying Mark, if I have self harm ocd and big anxiety am I in danger? It is possible to recover after so many years?
Happy 10 year anniversary of this channel Mark. You have helped me a lot in my struggles with OCD.! Though I still struggle, I strongly believe I can win!
Love from India❤🇮🇳
If you are watching this video, you probably need some reassurance that is indeed possible to recover from serious metal illness.
It is. I have been there, it is! I know how you feel, I know it feels hopeless, like you relapse all the time, and that sometimes the possibility of being stuck in this diagnoses becomes an obsession in its own right. Probably the worst one of them all.
It's not true. You can recover. Trust the process, do the things you like, follow Mark's advice (it was precious for my own recovery).
Hang in there. It is SO worth it!
Also, stop obsessing over wheter it is possible and just do it! After all, it's not like you have any other choiche!
Come on! 💪💪💪
EDIT: by "stop obsessing" i mean "continue obsessing but accept it as brain-chatter, feel the fear it produces, dismiss it compassionately and move on to do the healty things you want to do". Of course.
Good man! We appreciate everything you’ve done and continue to do for the mental health community (everyone really) it truly means the world to us. Thank you.
Thank you, Jason!
Thank you Mark I've had my own personal struggles to like everyone has in this life I appreciate your honesty.
Thank you!
Happy 10 years of community!
Thanks for being part of the community, Derek!
I appreciate you. I suffer with intrusive thoughts. I am in the midst of recovery. But i still am not understanding them. Feels like I am crazy (as you state judging) them and that no one is safe around me. Haven’t started therapy yet. I appreciate you
It’s been an honour working with you, Mark.
Graham
You are the best ocd youtuber
Thank you. That is very kind of you!
@@everybodyhasabrain Honestly, I mean it. Your description of the condition exhibits a contemplative approach. It is obvious that you have thought about this well, and I would like to let you know that it has helped me formulate my own thoughts about it.
To a life with less OCD :)
I appreciate the kind words. It's wonderful to hear you've taken these tools and turned them into action in your life!
Wow I’m so glad I ran across this guy that recommended you to us
I'm glad you found your way here as well!
I can relate to you so much, especially the harm OCD. I’m so glad I found your page. I’m having a really hard time touching knifes. Thank you for sharing your story!
I had harm ocd. For me I thought I was going to willingly kill people I loved.. my Brain would have these thoughts and it made me think I was going crazy, I recovered!
You make incredible videos, please don’t stop
Thank you for the kind words
Today I realized that I fight with anxiety and this fight makes it only stronger. I saw another video of yours where you said the same thing, but that idea need to be realized on own experience. I want to thank you, as many people want, I sure of it.
Enjoy dropping the fight with anxiety!
Hi Mark, just wanted to say that you are the man I want to become in the future not just intrusive thought free but a good human being and an even better man,
You and my father are the only people I look up to and I just want to say a big big thank you….
That is very kind of you. It can be a great practice to explore how we can look up to ourselves in any moment. Enjoy the exploring!
Wow. This really brings hope to my recovery. Thank you so much for sharing your story, thank you thank you thank you. May you continue to be well
Thanks! Enjoy the steps ahead!
Hearty congratulations Mark and everyone in the community ! Thanks to Mark for sharing his wisdom and compassion 🙏
Thanks for being part of the community!
Did beach lifeguarding for ten years and never thought of it in the way you described it but what a cool way to look at it.
Happy swimming!
I pray that once i can smile again like u do lmfao🥹👍🏼
You can do that today!
Recovery is a practice 🧡
Indeed!
thanks :)
Absolutely true
I’m glad you posted a new video mark you really helped me with intrusive thoughts and you helped me see reality and this is a great video to help
I'm honoured to be part of the journey in the wilderness of reality!
God bless you Mark
Thank you, Kareem.
Mark, I am from India. You are a gem. I keep on ruminating about something very absurd. I got admission in my grad college through a competitive exam. The results came online, but an official result used to come through post mail. Due to some address issue , that mail never came. When i took admission in college, they gave me admission but asked me to submit the official result. 4 years passed , i graduated from college and got my degree. But now i remember that i never submitted that doc, neither the college bothered. But this fear keeps on popping that at some point of time , the college will call me cancel my degree and my whole life will be over and i will feel a terrible shame and i will be called a fake.
I sound ridiculous, but i cant do but think about it again and again
With these types of fears, I find it useful to do something I call "Stealing Happiness". Brains love to throw up these fears that something uncontrollable will happen to us and we'll lose EVERYTHING! It is natural we fear loss. But if we start reacting to the fear, we will miss out on life and we will lose things. So what helped me was giving myself trust to handle whatever happens, and commit to building an even bigger life to lose. Maybe I will lose it all! But I lived right now.
Hey Mark, happy 10th to ni
begin with. You kept me alive last year ! How to handle a bad relapse and you are thinking, feeling the same again ! Same anxiety and compulsions !! I was ready with uncertainty but that one thought just one thought or rather feeling of what if I am going the same depression way last year has taken me to same path !
It's great you can see that! Doing compulsions around a fear of some bad thing happening is only going to create more bad things. It's useful to cut out compulsions like that
@@everybodyhasabrain i agree Mark. But I didn't wat to take go the route being depressed until wanting to be no more in a new country (i moved just at the time of the pandemic) i went home a few months back and was back on track since then (or so I thought) and once the anxiety sipped in I doubted if the last recovery was because I went to my home country. That feeling grew and quickly became necessity for the compulsions so much so that I booked ticket to go back and now thinking if that's going to solve the problem and then there will be nowhere else to go ! Oh this monster ! I had no themes whatsoever just the theme of if this is compulsion, if I am doing it right, will i become suicidal again and I am back where I was last year ! May be going back to the home country would be a better idea.....May be may be not. Oh this monster ! I have so much respect for you Mark. You were able to come outta it for GOOD !
Thanks Mark!!!😊
😁🙌
These are helpful questions thanks for this example.
I use your meditation and journal now and have been doing exposures in therapy. This channel helps!
I'm glad you're finding it helpful!
As always very informative. It has been about 6 years since I stumbled across your youtube channel for the first time. It is embarrassing for how long I was trying to recover by fixing a problem. Also before being aware of what OCD is I was really into personal development stuff, unfortunately it was also mostly about fixing a problem. So in total I have 20 years of useless experience of trying to fix a problem. If I have invested those 20 years into practising something useful with the same intensity then probably I would be very rich and accomplished person now :)
Happiness is... Mark posting a video! 🥰🥰🥰
Thanks for watching!
Thank you so much Mark, you are helping me so much.
Thank you mark ❤️
You are very welcome :)
Mark, you have been a life saver. Your videos have helped me so much with my ocd. Thank you my friend.
Thanks! Happy to be part of your brain adventures, Maximilian!
Currently on my journey to recovery. However, it’s been a real struggle, since my instructive thoughts involve having no control over my body, and that there’s nothing to recover for and I should just die from onslaught of panic attacks. Like let it cause a heart attack. It’s weird, because I don’t like the feeling, but it’s like my mind won’t allow me to move on. I’m terrified I won’t get through it.
Hey, thank you for sharing. Could you make a seperate video on misophonia?
Great video Mark, I look forward to the rest of the series😊👍🙏
Thanks, Dean!
brilliant, mark. Thanku. I look forward to the next videos.
I was first diagnosed with something I think fifteen years ago now.
Thanks for watching, Daniel!
Can't wait for this series! Thanks Mark :)
Thanks for watching, Andrea!
Darn it! I always miss out on your talks but I'm glad I can watch them later.
You didn't miss anything!
Thank you
I've built this belief and have come to terms with the fact that life has no meaning and I want to enjoy this gift that also feels like a curse. I used to believe in nothing after life and was ok with that back then but once dpdr and depression hit it's like I believe every single thought that comes to mind. I try to stay off quora even tho it's so tempting and want to find an answer that I'm comfortable with. I feel like I believe and think about the worst when it comes to mind and just obsess over that thought or topic(religion, spiritualilty, philosophy) I sometimes just feel completely confused with reality and the purpose that comes with it, and my dpdr and depression circumstance. I'm starting therapy finally after they cancelled on me 2 weeks ago. And in that time I've built these beliefs which I'm kinda angry because. At times I feel like theres a missing piece to my life but I cant seem to figure it out. I used to enjoy life without a worry in the world hanging out with friends, going places, fancy restaurants, video games, fun with pets, loved playing guitar and so much more minor details. I did find this video helpful and am going to be definitely checking out the rest of your stuff❤❤
In the beginning I used to enjoy life**
At times in my thoughts I'm like where's the blue pill how did it come these sudden questions and negative statements, stress, and anxiety
Here's a video on cutting out the compulsions that fuel derealization / depersonalization: th-cam.com/video/kHkC58l193s/w-d-xo.html
@@chechedobrik6456 how is it going
Woah! Didn't see that coming 💕
Videos can attack at any moment, like donuts.
Great video, Mark!
Honestly I don't know how it took so long for you to get depressed since you had so many symptoms and compulsions around so many things from a very early age.
🤣 because I thought all of that stuff was normal! It had always been there, so it was only when things got really really really bad that I noticed.
Top quality stuff
Thanks, Oliver!
Thank you so much for this video and I’m glad you’re doing doing much better.
I also agree that OCD can be beat but I used the term remission since it can come back. I was free from OCD for about 10 years and medication really helped but I have it again after a series of stressful events in my life.
This time is much different than my first time, especially because I have depersonalization and derealization and major depression with anhedonia.
How do you overcome this if you can’t feel pleasure or enjoy anything/like anything or be yourself?
Also my themes for OCD are very different this time around, it’s mostly targeted my hobbies/interests/passions that I’ve had for over 20 years along with fearing I have a different mental illness like schizophrenia, bi-polar, or borderline personality disorder.
My first time with intrusive thoughts were very much like yours with harming other people, afraid of knives, children, animals etc. I would ask a million times if my parents thought I was a killer, rapist, pedophile over and over and looking back it’s actually kind of funny because it’s just so ridiculous now.
Sorry for so much info. I’m just unsure of how to get better this time with things being so different than the first.
I struggle with Anxiety and Ocd since 2006. It was very manageable for 17 years. Very stressful events: I got so sick with daily OCD and anxiety. But for 17 years it was not bad at all. I still have hope I will be back to “normal”. I read, walk in the park etc. And watch Ocd stories on TH-cam. That helps a lot!
Stay strong!
Great video Mark!
Thanks, Patrik!
Hows your dyscalculia nowadays? They told me its something like dyslexia, something you need to find ways to work around, or play to something else thats more suits out strengths, which means minimizing jobs/professions that involve the heavy usage of numbers
I would not take the avoidance approach. What I did was download a bunch of math apps and just start working with numbers from scratch. I work a lot with numbers now and purposefully took on doing my own taxes for several years and was ok charge of budgeting for a charity I ran. It was scary at first but then it was about learning skills and putting systems in place to do things well
I don’t know if anyone in here is experiencing what I have.
I am dealing with morbid intrusive thoughts about my kid for past 19 years.
Sometimes are so bad and I feel so guilty.
I love my baby so much, wonder what did I do so bad that God is punishing me so much!
Checking if people experience something similar is the type of reassurance compulsion that fuels more intrusive thoughts. Instead of seeing this as something brought by God, it'll be more useful to recognize it as the natural outcome of compulsions like that. Cutting out compulsions is a useful way to get started on making mental health changes
Love your videos so much! You always say that building mental fitness is about giving value to the things we do care about but my anxiety makes me constantly question whether my relationship is right for me or not and whether I love my partner or not. (ROCD) I know I shouldn’t get too attached to the theme of the anxiety but I bring it up because I’m scared I don’t even have these OCD compulsions in other areas of my life and I’m just kidding myself with this. Any help would be appreciated
It can really help to see that anxiety can't make us question something. We may notice a feeling or some uncertainty and try to scrub it away. But saying that anxiety makes us do compulsions is the same as somebody saying that a contaminated feeling makes them wash their hands again and again. The more you judge that uncertainty as something that shouldn't be there, and the more you try to clean it away, the more uncertainty you'll create!
@@everybodyhasabrain Wow, I didn’t expect such a quick response! I think I should’ve been a bit more clear with my original question. I understand what you’re saying about the questioning being a compulsion rather than it being automatic and I agree. However my main concern is about whether or not putting in work and moving forward in this relationship is actually worth it. Without “calculating” that, how do I actually know what to do. And calculation really seems like a compulsion here but also for some reason a necessity to move forward in the relationship
I am in a better places after a severe ocd relapse and going 15yrs without many symptoms. Severe anxiety came on and then ocd latched into everything. I had every single theme. I believe I was having psychotic symptoms with ocd. I believe recovery is possible but it takes hard work and you have to ignore a lot of it. My experience having it for over 15yrs it can come out of nowhere, grief, moving or any kind of life changes sets it off. It kinda just lurks in the background now. I’m prepared for it to go into the front seat and hopefully I don’t forget the tools I learned
Enjoy putting the tools into practice. Something that helped me a lot was seeing that there aren't "themes". It's all just the brain throwing up stuff. Uncertainties about some bad thing happening. So we don't have to engage with the content. It's just the latest uncertainty.
@@everybodyhasabrain good way to look at it mark! Thank you
@@everybodyhasabrain Once you have retrained your brain with recovery and the tools does your brain remember it?
@@kristymarie6065 I would approach things differently. It's about me having skills and me making choices. It doesn't matter what my brain does. My mental health has nothing to do with the presence or absence of stuff my brain throws up. It's nice if it does something useful but I wouldn't expect it to. That's just gambling. I prefer to be the one that knows the tools and practices them
@@everybodyhasabrain makes sense, thank you
Does your book include the skills you used to beat ocd?
It does.
i feel like ive progressed during the day but the carnival restarts the second my head hits the pillow. Humans require a sleep switch
Yea ocd is why I don’t sleep.
Dang dude. I'm like a low grade you. That's crazy, there are so many of the things you describe is like what I go through but I'm really self aware so a lot of time I can catch these composition before they got out of control. Can't tell you how many time I did the stove thing and with doors to. Checking and rechecking even when I've felt the object it self.
Hi mark!
I happened to see your convo with a user saying it’s almost impossible to recover from intrusive thoughts and seeking reassurance. I get you don’t have to reassure them since it’s a compulsion and you said you are not a good fit as a therapist for them. However, being myself in the middle of an OCD relapse, I found it a bit harsh. Sometimes it seems impossibile to recover and compulsion are difficult to control. Why wouldn’t you be a good fit for people having difficulties believing in themselves?
@ciao3926 Did I tell them the issue was that they don't "believe in themselves"? That doesn't sound like something I would say. I don't know what that would mean. Was it a different reason? There are a bunch of scenarios where I wouldn't be a useful support for people and they're looking for something very different from what I do. In those situations, it's much more useful for people to connect with the types of things they're looking for.
Oh I see what you mean, thank you for your answer and your work
Do you reckon thought challenging, and just sayinf tbunfs like" oh theyre just thoughts, who cares" is also ok to do? Would that be ok to do? Im trying to do that to change relationship with thought's
I'd see that as the same relationship: it's still just talking to thoughts and putting them at the center. It could be useful to see that, in this relationship, the content of what we're saying is not nearly as important as what we're spending time and energy on. Even if I'm telling a thought it's not important, I'm still engaged with the thought and elevating it in importance over other things in my life I could be engaging with. That would be like telling a tree it's just a tree every time I walk past it. If you watched somebody do that every day, you would probably assume that tree is very important to them. And maybe it's more than just a tree or why else would they need to talk to it?!
Is there a chance for me to recovery with talk therapy (without meds) because I have scared of the benzodiazepine side effects.
Whether somebody does therapy or they taking medication or they do both, they still have to make changes. Multiple research studies have shown that using self-help books is just as effective as going to a therapist because either way, YOU are the one that's going to make changes. It's no different than physical fitness. If you just talk with your personal trainer but you don't actually do anything or change anything, then why would anything change? So it can really help to approach any help with mental health not as a "treatment". It's not something that's done to you. It's an opportunity for you to access and learn skills.
4:06
So useful to explore how we can turn that definition of great mental health into a practice in our daily lives.
I have a question.. when you went to get help, did the provider have all the skills that you needed or did you have to jump around with providers or did you have to create your own methods and are these put together someplace? thanks to anyone who knows!
i see in the info section the book. :D I bought it
I understood that all of these mental conditions like sticky thoughts, anxiety, ruminations are chronic, by that i mean If you get over this you still have a chance to be in a relapse 🤷🏻♀️
And the most important thing is to understand that its okay, and the next time when your brain starts to throw thoughts like did it before you will be ready for that, and you will know how to react to that🙂 we are just built differently , we are much sensitive than others, idk how all of you think about this but im pretty sure that this is in our Gens. So lets just relax and live our life without making it difficult and lets realize that this is part of us, we just need to learn how to live with it, and not let the thoughts rule and ruin our lives.
Are you saying that the presence of terrible thoughts is a disorder? So do you mean I could someday have thoughts about truly horrible violent things, like empty donut boxes again?
Just curious Mark, what do you think of different types of trauma therapies? Not using erp but a different type of trauma therapy?
@Adam-l5b4l sorry, I'm not sure what you mean but I also wouldn't have a random opinion on some group of therapies. I have lots of opinions on types of beer and chocolate bars and how much cream to put on a plate of chilaquiles, though.
@everybodyhasabrain OK thanks for reply, one other question, but do you think ocd comes from trauma? Or is it all genetic and something you're born with?
@@Adam-l5b4l This is an example of classic reassurance checking compulsion. There are also many more options than the two you proposed. It could really help to take this time and energy spent on compulsions and instead invest it in things you actually want to be growing in life.
@everybodyhasabrain thanks again for your response, just one last question, I feel as if im using erp as a compulsion, like using erp as a "cure" and therefore making myself worse. What would you suggest I do from here? Thanks a lot
Its crazy today i went on and on to find out what i have cause since 4 days i dont hear normally voices and only when i overthink stress myself out is there a way out of my mental illness? I got better i am still in disbelief
Its just doesnt make sense why i would get better since 4 days.... Hopefully i can heal 100%
💙🙇♂️
Hi Mark! Do you provide private counselling online?
I do coaching online BUT my coaching practice is full right now. So I started up an Instagram Subscription channel to have a more accessible option. It's more affordable and doesn't depend on how many Zoom calls I can fit in a day. I post most days and the posts I make there go more in-depth than on my public Instagram channel, and they're all in response to topics and questions brought up by Subscribers. It's intended as a customizable self-help resource. I also answer DMs there from Subscribers first and do bi-weekly Q&A sessions for Subscribers. If you'd be interested in that, let me know if you have any questions, and you can find a Subscribe link near the top of my Instagram profile: instagram.com/markwfreeman
What is your opinion of recovering from severe adhd?
Are you asking about how to do it?
@@everybodyhasabrainyes
@BISLERIFRESH That's not how I approach things. I would start by asking what the person wants to be doing in life and then we'd explore how to do that and, as part of that, we'd explore compulsions to cut out and exercise to build capacities, like focus, how to move attention around, etc
Mark the thumbnail makes it apparent that you are swole. What do you bench?
I have not been to a gym in almost 3 years. So the only thing I bench is the ground. But I imagine the ground is quite heavy. When I push it away, it always seems enormous!
@@everybodyhasabrain ahh nice, I always prefer weights but I used to do gymnastics so can appreciate what's possible with bodyweight exercises!
You haven’t been to a gym? I wish I was naturally built like Mark Freeman 💪
@@paul8926 I exercise regularly. There's no need for a gym to get an intense workout. That's just a bonus if you have access to one.
Chronic just means that there's no cure but you can recover. Or manage it on a way it doesn't brother you. I am doing therapy. My therapist told to me this is going to fcking hard. But I have to trust him and I hope he and his supervisor are right about everything.
It depends who you surround yourself..
I'd like to give you a like on your video but right now you've got exactly 365 likes..like a year has days...you know...I don't want to destroy this
It would defeat the purpose of the video to practice a compulsion like that so please definitely DESTROY whatever invented meaningless meaning the brain is attaching to a bunch of pixels on the screen
366
@@honoringlife896 WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Not trying to be critical here but I looked up serious mental illness and OCD is not mentioned at all. OCD is difficult but wouldn’t it fall underneath the more severe mental illnesses. Great video BTW, I hope to recover someday.
You totally picked the wrong day to tell me that OCD isn't serious.
@@everybodyhasabrain 🤣🤣 boxing match incoming haha
OCD takes up a lot of cognitive space and causes a great deal of distress and impairs people’s lives, and the fact you undermine it tells me you don’t suffer from it. What an ignorant comment. OCD is rooted in an inability to regulate one’s feelings and anxieties.
@@gingerisevil02 OMG, you totally took my comment out of context, one of my obsessions has always been losing my mind, so I was commenting for reassurance about why he was saying OCD is a serious mental illness... I was diagnosed with severe OCD at 14, and have had it for my most of my life, you don't know me!! So why are you passing judgement on me because you are assuming I meant something I didn't... And I agree that it causes a great deal of distress I deal with obsessions and compulsions everyday! You are actually ignorant for attacking me because I was seeking reassurance from Mark about what he was talking about(one of the biggest symptoms of OCD)! You totally misunderstood what I was saying maybe inquire before you attack me and tell me I don't have OCD, because I do!!!
@@everybodyhasabrain I didn't say OCD isn't serious!!!! I have severe OCD, I didn't know OCD was classified under a serious mental illness in the DSM, my bad! Obviously it's serious, i've suffered with severe OCD for 24 years. I even asked wouldn’t it be classified under “severe” mental illnesses, because I am aware how debilitating it is obviously!! One of my main obsessions has always been worrying about becoming Schizophrenic, so when you said it was a serious mental illness, my disorder latches onto that and causes black and white that it falls under serious mental illness like Schizophrenia, my bad... Not sure why you're attacking me either, when my OCD was triggered, you're actually totally attacking me because of the very disorder that you are trying to help us get free of, I hope you understand, I misunderstood what you meant, my bad. Guess i'll unsubscribe now, my GOD!
You actually could’ve politely inquired about my confusion, instead of being rude, pretty unprofessional.