The Silent Thief: How OCD Steals Hours From Your Day
AUGUST 02, 2025
When you are performing compulsions, time will slip through your fingers like sand. What seems like “just one more time” eventually turns into 3, 8, 20, and 50 times, and before you know it, you have lost most of your day to OCD’s merciless grip.
The only way to counter this is to face OCD head-on through utilizing ERP. By identifying your triggers and exposing yourself to them without performing compulsions, you are gradually teaching your brain that you can tolerate uncertainty along with the anxiety that often accompanies it. The stakes are too high to avoid facing your triggers; the compulsions have been holding you back from growth and self-reliance while deceiving you into believing that they are helpful solutions, so the longer you perform them, the worse the obsessions will become. You have to fight! The best way to start is by accepting that the intrusive thoughts may be there until you die, but the actions you respond with are solely under your control.
There are numerous mornings that I feel compelled to lie down and ruminate for hours (in fact, this morning was one of them). However, I choose to make myself get up and bring the “morning dread” (also known as morning anxiety) and intrusive thoughts along for the ride. I let the thoughts repeat like a broken record as I begin my remote work or shadowbox, and I try to shift my focus to being present.
I watched for years where lying and crying in bed got me, and it was not very far. Regarding my OCD recovery, I did not make any real progress or lasting change until I began to perform ERP every week and eventually every day. You will make mistakes. You will have times where you perform compulsions instead of staying loyal to your plan; you may have times where you painfully lie in bed for several hours on end ruminating, but all you can do is forgive yourself and never quit trying. The stakes are too high to ignore this elephant anymore! You deserve to live a lively, fulfilling life that is aligned with your values, not instead aligned with OCD’s self-destructive agenda.
I believe in you just as I believe in myself. The redemption arc is something powerful and transformative; if you can embrace this next chapter, then your life will slowly evolve and become more rewarding and meaningful as you make your way back to the path that was meant for you all along.
I am wishing you the best, and I hope you know that you are not alone in this fight! More than anything, I want other people who are struggling with this ruthless illness to be able to recover, so every day, we must fight to take back all the time OCD stole from us. We will grow more resilient and grittier in the process, for these are truly the most invaluable rewards to be attained throughout this painful but positive process known as ERP.
ME vs. OCD 
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