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Maintain Gains

Goal

To learn how to maintain the gains you have made.

Maintaining Gains (Derisley et al., pp. 173-174; 177-178; 181-182)

Maintaining GainsNow that you have been making progress toward beating your OCD, it’s important to think about some of the ways in which you can stay on top of the OCD and maintain the gains you have made. This is important because OCD can be unpredictable, and it can sometimes try to sneak back into your life. This lesson will help you become equipped for this possibility. Consider the following:

Examples of times when OCD may try to reappear in your life:

  • Moving
  • Changing jobs or schools
  • Studying/taking school exams
  • Experiencing a life transition (leaving home, entering the workforce, getting married, having a baby, etc.)
  • Experiencing a loss (death of a loved oneorpet, losing a significant relationship, etc.)
  • Difficult or stressful job
  • Having frequent, stressful ups and down with friends/family members

Things to look out for that may indicate that your OCD is trying to reappear:

  • Having less time to spend with your family or friends than you did before
  • Wanting to spend more time by yourself
  • Finding that you are more irritable with others than you used to be
  • Needing other people to do things just the way you want them done

Things you can do as soon as you recognize that OCD is trying to sneak back into your life:

  • Acknowledge that it’s happening and that it won’t go away on its own
  • Reflect on what specifically helped you get better the first time
  • Re-use the skills you learned in this guide (i.e., tolerate your anxiety, replace unhelpful thoughts with helpful thoughts, put your thoughts on trial)
  • Seek support from others
  • Fill up your time with things that will help you accomplish your life goals, such as spending more time with friends or family, looking for a part-time job to generate extra money, volunteering, going back to school, and attending religious services [keeping yourself busy and involved with other things will provide OCD with less of an opportunity to reappear]
  • If the unhelpful thoughts aren’t very strong and you don’t feel the need to do any compulsions, it may be enough to just recognize that you’re having the thoughts or to ignore them

OCD can be ______________, and it can sometimes try to sneak back into your life.

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