You can't. I was diagnosed with OCD when I was 7 years old (21 years ago). Back then it was nearly unheard of. I went through multiple medications (trying to find the right one), spent years in behavioral and cognitive therapy (for several years I was going to therapy 3 times a week). At 28, I now take Zoloft, Welkbutrin, and then Xanax as needed for my OCD. It's a daily battle and a debilitating disease. That being said, it's completely possible to gain some control over your OCD. I used to spend up to 6 hours a day completing my rituals. Now I usually only spend 1-2 hours a day. Unfortunately OCD is not curable, but the good news is that it IS manageable. With the right treatment plan (whether it be medication, therapy, or a combination of both), you can really triumph over the darkest parts of it. Before, my OCD defined me. Now, I live my life and no longer identify as simply the girl with OCD. I think your first step toward recovery (meaning, a manageable level of OCD) is acceptance that you have it. Accept that it can't be cured. Then, now to not be defined by it, and start doing research. Find psychiatrists or therapists in your area. If you're against medical intervention, then look into alternative ways to 'quiet' your OCD. Look into training yourself to resist (for example, exposure therapy- which you can do everyday on your own). Maybe look into meditation. The important thing is to find ways to quiet your anxiety to a level that's low enough that you don't feel compelled to either 1) perform the compulsion right away or 2) perform it for as long of a time interval. Anyway, hope some (any) of this helped. I hope you reach brighter, less anxious days in your future. As a fellow sufferer I know how it feels to be a prisoner of your own mind. But you CAN break free.
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You can with some things I think, but not with others. There's stuff I need to do like when I eat, or if something brushes against me or whatever, and I really can't stop, but some stuff I've managed to stop.
The ones I can't stop, I've done since I was a toddler, the ones I could stop I was a teen when I started, so I think the longer you leave it the harder it is. Maybe it's coincidence, but I work equally as hard to stop all of them, but can only do the most recent ones.
That being said, everybody, even when they stop, will likely still not be able to control it sometimes and just have to do whatever they do.
CBT (Cognite Behavior Therapy). Read CBT For Dummies or try to find a professional in your area.
Anyways what CBT basically says is that you need to trust your memory (in case your OCD is memory-related), or that you need to break your anxiety (if you are anxious about germs, do not wash your hands. If you do wash them, touch the ground to get them dirty again). Of course this is easily if you have human support, but any way you go about it CBT has been proven to be the best method for OCD and insomnias.
But I would start by being more clear and specific. There are tons of OCD variations and nobody can help unless they know which one you have
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