Keep Track of Your Symptoms
Up until now, what you learned was focused mainly on psychoeducation. In other words, now understand the basics of OCD and how this condition affects your personal life. Since we cannot fight against something we don’t understand, this first step was a crucial part of the process.
Before we move forward, you need to have a baseline measure of your obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors. What you can do right now, is learn how to monitor your obsessions and compulsions, by completing an OCD worksheet. Understanding your specific obsessions and compulsions provides you with a lot more oversight, compared to learning general information about OCD.
Column 1: Date and Time
Write down the exact date and time, when your obsessive thought or image appears.
Column 2: Obsession
Write down the obsessive thought or describe the image that appeared in your mind. You don’t have to go into too much detail, but it’s important to write it down as soon as possible, otherwise you might miss out on important details. For instance, if you’re thinking, “The table is covered in germs”, write this exact sentence in column 2.
Column 3: Anxiety Scale
Rate the anxiety level associated with each thought or image, on a 1-10 scale.
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1 = barely noticeable, almost absent
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10 = extremely distressing
Column 4: Compulsion
Write down the compulsive behavior or coping strategy that you use. Keep in mind that not all obsessions are followed by compulsions. Also, you don’t have to go into too much detail. If you haven’t felt the need to engage in some form of a ritual or compulsive behavior, you can leave the space blank. However, make sure that you are being honest and not ignoring any compulsive behaviors.
Column 5: Length
How long did the compulsive behavior or ritual last? After the day is over, calculate the total time you’ve spent on rituals and compulsions.
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Full reference:
Liya Panayotova (Mar 9, 2016). Keep Track of Your Symptoms. Retrieved Oct 03, 2024 from Explorable.com: https://explorable.com/e/keep-track-of-your-symptoms
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