I was driving down the road today and got to thinking how to explain to someone what an OCD spike feels like. This is the analogy I came up with.
When I am in the middle of an OCD spike I can’t focus on anything except the obsession at hand. Everything else is blurry and unfocused.
The best example I can give is to imagine driving down the road in a rain storm and your windshield wipers stop working. You will get panicky and wonder why your windshield wipers are not working. You will try to get them to work and they won’t work. Eventually your windshield will fill up with rain and you won’t be able to see. Your only focus will be on how to get the windshield wipers to work again.
Once the windshield wipers start working again, you will be able to start to clear the rain off the windshield and drive more focused. Eventually the rain will go away and you can continue driving focused again.
When someone is in the middle of an OCD spike it feels like the rain will never end, but eventually with hard work and confronting your OCD, the rain will stop.
I hope this helps for those who have asked what it feels like to be in an OCD spike.
Stay Strong!
Jason