Hi everyone, Hope you’re all having a nice day. Not sure where I want to go with this, but basically I’ve been suffering from severe OCD ever since I was a child (pure OCD as well) and it’s been making my life hard to say the least. My addiction is gambling (45 days sober) and the roulette wheel, the repetition of numbers, the bright colours I feel are so appealing to me precisely because of my OCD. Is anyone else on here experiencing OCD and feeling like it’s deeply connected to your addiction, whatever it might be? Thank you lovely people 
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I don’t have OCD but I do have ADHD, and I believe my addiction was a form of accidental self-medication foe the condition. In working my sobriety I’ve sought medical care (psychiatric care, medications, and counselling), and that has helped me stay sober.
I personally believe mental health is a significant factor in addiction, for many of us. We discover this thing - our addiction - when we’re young, and for a moment it seems magical. Eventually we realize it’s fake and self-destructive. We look deeper into our health and realize there are more balanced, sustainable ways to meet our needs - and we learn about our needs (often we were ignorant of them before) - and with that information we’re able to walk our sober, safe, healthy path.
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Thanks Matt for your answer, useful as always
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Hi Jeremy
I just typed in OCD in the search bar and found your entry. Yes, I too have had OCD since I was a child, and for me it certainly has been a contributing factor to alcoholism. I am now 42 days sober. I am struggling with the OCD at this time.
How are you getting on?
Mike
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Hi Mike,
Thank you for your answer, I thought this trend was dead haha… Great job on being 42 days sober, I’m at 34 myself (gambling addiction).
Struggling with my ocd as well, going to get medication for it for the first time in years, kinda scared of the side effects though.
Are you on any ocd related medication yourself?
Cheers
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Hi Jeremy
I am not presently on medication for the OCD. I have tried a few over the years. Not sure how helpful they were? They help some people more than others, but worth a try. Don’t worry too much about side effects. I hardly had any. Just a bit more tiredness. But one that I was on did seem to make the OCD worse. But that can happen for a time, then a lot of people say they felt relief. If you don’t feel right on them then discuss with your GP. I am re visiting a book that I bought years ago called Brain Lock by Jeffrey M Schwartz. Have you heard of it? Some practical stuff in it. I have been really stressed with the OCD for the past couple of days. Need to find some relief. I have some cross addiction going on too, mainly due to the anxiety. But thank God I am still not drinking. That path is death for me.
Mike
Thank you for your answer… Thank you for the book recommendation, I will definitely look it up. I’ve tried OCD medication in the past, but I didn’t stick with it for long enough to see a real and lasting change. I did feel that I was improving but the side effects were also there and debilitating (although not as much as the disease itself). So we’ll see… I’m at the point where I feel like I’ve tried the best I could to contain it for years, and I could only do so much, which is not enough. I hope you don’t mind me asking, but have you ever felt like one of the reasons for not trying any OCD medication (if that was your case too at some point), aside from the fear associated with it and the potential side effects, is that if you ever felt better and regained some control over your life you would fully realize how much time and energy and opportunities have been lost to this disease? I think I’m terrified of that, because I know I’ve wasted years not doing what I should have been doing, but getting better would make me realize it big time, see what I mean?
Hi Jeremy
So sorry for the delayed response.
No, I don’t fear facing how much time I have wasted in OCD, or in drinking. But that doesn’t make the facing of it any less painful. But then pain is also involved in healing. Avoiding the facing of it to my mind is not healthy. But we have to be in a strong enough place to face it, and to let it go and move on. Forgiveness, including self forgiveness is also a must for me. But for me that is mainly due to the carnage I caused when drinking.
Mike 