[vicente07]

Hello,

I have OCD and I am very worried about the way my brain works or has stopped working. I feel stupid and I can't think straight. I overlook obvious things very often and make ridiculous decisions because of this. I don't even try to solve simple problems because I know that I get anxious and that if I can't solve them, I am going to get even more anxious and start feeling stupid, frustrated and sad.
My dad contributed a lot in me being insecure and more self-conscious about making mistakes and not being able to solve simple task at home like putting a picture up on the wall, fixing the shower of my bathroom, etc., because he acts like he know everything and he is very smart and can do it all. A little bit more than a year ago, my shower got blocked and I wasn't sure what was going on. I first thought there was no water in the house, but it wasn't this and I got very worried because I knew I was going to have to fix it and I didn't want my dad to help me. He ended up knowing about the problem and yelled at me, "come here, the problem was that the shower had sand and rocks inside" acting surprised because I hadn't noticed this. This immediately triggered my anxiety and made me feel stupid. I felt very bad for two days. Things like these have happened to me very often in the last years.
One day, I had several sets of stapled documents that I wanted to dump into the recycling container of my school. I didn't want to throw the papers with staples so I borrowed a staple remover and took each staple off. When I was about to finish, I thought: Why didn't I just cut the corners of the papers off, it would have been a lot faster and easier. That day I could control the ssituation and didn't make a bit deal about it because this happened 3 years ago and I wasn't so traumatized about me feeling dumb yet. The problem is that the problem grew and grew and now I get nervous every time I see a new device in my house that requires thinking to get it working because I get blocked and very anxious. My mind goes blank. For example, my mom got a dish drainer yesterday and when I saw it I got extremely anxious because I started to think if I could make a device like that without help. Then, I disovered it had a tray and I started to get nervous because I wanted to know what it was for. I went blank again and my brain blocked. I decided to avoid checking the drainer carefully to find out the purpose of the tray because as I said, it is terrible for me when I can't solve a problem like this and I can't figure out how things work. This morning, I saw the tray undernreath the drainer putting it in a position so that the water could fall in the sink. This immediately triggered my anxiety again and made me feel stupid for not having thought about it immediately after I saw the drainer and the tray. I didn't even try it because I escape situations like this as I told you to avoid feeling anxious.
I am very worried because when things like these happen to me I start to get ideas in my head, ideas I have got for many years because I am very suggestionable, like feeling itchy mouth like I am hungry or feeling I don't miss my death dog anymore or I can't be anywhere. I get anxiety attacks. The first one of these ideas was the one that made me feel hungry because in highschool I was afraid of putting up weight. This is by far the worst compulsion I have.

Do you know if it is normal for a person with OCD to have foggy brain and to have difficulty thinking straight and solving simple tasks?

I really appreciate your help in advance.

[coyotee]

I am completely thrown off when new things come into the house. Even when I know how to use new things, like office supplies or kitchen helpers, I try to find a more efficient way to use it ... well "figuring it out" gets so time consuming that in the end it's a complete waste of time ... and the whole point was to save time, not waste it. I feel too like I get a foggy brain sometimes when I over think things. When you over-think something, sometimes you can't see the answer is right in front of you. A step back and taking a break can help though.

Don't feel bad. Don't feel stupid.

[MusicMike]

I have OCD and it definitely gives me a foggy head due to a haze of anxieties. My case is not as severe as yours, but I can relate to the idea of feeling anxious (and beating myself up) for missing the obvious, which makes it hard to work. I'm currently on disability but trying to train as a math tutor. Currently whenever I tutor students I'm very anxious that I will make a dumb mistake.

I think you could benefit greatly from therapy for OCD. Have you tried it?

Mike

[Yet Another Name]

I have some problems like this too. When there is some kind of problem at home my immediate first thought is that I'll never solve it and I'm just going to have to live with it. At work I do the same thing, only the thought is that when I don't solve the problem I'll get fired. Usually I'm able to work through this and get things done but it isn't easy.

It seems to me that you are definitely being unnecessarily hard on yourself - I would have done the same thing with the papers and the shower I'm sure... but I know it probably doesn't help for me to say that.

[Fibo81]

Oh man, I miss the "obvious" all the time, and ask what many might consider to be dumb questions... But it's because I am curious and want to know how everything works, and so I ask the things that others might just wonder in silence. Also, with my mind always going, thinking about all sorts of things in the background all day long, I suppose I am too distracted to notice a lot that is right in front of me. I consider it a by-product of being someone who lives very much inside her head. When I feel like an idiot I just try and laugh it off and remind myself that nobody will judge as hard as myself.

[MusicMike]

Originally Posted by Fibo81

Oh man, I miss the "obvious" all the time, and ask what many might consider to be dumb questions... But it's because I am curious and want to know how everything works, and so I ask the things that others might just wonder in silence. Also, with my mind always going, thinking about all sorts of things in the background all day long, I suppose I am too distracted to notice a lot that is right in front of me. I consider it a by-product of being someone who lives very much inside her head. When I feel like an idiot I just try and laugh it off and remind myself that nobody will judge as hard as myself.

Yeah, I tend to go into my head all the time too. I'm learning more to live in my body but it's a gradual process.

Good for you for being able to remind yourself that we tend to be our own worst critics.