How To Handle OCD Triggers: A Practical Strategy To Stay In Control

OCD can be quite a challenging condition to deal with, especially given that those particularly rough episodes can occur at times that feel unpredictable. 

Now, a trained therapist would probably be able to identify the events or stimuli that set you off into these, but the point is that they feel unpredictable to you. 

That’s one of the reasons they’re referred to as “triggers.” 

It’s like you’re fine one minute and then, the next, you’re suddenly spiraling into an incident. 

But it’s not all as bad as it sounds because you can learn how to handle OCD triggers and, in doing so, exert more control over your life. 

“How exactly can I do that?” we hear you ask. 

Well, that’s what we’re here to tell you…

Side Note: There is no reason you should ever let yourself believe that you’re all alone when dealing with OCD or any other mental health condition, and you should never fear reaching out.

First, Learn How To Recognize An OCD Trigger

A trigger can be generally understood as a thought or external stimulus that causes you to launch into what, for the sake of simplicity, you can call an OCD episode. 

Basically, you have learned (usually unconsciously) to associate these with negative emotions, and you have developed behavior patterns to either cope with or flee from those emotions. 

In a way, these automatic behavior patterns are your attempt to regain some sense of control or security in a situation where, on some level, you feel you’ve lost it. 

To make things trickier, this whole process usually happens without you noticing. 

It’s not something you’re consciously inflicting upon yourself on purpose. 

And learning how to handle OCD triggers begins with first learning how to recognize and identify them in the first place. 

Second, Learn How to Recognize A Trigger In The Moment

The thing that makes triggers so tricky is that you’re usually not aware of them or even their effects until some time after you’ve already begun to spiral. 

That’s why, once you’ve learned what your primary triggers are, it’s helpful to practice recognizing them as soon as you start experiencing them. 

While you most likely won’t be perfect at it in the beginning, you can gradually get better at spotting them sooner and sooner. 

Eventually, you can hopefully even recognize them before you start engaging in any of the ingrained habit patterns that characterize OCD. 

Third, Train Yourself Into A New Automatic Habit

The operative word here is “automatic.” 

What we mean is that this habit is one that you’ll want to essentially program into yourself so that it becomes your immediate reflex/reaction to a particular trigger. 

This way, instead of launching spontaneously into a negative or unproductive habit pattern, you launch into a pre-programmed habit pattern that is, ideally, healthy, constructive, and uplifting. 

Remember that you already have a habit pattern programmed into you as an automatic response to a trigger. 

It’s one thing to wash your hands thoroughly after using the restroom, but it’s an entirely different thing to spend 5 minutes scrubbing off the top layer of your skin after every time you touch a doorknob. 

One is good hygiene and considerate to others, while the other is obsessive and, at a certain point, unhealthy. 

So, instead of letting the sink be your refuge and source of security in times of stress, try nudging yourself to associate something else with safety and control, such as a healthy hobby or even something you carry around with you, like a fidget spinner.

Fourth, Don’t Beat Yourself Up

We probably won’t be blowing your mind when we tell you that people with OCD often tend to have perfectionistic tendencies. 

It’s pretty common for such people to quit a treatment process that would have eventually brought them resolution because they start feeling like their progress isn’t consistent enough.

Additionally, it’s far from rare for these individuals to avoid even starting that process because they perceive either the process or themselves as being imperfect or incomplete. 

You don’t have to be a mental health professional to know this, but we can tell you from our experience that any amount of progress is better than no progress. 

So, whatever you do, don’t hinder yourself by insisting on perfection, and don’t jump ship just because you stumbled once or twice. 

Give yourself grace and room to fail when learning how to handle OCD triggers because you’re going to fail at least a few times during this process. 

Just make peace with that and accept it as a natural and expected part of a difficult process.

Mental health issues are complex and, by nature, often involve ingrained thought patterns and even early life traumas that are buried deep in your psyche.

It takes time and consistent effort to explore and unravel all of that. 

And even if you don’t ever gett 100% cured, you can at least get to a place where you feel a lot better about your life and enjoy it much more. 

After all, even if you still compulsively wash your hands when you leave or enter your house, you’ll be doing better than when you washed them so often that your hands cracked and bled.

Help Is Only Ever a Phone Call (or Email) Away

As you may or may not have noticed, this is the website of a psychotherapist’s office. 

And while we are not necessarily advertising ourselves in this article, we strongly encourage you to seek professional guidance for OCD or any other mental health issue that is causing you significant distress in your life. 

A trained therapist should be able to help teach you how to handle OCD triggers and give you the support you need. 

They’ll also be able to provide you with a lot more helpful information than we can in a single article. 

If your OCD is enough of a problem that it’s reducing your quality of life, then it’s worth prioritizing. 

And if your own efforts alone have not yet been sufficient to resolve the problem, then you could probably benefit from psychotherapy and also save yourself a lot of time and unnecessary stress in the process. 

It’s perfectly alright if you haven’t been able to work it all out all by yourself. We all need a little help sometimes.