We all experience signs of stress at some point in our life. Life tension may vary from simple everyday inconveniences to serious stressful incidents. Within certain circumstances, both mild and significant traumatic experiences will intensify disorders such as obsessive-compulsive disorder also known as OCD.

Nonetheless, not everyone who encounters a traumatic occurrence may become distressed or suffer a rise in OCD symptoms, but it definitely poses a threat. That’s why we have rounded up the most successful approaches to cope with stress while you have OCD.

What does coping mean?

Coping relates to the feelings and behaviours you use to address the stressors. To a significant degree, feeling overwhelmed or not relies on whether you agree that you have the skills to deal with the problems you face.

Effective ways to cope with stress

• Have a good night’s rest. Approximately 7–8 hours of sleep a night should be effective for many people, but this can differ, so try to get some rest if you feel tired during the day.  
• Going to colleagues, relatives, or community networks. Supporting communities may lessen the feelings of loneliness. Caring relatives and peers may provide a pleasant citation of diversion from side effects and pay attention to you when you feel anxious.
• Exercise regularly. 30 minutes of physical activity, just three days a week will help to alleviate distress.
• Start meditating or tranquillity drills. Meditation and deep relaxation techniques, such as Yoga, relax the body and the mind, helping you to heal from the impact of relaxation.
• Participate in the activities that you love. If you’re learning how to play the guitar, dancing at some dance classes, taking photos of the local landscape or reading a novel, make sure to keep enjoying the things you enjoy on a daily basis. Taking part in things that you enjoy brings you a feeling of happiness and more to look forward to, alongside easing the pain.
• Initiate a journal of appreciation. Take a pen, and at the conclusion of the day, jot down whatever you’re thankful for, even if it’s only one aspect. Concentrating on the constructive things instead of drawbacks can help relieve stress and may even help you become more appreciative for the better things, no matter how trivial they might seem.
• Coping with the issues as they emerge. You’re able to achieve the greatest outcomes by dealing with the problems every day, rather than pushing them off until they become worse.
• Stay true to your course of treatment. Make sure you’re getting the recommended drug or treatment as instructed. In fact, when you are depressed, you really need the advantages of the therapies. 

Final word

Coping with OCD is far better if you adopt a problem-solving attitude to life’s challenges, rather than responding negatively. Yes, of course, it’s disturbing to take care of your disorder, but evidence has shown great success.

Often doing that can sound daunting, so you’ll ask yourself if you would ever cope with something that appears to be a part of who you are, but you will never know unless you try and the perfect moment to give it a shot is now.

Nima Amiri is the clinic manager of The rTMS Centre.