What is an OCD Victory

So what do I mean by Victory? When I describe a victory over obsessive or depressive thoughts, I am speaking of a detachment or independence from them. I often describe my experience with obsessive thoughts like being held in a prison when I share my story with others. Therefore, a victory means escaping the prison of obsessive thoughts.

A victory doesn’t necessarily refer to the absence of obsessive thoughts, but instead getting your life back from them. A victory over obsessions means to declare your independence from obsessions and to no longer allow them to have any power or control over your life. Once you achieve victory over your obsessions you will start to take back control of your life. Using the prison parallel described above, let’s consider the following analogy when describing an OCD victory. If a person is released from a prison they are no longer controlled by that establishment. The prison no longer dictates any portion of that person’s life. The person is effectively set free and is no longer held as a captive.  The person still exists and the prison still exists, but one no longer possesses power over the other.

To gain a powerful visual, I like to imagine Andy Dufresne crawling through a sewage tunnel to freedom in the movie The Shawshank Redemption, or Edmond Dantès executing a well-timed impromptu escape in The Count of Monte Cristo.

In both of these examples, each character was wrongfully imprisoned and endured a great deal of hardship and suffering during their time in captivity. However, instead of accepting this challenging time as their fate, both utilized a great deal of persistence and self-determination to escape captivity, and went on to live the life they dreamed of. Likewise, in your victory over OCD you will need to demonstrate a great deal of persistence and self-determination to escape your prison of obsessive thoughts. And when you escape you will no longer be held captive or controlled by obsessive thoughts, which will enable you to go forth and live the life you dream of living. Just to be clear, a victory does not mean a complete absence of the obsessive thoughts, but it does mean that obsessive thoughts will cease to hold any power over you. It is important to make this distinction before you embark on your journey towards freedom.

My Best,

Matt