Just because you feel something, doesn't make it true. In many areas of life it's good to “trust your gut” and “trust your instincts,” but this can be a difficult concept for someone who struggles with OCD. The idea that feelings will guide us doesn't always make sense.
OCD makes it virtually impossible to trust your gut because one of its major cognitive manifestations is doubt. It's more likely to kick you in the gut and overwhelm you with incessant questions about your choices than to allow for intuition to help you.
In conclusion, we observed an imbalance in the gut and oropharyngeal microbiomes of OCD cases, including, in stool, an increase of bacteria from the Rikenellaceae family, associated with gut inflammation, and a decrease of bacteria from the Coprococcus genus, associated with DOPAC synthesis.
Trusting your intuition is a decision.
Following your intuition instead of your anxiety is a decision. But it's an extremely difficult decision when anxiety is present. We'll often experience subtle emotional and physiological cues that indicate a “hunch” about something – that's your intuition talking.
One of the easiest ways to tell the difference between a gut instinct and anxiety is by how long your symptoms last. A gut instinct is often a reaction to an immediate situation. Anxiety, on the other hand, might be present regardless of its relevance to your current experience.
Your intuition (or “gut feelings”) is based on your experiences and knowledge, so it's not always accurate. For example, if you have a bad feeling about something, it might be because of a previous experience that you've had. However, there are times when you should trust your gut, even if you can't explain why.
When you are anxious, some of the hormones and chemicals released by your body enter your digestive tract, where they interfere with digestion. They have a negative effect on your gut flora (microorganisms that live in the digestive tract and aid digestion) and decrease antibody production.
Pay attention to consistent, repetitive thoughts
However, if you're having repetitive thoughts that seem to come from nowhere or are very persistent, unless you had pre-discovery issues around repetitive or obsessive thinking, you are likely experiencing an intuition rather than paranoia.
Digestive conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel disease have been associated with increased rates of anxiety and depression.
People struggling with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) are often misdiagnosed as having other psychological conditions. One of the most common misdiagnoses for this population is Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). This diagnostic problem arises for two reasons.
There are a variety of conditions that have obsessive compulsive disorder qualities that are quite similar to OCD such as PANDAS, body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), hoarding disorder, trichotillomania, compulsive skin picking, hypochondria, and olfactory reference syndrome.
Presentation. Primarily obsessional OCD has been called "one of the most distressing and challenging forms of OCD."
“Both OCD and anxiety are characterized by unwanted thoughts, however, in OCD, these unwanted thoughts lead to unwanted actions. Typically, if you only experience anxiety, you will not turn your thoughts into actions. You'll tend to overthink only.”
Trauma, stress, and abuse all can be a cause of OCD getting worse. OCD causes intense urges to complete a task or perform a ritual. For those who have the condition, obsessions and compulsions can begin to rule their life.
People with OCD are usually aware that their obsessions and compulsions are irrational and excessive, yet feel unable to control or resist them. OCD can take up many hours of a person's day and may severely affect work, study, and family and social relationships.
It may start to look like people are working against you when they're just acting like they always do. If you go without sleep for long enough, you could even start to see and hear things that aren't there (your doctor will call them hallucinations).
Intuition is a form of knowledge that appears in consciousness without obvious deliberation. It is not magical but rather a faculty in which hunches are generated by the unconscious mind rapidly sifting through past experience and cumulative knowledge.
Some promising probiotic strains for OCD include Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG®, Lactobacillus casei Shirota, Bifidobacterium longum Rosell-175 and Lactobacillus acidophilus Rosell-52.
Techniques include progressive muscle relaxation, visualization and restful music. Research suggests that these therapies are most effective when combined with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).
What causes the anxious feeling in your stomach? There is a very strong connection between our brain and our gut. The thoughts and emotions we experience mentally in our brains, such as stress and anxiety, can be related to our gut,¹ which is we experience anxiety-related symptoms in our stomach.
If we have a gut feeling that something is wrong, it shouldn't be ignored — but it can also be vulnerable to exploitation. Once you start digging and have invested money in people offering answers, it can be hard to stop. In this way, we change how the brain processes the body.
Our gut feelings are like guardian angels, if we choose to listen. When was the last time you listened to your instincts? What did they tell you? The next time you come face-to-face with a difficult decision, or even an everyday one, stop and listen.