Persistence, Consistency, and Discipline

For today’s blog post, I wanted to write about three key habits that I believe are highly important and correlated with successful OCD recovery:

• Persistence

• Consistency

• Discipline

For those of you who have been reading my blog for some time, you know that I love comparing the OCD recovery process to the process of getting physically fitter (whether that’s in the gym, or running, or whatever other athletic discipline you enjoy). That is because how we improve our mental health and fitness is very similar to how we improve our physical health and fitness - and improving both of those requires that we practice the three key habits which I am about to lay out.

Persistence
firm or obstinate continuance in a course of action in spite of difficulty or opposition.

OCD recovery is a difficult process. If it was easy, then no one would ever struggle with this terrible disorder! For many OCD sufferers who have dealt with OCD for years and years, it can be difficult to “unlearn” all of the bad habits (such as compulsions, rumination, catastrophizing, etc…) that we have taught our brain. The key to breaking the OCD cycle and getting on the path to recovery is through practicing Exposure Response Prevention (ERP), but when you first start out practicing ERP, it can be incredibly difficult and frustrating.

Why? Because when we have made our brains dependent for so long on performing compulsions, when we suddenly take those compulsions away (by practicing ERP), it’s like we’re depriving our brain of its favorite drug (the sense of relief gained through performing compulsions). I like to think of the first few weeks of practicing ERP as your brain going through withdrawal - you are actively refusing to perform the compulsions which your brain so desperately craves, and as a result, the first few weeks of ERP are often the toughest as you experience fear, anxiety, panic, and all sorts of negative feelings that your brain is throwing at you in order to trick you back into performing compulsions.

This is where Persistence comes in. Continue practicing ERP, even when it feels impossible or even when you feel like you can’t handle much more anxiety. No matter how difficult the process feels, choose to continue to eliminate compulsions, because you know that is what will help you recover from OCD in the long run. Persistency in the face of adversity is what will get you over the hump. And if you try and fail and end up performing some compulsions - that’s OK! Don’t beat yourself up over it. Recovery can be a messy and non-linear process, and sometimes it feels like we take 2 steps forward and 1 step back. The important thing is to continue to choose to pick yourself up off the ground and press forward with practicing ERP, no matter how long it may take and how hard it may feel. That is the key to persistence.

Consistency
conformity with previous attitudes, behaviour, practice, etc

The next key habit I’d like to expand upon is Consistency. The length of time for OCD recovery varies according to many factors (how long the person has suffered from OCD, how dedicated they are to practicing ERP, external stimuli and environmental factors which may increase or decrease anxiety, etc…) but generally, OCD recovery is not achievable overnight. It takes a certain amount of time of consistent ERP practice to “unlearn” the bad habits which we’ve conditioned our brains via compulsions, and to “retrain” the brain with new, healthy habits. This time period may be a month, or it may be a year, but if you stick with ERP and consistently practice it, you WILL see results and it WILL help you significantly in your recovery journey.

The worst thing you can do is to stop ERP prematurely. As an example, someone may practice ERP for a couple months and find that they’ve reduced 90% of their compulsions. At that point, they may think to themselves: “I’m feeling a lot better! I no longer need to practice ERP or expose myself to triggers.” And after awhile, they may find that they might subconsciously start performing more and more compulsions, until in a moment of panic they realize that suddenly they’ve arrived back at square one. OCD is a sneaky disorder. Unless and until you have completely stamped it out and retrained your brain to refuse compulsions, OCD will find a way to worm itself back into your brain and trick you into compulsive behavior. 90% recovery is not good enough and you should not accept that, for your own sake. Full recovery is possible and you should not stop until you’ve achieved that - you owe it to yourself to free your brain from OCD!

That is where Consistency comes in. Continually practicing ERP, day in and day out. Even on days where you are struggling or may feel overwhelmed, at least try to find one compulsion to eliminate so you can claim that easy win. Continue to practice ERP and continue refusing compulsions, even when you feel 90% recovered, because it’s very easy to fall off the wagon and inadvertently find yourself back at the starting line. Building habits is all about being consistent, and practicing ERP and refusing compulsions are the most important habits you can build when you’re going through OCD recovery!

Discipline
to train or develop by instruction and exercise especially in self-control

I’m an avid runner, and some questions that I often see from new runners are: “How do I get motivated to run X times per week” or “How do I get motivated to follow my training plan” or “How do I get motivated to wake up early in the morning to go running?”

The answer is always the same. Forget about motivation; it’s all about discipline. Motivation is fleeting and can come and go depending on your mood and how you’re feeling. If you never run unless you feel good, then pretty soon you’ll find that you’re only running once or twice a week, when your training plan calls for five runs per week! Discipline, and having the self-control to push yourself to do something even when you don’t feel like doing it, is where you achieve results.

The same is true for OCD recovery. If you always wait until it “feels right” or for you to “feel good” before practicing ERP, then you are only selling yourself short. Instead, try to cultivate self-discipline and force yourself to practice ERP even (and especially) in uncomfortable situations where you may not feel ready. I wrote in this blog post that “Growth is Not Comfortable” and that is the crux of OCD recovery - you are going to put yourself into very uncomfortable, and sometimes anxiety provoking, situations. That is how you recover from OCD in the long run. So as difficult as it is and as hard as the process may feel, it is imperative to have the discipline to continue practicing ERP and forcing yourself to get comfortable with uncomfortable thoughts and feelings!

Cultivating and embedding these three key habits were crucial in my own recovery process, and I firmly believe that if you are able to practice ERP with Persistence, Consistency, and Discipline, you will set yourself up for success and speed up the OCD recovery process. Again, I will reiterate that going through ERP and eliminating compulsions is not fun nor is it easy; and that is why these habits are so important, because it’s all too easy to give up when the going gets tough. Instead, having Persistence, Consistency, and Discipline in forming your ERP practice habits will help guide you through those difficult and uncomfortable moments during the OCD recovery process, and set you up on the path for long term success.

Eric