Boredom and decision making

[stacii]

Does boredom cause flare ups for anyone else? I have been sitting idle all week in my house with my husband because he had ACL surgery this week, and I feel much worse than I have in a long time. I think that when I am idle and bored my mind wanders and then bam! Here comes OCD!

I also feel that way when I am faced with a decision. And the size of the decision doesn't matter, but I feel like if I have to deliberate over two or more thing my mind goes totally haywire. This is going to sound so dumb, and I hope you guys don't think I'm just flaky or anything, but I went shoe shopping today with my mom and had to run out of the store so I didn't have a panic attack because I couldn't decide between two pairs. And, I've had intrusive thoughts ever since. I can't explain it. Am I just lame?

 

[marcb]

Hi Stacii,

I have the same problems with "down time" intrusive thoughts. I now have to pack my days off with things to do. This has been a good thing, but even sometimes after a busy day, when I start to relax intrusive thoughts creep in. I usually avoid small decisions, not because it triggers my ocd, but because they can be annoying. In restaurants, I often have the server decide, and it's always good!

I hope your husband has a quick recovery. Find a good book, or rent a season of your favorite show to keep your mind from "inventing."

Marc

 

[wiggsfly]

Boredom kills me. If I'm idle I'm in trouble.

 

[startingxthexjourney]

I agree. Boredom causes a lot of trouble--as do simple decisions such as shoes, perfumes, foods, etc. you're not alone.

 

[UnitynLove]

Boredom kills me. If I'm idle I'm in trouble.

Exactly!

 

[AmandaLynn1288]

I know exactly how you feel about the decision making. Both me and my mom struggle with that. One time my mom ran out of the grocery store because she started panicking because she couldn't decide which brand of trash bags to buy.

 

[stacii]

Thank you all for these responses. I am so glad to know that this is typical behavior. Looking back on it I can kind of chuckle about it, but at the time this terrible feeling of absolute doom came over me and I found myself literally sprinting to the door - pretty much what happened to Amanda Lynn's mom. Then I came home and got real bored and everything escalated to a crazy frenzied panic. I'm actually really new to this and am still learning to navigate my OCD world. I appreciate all of the feedback.