OCD Recovery Podcast: “Feeling Urgency To Solve OCD Thought”

Host: Ali Greymond, OCD Specialist & Author
Episode Date: December 10, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, Ali Greymond explores the urgent feeling that often accompanies obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) thoughts. Speaking from years of coaching and personal recovery experience, she offers practical advice on how to recognize this urgency as a key OCD symptom and how to respond to it in a way that weakens the disorder’s grip. The conversation centers on exposure and response prevention (ERP), staying strong through anxiety spikes, and reframing the sense of urgency as a clue—not a command.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Nature of Urgency in OCD

• Ali explains how almost everyone with OCD experiences a powerful, urgent need to solve or act on their obsessive thoughts:
  • “When OCD thoughts come in and the anxiety comes in with them or an urge to do a compulsion comes in, it always will come in with a feeling of urgency.” (00:18)
  • This urgency pushes people to prioritize the OCD issue above all else, creating a false sense of “life or death” importance.

2. Recognizing Urgency as an OCD Signature

• The sense that “I have to solve this right now” is itself a hallmark of OCD thinking:
  • “If you're getting those feelings, all you have to do is just wait it out. You know, don't fall for what OCD is telling you...” (00:38)

3. How to Respond: Waiting Out the Peak

• Ali details a practical ERP strategy:
  • Choosing Not to React: When the urgency and anxiety peak, abstain from compulsions and ruminations.
  • “And if you still choose not to do it, when you feel like just, it's like life or death, I can't hold on anymore. And you just hold on through that—and that peak will last maybe half hour at most. But you're very strong. You're choosing not to react. You're choosing to view the thoughts just as an OCD thought.” (01:05 - 01:30)
  • Over time, facing these peaks without reacting reduces anxiety in future episodes.

4. It Gets Easier With Practice

• Though it may initially feel intense, the repeated experience of resisting compulsions leads to gradually reduced anxiety:
  • “You will see within next few times, it will start to go down, especially in the exact same situation. Just be very, very strong.” (02:05)

5. Universality of OCD Patterns

• OCD’s mechanisms don’t really change, regardless of the theme or duration:
  • “Because the one thing about OCD is OCD always works the same, no matter really what theme, what situation, how long the person has had it, none of it really matters. It will always kind of follow the same playbook, just with, like, a different theme, but pretty much works the same way for everybody.” (02:28)

6. Trusting In the Process

• Ali reassures listeners that their fears are always a product of OCD, not real threats:
  • “I've never seen a person say, 'Oh, it's OCD,' and it actually turned out to be a real thing. I've never seen that happen. So it's always OCD. You're not gonna be... the world record, Guinness World record of OCD...Your case is not gonna be that one case that was true, believe me.” (02:54)

7. Reframing Urgency as Empowerment

• The intensity of the urge is evidence of OCD—not a signal to act:
  • “The fact that you have such a pull to do something right now...that already tells you that that's OCD, so allow it to give you power to push forward.” (03:37)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Recognizing the Signature:

  • “It feels like you have to put everything else aside and focus only on this… you can’t wait. You have to solve it now.” (00:20)

• On Peak Anxiety:

  • “It will hit a peak and then will start to go down. You just have to wait it out without doing anything, without ruminating, without reacting.” (01:18)

• Universal Patterns:

  • “OCD always works the same… just with a different theme, but pretty much works the same way for everybody.” (02:28)

• Trusting the Process:

  • “I’ve never seen a person be wrong... it’s never gonna be real. Just stay strong. Let the urgency come in. Let the urgency pass.” (02:54)

Important Timestamps

• 00:00–00:38 – Introduction to urgency in OCD and how common it is
• 00:38–01:30 – Recognizing the urgency as a sign of OCD; strategy to wait out anxiety’s peak
• 01:30–02:05 – Long-term outcomes of resisting urges; ERP
• 02:05–02:54 – OCD’s universal patterns and playbook
• 02:54–03:37 – Reassurance based on experience; importance of holding your ground
• 03:37–03:52 – Empowering yourself using urgency as a signal to resist

Final Takeaways

• Urgency is a classic OCD trick. Don’t be fooled by the overwhelming need to respond immediately.
• “Sit with” discomfort and resist compulsions. Ride out the anxiety peak; over time, it will lessen.
• Every OCD case works the same way. No one “breaks the rules” of the disorder—it’s always OCD, not real threat.
• Use the urge as evidence. The stronger the urge, the more certain it’s OCD trying to pull you in.

For listeners, Ali’s guidance offers daily, practical tools to confront and weaken OCD by shifting your interpretation of urgency and consciously withholding compulsive responses.