Podcast Summary: "If You Are About To Do An OCD Compulsion"

Podcast: OCD Recovery
Host: Ali Greymond, OCD Specialist & Author
Date: December 27, 2025

Episode Overview

In this concise and focused episode, Ali Greymond addresses listeners at a critical juncture: the moment just before performing an OCD compulsion. She offers urgent, empowering advice on pausing, evaluating choices, and breaking the compulsive cycle. The episode is a motivational call to action for anyone battling obsessive-compulsive disorder, emphasizing that real recovery begins with making difficult, often uncomfortable decisions.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Crossroads: Pause Before Compulsions

• Immediate Intervention:
  Ali urges listeners to "stop, reevaluate" as soon as they feel the urge to perform a compulsion. She stresses the importance of reflecting before acting by asking oneself, "Do you really need to do this? Is this important?" (00:03)
• Feeding vs. Starving OCD:
  She highlights the detrimental effect of compulsions: "the compulsive behavior that you're about to do feeds the OCD. It will make more compulsive behaviors come in stronger in the future." (00:10)
• Critical Choice Point:
  Listeners are reminded that every compulsion is a fork in the road: "You are literally at a crossroads. If you do response a lot, you're going to get worse. If you do response prevention, meaning don’t do the compulsion, you're going to get better." (00:36)

Empowerment & Motivation

• Standing Up for Yourself:
  Ali encourages personal empowerment, asking rhetorically, "When is it going to be the time that you stand up for yourself and you say, no, I'm not going to do this anymore?" (00:19)
• Persistence and Repetition:
  She acknowledges the relentless nature of OCD thoughts and urges—"This is a thought number one million. This is the urge to do the compulsion number 1 million. I've done these compulsions for years."—yet insists that it’s never too late to change course by making “the brave choice not to do it.” (00:25)
• Small Steps Count:
  Even delaying the compulsion is progress: "You have the opportunity right now to say no, or at least to delay. Take this opportunity." (00:33)

The Hard Path to Recovery

• Choosing the Hard Thing:
  Ali affirms the difficulty but necessity of resisting compulsions: "The right thing is the hard thing. Do the right thing." (00:42)
• Hope and Possibility:
  She offers hope grounded in experience: "You can fully recover from this, but you have to start taking the right steps in order to do so. This is your first right step." (00:45)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “The compulsive behavior that you're about to do feeds the ocd. It will make more compulsive behaviors come in stronger in the future.”
  — Ali Greymond (00:10)

• “Do you want to feed the disorder that you're so sick and tired of having? When is it going to be the time that you stand up for yourself and you say, no, I'm not going to do this anymore.”
  — Ali Greymond (00:17)

• “This is a thought number one million. This is the urge to do the compulsion number 1 million. I've done these compulsions for years. I'm going to make the brave choice not to do it.”
  — Ali Greymond (00:24)

• “You are literally at a crossroads. If you do response a lot, you're going to get worse. If you do response prevention, meaning don’t do the compulsion, you're going to get better.”
  — Ali Greymond (00:36)

• “The right thing is the hard thing. Do the right thing.”
  — Ali Greymond (00:42)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:03 – Pause and evaluate before acting on a compulsion
• 00:10 – How compulsions keep OCD alive and worsen it
• 00:19 – Standing up for yourself against OCD urges
• 00:25 – Recognizing repetitive urges but choosing a different path
• 00:33 – Emphasizing the opportunity to delay or not act
• 00:36 – Definition of the crossroads: Response vs. Response Prevention
• 00:42 – Doing the hard, necessary thing for recovery
• 00:45 – The possibility of full recovery and making the first step

Tone and Delivery

Ali Greymond’s delivery is urgent, compassionate, and motivational. She speaks directly to the listener’s current struggle, pushing for immediate action while offering reassurance and practical encouragement rooted in her own experience and recovery expertise.

For listeners facing the moment before a compulsion, this episode acts as a decisive turning point, empowering them to begin breaking the OCD cycle one step at a time.