So this is probably a bit of a different one but I have severe OCD and as a result I sleep about 4 hours per night. One of my compulsions is getting up through the night very excessively to use the toilet in case I wet the bed. I haven’t wet the bed since I was a toddler but no matter how much I try to reason with the thoughts I just can’t. I’m considering trying wearing diapers at night but feel like I’m weird for doing it for such a weird reason. I want to sleep but I just can’t. I want to see if wearing diapers will prevent the compulsions.
Is that normal? Any tips?
My OCD really is severe or I wouldn’t even be considering this.
A lot of us wear them over night for a lot less legitimate reasons. You have nothing to feel weird about. A good portion of us also wear them for comforting reasons and this sounds like it falls into that category. Give them a try, worse case you are right where you are now, best case you get some sleep.
If it might help you sleep, I think it is worth a try. I wear just because I find them really comfy. I really like nighttime Super Undies, which are really comfortable. I never wet them, but they are waterproof and made for incontinence, so they should make you feel safe. They are a bit pricey, but if you decide wearing a diaper helps, these will last a long time.
Nothing at all weird about that if it gives you a peace of mind and get a good nights sleep then that’s a good thing. If you get pull ups or ones with reusable tapes you can reuse them as by the sound of it you probably won’t have a accident, it’s just the worry of having one. You might find after a while of wearing nappies to bed, if it settles your mind you may then be able to stop wearing them
I also have OCD, which used to be really bad, but has really improved over the past few years. I understand how tortuous OCD feels, and how frustrating it is to know what you should do and know that the obsession doesn’t make sense, and yet doing it over and over again. I’m sorry that you are going through this. The most helpful thing for my OCD was explaining the entire, embarrassing, terrifying obsession to a mental health professional, having them look me in the eye and say “You can move on.” What I needed was external confirmation that I could repeat to myself over and over when the obsessive thoughts started closing in. I trusted that outside person to understand the situation, and give me a short cut to saying “I’m ok and I don’t need to perform my compulsion.”
This is what you’re doing now. You are asking people for an outside perspective when your mind has gotten so entangled that it cannot see the situation clearly. You are so strong for asking for help. OCD is so scary because it uses your mind against you, and you are taking steps to help manage, understand, care for your mind.
Wearing diapers at night is a really creative solution to combating your compulsions! It’s definitely worth a try and I hope that it brings some relief from the circling thoughts. Remember how strong you are, and keep taking small steps every day.
it would be really nice to get some sleep! I find it comforting wearing diapers but the problem is that I instantly want to wet them! I’ve never worn them through the night, only for short periods through the day occasionally but tonight I haven’t gotten up once so far and I’m much more relaxed than usual.
Thank you for your kind words, I appreciate it. You’re very right - it’s more just needing to hear it from other people like reassurance. I know it’s not logical to act on the compulsions but I don’t mind wearing a diaper anyway!
I don’t see anything wrong with wearing so you might be able to sleep through the night. OCD is a pain in the ass to deal with I have a light case and ptsd along with incontinence. If wearing a diaper helps I happy for you let’s not even go to the flip side of the coin. I’ll just say I’m sending you good thoughts and hope you’re successful in sleeping
A legitimate treatment for OCD is to distract yourself from the obsessive thought or compulsive behavior. Trying a diaper I think falls into this category, although a little unconventional. But, we are not conventional on this board; if convention is defined by the percentage of the population or base rate that are abdl. I say give it a try and don’t feel guilty, try to enjoy a good nights sleep.
i hope it works, but you will most likely have problems altering your circadian rhythm. why not try a biphasic sleep cycle? monophasic sleep cycles are pretty inefficient and wear your body down quicker. since you already sleep fairly little, it would be a good idea to try to take a nap at the same time every day either an hour after your first sleep cycle or half way through the day. you don`t necessarily need to sleep another 4 hours, but that would be ideal. look up somnology, polysomnography and polyphasic sleep cycles specifically. http://sleepeducation.org/news/2020/04/01/sleep-tips-during-isolation-supporting-the-body-clock
As suggested earlier, it seems like this might be something worth discussing with a therapist, especially if it extends to other things and isn’t simply an unreasonable fear of wetting the bed.
That aside, though, if wearing a diaper proves an effective coping mechanism (seems the jury’s still out on that one), then it’s hard to see the harm. It certainly beats medication! I’ll add that if you’re wearing diapers only for this reason, you might consider investing in a couple of reusable cloth ones. These could be worn a few nights each between washes, assuming you treat them only as a coping mechanism and don’t start wetting them on purpose.
try getting some samples to see if you like the high capacity diapers, and if they’re worth it for you, if you message northshore i’m sure they’d be happy to help, and if you like them, they are usually one of the less expensive premium brands
I always used to take ages to get to sleep as I couldn’t sleep with the sensation of even a little bit of wee in my bladder. I had to be “empty” before I could sleep.
I think it was a fear of wetting the bed even though I wet the bed only a handful of times after coming out of night time nappies as a child.
I always end up waking in the night to wee at least once if I’m not wearing a nappy.
With a nappy on (my own wearing is not a sexual thing for me so I don’t get excited), I am much more relaxed, fall asleep quickly and am not concerned about being “empty”.
I also tend to wake up wet when I wear a nappy. Whether this is unconscious wetting in my sleep or waking up, wetting and going back to sleep but not remembering, I know not.
Whatever the case, I always sleep much better with a nappy on, and you might too.
