I have touches of OCD. It's not all bad (it got me through school and has made me decent at work), though when I was younger I used alcohol a bit to disconnect. Met a great girl, mostly quit alcohol, but that disconnect mechanism transferred to MMOs. Faster forward a year or so and I'm playing MMOs 8+ hours/day and girl leaves. I'm devastated and lost. Walk into work a few days later and give all my MMO accounts (yes, I had multiple accounts for the same game to bot, buff, etc...) to a co-worker, and never played again. Started back down the alcohol path, but this time caught myself and decided to try the gym one day.
20+ years later I still workout almost every single day. I think about how easy it could have been to take a far worse path, but exercise has been my savior. To paraphrase Henry Rollins, 225# is always 225# no matter what else is happening in your life. It is the great constant.
>just naturally feel bad if i eat too much or sleep late, which seems to subconsciously make me not want to do those things, so i don’t have to use as much willpower.
feeling bad works a little in reducing various cravings,
but my brain seems to have a way of fading my bad memories somewhat
I also have mild OCD. And I’m not depressed, but i get bored very easily and very fast.
The key for me is also habits, diversion, and moderation. I have an easy time forming habits because of OCD so I just have to prune bad ones, easier said than done. I also keep track of how i feel, and just naturally feel bad if i eat too much or sleep late, which seems to subconsciously make me not want to do those things, so i don’t have to use as much willpower.