- Date posted
- 3y
- Date posted
- 3y
I started treatment in August. I actually did ERP on my own before my counselor had a chance to teach me. I did a couple of exposures with my therapist. I have found that I usually have to do the exposure 3 or 4 times in a row before my anxiety got low enough. When I first started treatment, I had a lot of intrusive thoughts involving knives. As a result, it got to the point where I was afraid to hold a knife for more than a few seconds. So my counselor had me wash and dry some knives. Starting with a small knife then working my way up. The smallest one didn't give me hardly any anxiety. The medium one made me nervous. The biggest one sent my anxiety through the roof. The hardest part is when your anxiety is going crazy. It feels like an eternity. But it lasts at most a few minutes. I can now handle large knives with no problem. The next exposure I did (again with my counselor) I watched a slasher movie in 5 minute increments. I watched Scream because the killer attacks people with a knife. I did a total of 5 five minute segments The first two were brutal. I almost had a massive panic attack after the second one. I don't scare easily, but I was trembling. My counselor could see what was going on and gave me a couple minutes before going on to the next segment. With the next 3, my anxiety got less. My homework was to watch the rest of the movie. I watched the rest of the movie with almost no anxiety. My counselor told me the point of planned exposures is to learn ERP so you can use it in real life situations as they come up. So I no longer do planned exposures. ERP has become also automatic. I don't have to think about it as much anymore. I have made so much progress. The great thing about ERP is that it works for any OCD theme.
- Date posted
- 3y
Thank you so much for taking the time to reply! That’s helpful to hear
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 3y
Hi! I am someone who went through the NOCD program, and I found that doing real life exposures were the most helpful for my journey. Anytime that I would start to get anxious from my thoughts, instead of actively searching for answers, I would sit and allow myself to be anxious. I often used to worry that if I sat with my anxiety, I would end up dying, because the symptoms were very scary! I always thought I had to get out of the sensations. Instead, I learned to sit with them when they start happening. I take a big deep breath and say "ok, here we go" and sit through the anxiety. It is for sure not always fun, but it is the best exposure because I am teaching myself that the anxiety will pass. Sometimes reading articles or writing out worst case scenarios help me out too. I also try not to avoid things that scare me as much.
- User type
- NOCD Alumni
- Date posted
- 3y
Hi Oth, I try to practice ERP whenever a real life opportunity comes up much like @Jesse Miller, which is usually at least few times a day thanks to my OCD bully. The length of time of the actual ERP exercise varies depending on whether it is a major or minor obsession and whether this is a new subject of ERP or something I’ve repeatedly faced before. Anxiety is going to go through the roof as you first start a new ERP as the OCD starts fighting back, but the more you repeat that ERP (or something similar) overtime the less the anxiety tends to peak. Try to always start with one of your minor themes/obsessions first so you can ease into the anxiety spikes from doing ERP. I typically try to sit with the uncomfortableness/anxiety as long as I can, but not so long as to forcing myself to have an anxiety attack or anything. Each time aiming to go a little further into the sitting with it zone, until eventually I almost seem to do it on autopilot. I still will sometimes have slip-ups or fall back on old ways, but the key is to remember that I’m not losing all my progress up that point and slip-ups will happen. Even if you go just a little bit further sitting with it each time, you should treat it as a victory and tell yourself “great job” and do not be hard on yourself if it takes longer than you like or if you have a slip. Sometimes depending on the particular theme I do have to give myself a pep talk and say “ c’mon you got this…” before I get started. It will be hard in the beginning, but ERP will get easier overtime. Stay strong in your recovery and best wishes.
- Date posted
- 3y
I agree with all of this.
- Date posted
- 3y
Comment deleted by user
- Date posted
- 3y
Thank you so much for replying! When you mention sitting with a trigger for longer, what are you actually doing during that time? When I’ve done ERP before I’ve done it in very small chunks, where I’ve literally sat down and looked at a stimulus until anxiety goes down, and during that time I will do nothing else except look at the trigger. Obviously this doesn’t feel practical to do for hours on end, so what are you actually doing during that time?
- Date posted
- 3y
@Dial Up That makes sense, thank you for clarifying :)
Related posts
- User type
- Therapist
- Date posted
- 20w
So you got to ask me anything… Now I’d like to ask you something! I’ve heard from Members that they were so scared coming to their first ERP session. They were terrified that I would think they were crazy, that I would tell them their worst fears were true. That I would confirm they are some form of a terrible person or have them hauled off to prison for their thoughts. I’ve also had Members share how they’re very scared to begin ERP treatment because they’ve researched enough to know it means facing the fear, without the compulsions that have kept them feeling safe (but not really safe) this entire time. They struggled to see how they could be capable of doing this, while simultaneously acknowledging that they did not want to live like this anymore. If you have had your first session, what were your thoughts before? Did you have any hesitations or fears going into it? How did it turn out? If you haven’t yet begun to work with an ERP specialist, what is holding you back?
- Date posted
- 20w
I’m starting NOCD. I had several years of cbt as a child (well over 20 years ago) and I see a trauma therapist. But now I’ll be seeking further help for OCD and just really scared. CBT wasn’t helpful for me. How has ERP been helpful for you? Do you feel like you’ll finally get your life back? I’m consumed by my obsessions 😢 Would love others feedback if ERP helped you ❤️
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 16w
I used to get caught in a loop with existential thoughts very frequently. Every question made my stomach drop: (TW: existential questions) … … ... "Why does anything exist at all? What will death be like? Is anything even real? Is there any meaning to this? Is the universe infinitely big, and if not, what's beyond it? Are there multiverses? Has the universe been around forever? Will the universe end for good, or will it keep going forever? What is forever like? What even IS reality?" It would get so overwhelming that I remember lying on the floor in a fetal position for hours because I felt like there was no escape. I spent most of my days reading articles and watching videos about theoretical astrophysics and philosophy in a desperate attempt to "figure it all out." Of course that only made me more anxious, raised more questions, and kept me trapped in the cycle. Things started to improve once I learned to turn TOWARD reality, rather than away from it, and ERP really helped me do that. I learned that these questions weren't the problem. I learned that I can actually handle the anxiety that arises when exposed to these ideas and concepts. I don't have to figure anything out to make the anxiety go away; it arises and passes away on its own. Ironically, bringing myself into the present moment and becoming more aware of reality helped me escape the cycle of existential dread. Because of that, this topic no longer takes over my life. If I'm triggered by something I see, hear, or think, I may still feel a little twang of anxiety, but then it just goes away. "Maybe, maybe not" has been the single most useful phrase of my life. Do you ever get trapped in a cycle of existential questions? Are you worried that the ERP approach would be too scary to handle? If so, I'm happy to give my advice.
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