It’s funny because when I wake up I’m feeling really bad but then I calm down during the day , and the next day it’s the same cycle over again , everything involving men can be a trigger for me

I am just avoiding seeing any men at this point , which is bad , sometimes it feels like I’m attracted to just every guy and that makes me so annoying cause I’ve never been attracted to men before and I know what it’s like to be attracted towards a girl and feeling good about that so I attach to that

Hi is there any way you could help me? I posted something two hours ago and I really need help

@2022Recovery Don’t avoid, the more you avoid the worse it will be. You have to do erp and purposely go in public, purposely see men; and then not react to the triggers

@Justmesadly How can I do ERP by myself ?

@2022Recovery The same way you do erp with a therapist watching, a therapist can’t do erp for you so you don’t need a therapist to do erp. This app has erp help for you, click on tools and use the erp help too, it tells you exactly what to do! And like I said to in public, see men, watch tv shows with gay men, whatever of these things that cause a low amount of anxiety not spiraling !

@Justmesadly But I feel like there is no difference in this than just creating more problems , like everytime I go out in public I get desperate and it doesn’t get better when I get home

@2022Recovery For assistance with doing ERP without a therapist, my therapist recommended "The OCD Workbook, 3rd edition" by Bruce Hymen PhD. It teaches you about OCD, walks you through doing your hierarchy, building exposures, exercises to do, how to do exposures, identifying the type of thoughts you have (like magical thinking, overestimating danger, etc.),

@ReadyForImprovement I use it now that I have more than a month between sessions and it helps keep me on track.

@2022Recovery Erp is not creating more problems, it helps so that you’re not anxious anymore when you have the thoughts that induced anxiety. What do you mean you get desperate?

@Justmesadly When I go on the streets and I see men or watch movies I get anxious and when I stay in home I would be anxious but less

@2022Recovery Oh okay good! That’s what I’m talking about! Go on the streets where you see men, go in stores where you see men and sit with the anxiety, don’t allow yourself to ruminate just do something else and allow the thoughts to be there. That’s the best erp

@Justmesadly Ok , so I should do that and what else ? Should I record tapes and listen over and over again ? I want to get better but this is hard

@2022Recovery If that causes anxiety then yes! You want erp to cause anxiety around 3-4 out of 10! So not spiraling but uncomfortable! That’s where you grow and get rid of the anxiety ! If you use the erp tool on the app they have lots of good examples based on your own hierarchy