Just two short Christmas’s ago I didn’t have ocd. Here I am now laying in bed on Christmas morning with all kinds of harm thoughts towards my wife and questioning myself. I really don’t know how long I can take this. I often wonder if I was by myself would I still have these thoughts. Sucks that I think that way but I’m so tired of the ITs.

Thanks for the reply. For me too I believe going at it with erp and using other tools mentally. Especially because I want to not deal with side effects or the possibility that in the future you need to up Doses or change medication. Try the app, it gives great encouragement through strong phrases that really helps in the moment. We need to remind ourselves how courageous we are dealing with this. Another great speaker is Reid Wilson. I listen to him all the time. I even print out his key strategies. Hope this helps. Thank you again.

You can do this! Have you started any therapy or meds yet? Can I ask if you’re a believer?

I was taking ativan but not for long just initially in the being but I started taking it again cause I have a bad episode on Thursday

Yeah, Ativan is not gonna help you long-term. It’s actually going to make things worse. Non-benzodiazepines, like SSRIs or SNRIs will help take the level of anxiety down. In general. He will also lift your mood.

Hi, I have it too. And with my mother the harm ocd. I too think back to a time it wasn’t there. It’s an unbelievably absurd thing to be dealing with and no one understands but us who have it. I’ve been in therapy for a year and it still comes. I use my tools to deal like sitting with the discomfort but the anxiety just crawls through me at times. I’m so mad that I have this problem and think how peaceful life would be. You’re not alone, and acceptance helps me. Acceptance that this is OCD and it’s scary and if it didn’t feel real it wouldn’t be OCD. I also find thinking about medication can become an OCD theme for me. I don’t want to take it and fear it so I now look at those thoughts as part of it. And try to do erp and also stop ruminating when I start thinking what if they ruin me or what if they don’t work or what if I really need them and I’ll never get better or feel better if I don’t get them. They are for many people but not for everyone. I was on lexapro last year and it made it worse so I jumped off it. I think erp is the gold standard. I also do something called the ANXIETY CHALLENGER APP. I love to schedule a challenge. It helps to make a game out of a moment you need some support with or if you know you’ve got something triggering coming your way you can schedule it on the app. Hope this helps, it helps to talk about it. Just sucks but we gotta fight!💞🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻