- Date posted
- 3y
- Date posted
- 3y
every type of ocd happens "mentally" so I'm guessing you're talking about the type that doesn't have visible compulsions (pure ocd). Well yes, ERP helps with any type of ocd because it helps you accept uncertainty and desensitizes your reaction to the intrusive thoughts
- Date posted
- 3y
Yes but how can practically happen that? I know that in ERP you get exposed to the trigger, but you learn how to not do the compulsion. When you are mentally struggling with a though how can ERP help? I don't know much about it since in my country this therapy is not known.
- Date posted
- 3y
@anonymous34563 I would reccomend starting by doing your best to disregard your OCD thoughts. You might not be able to do that completely, but try to do it as much as possible. A good statement would be: “Ok OCD, I hear and understand you trying to tell me that (insert obesssion here) might be true, but I don’t really care what you think, so you can scream at me all you like, but I’m not scared of you. I’m going to go do (insert normal life activity here) instead.” This might all feel fake at first, but the more you do it, the more you will start to see your OCD fears as unimportant. The main thing is to show that you’re in charge, and OCD is not.
- Date posted
- 3y
@anonymous caterpillar 🐛 I know but sometimes it's like these second thoughts/doubts confuse me because they are triggered by an actual event and I can't distinguish reality from ocd. I have -among other things- rocd and generally ocd that has to do with my relationships with other people and the problem is that I get too sensitive if something happens and I'm starting to doubt them.. this can have in just a second destructive consequences. I overreact and then I feel sorry. The problem is that I can't distinguish when sth that happens is a red flag or is just absurd. I can't seem to have a reality. It's frustrating. I don't know when I have to worry and feel sad/angry about sth or not. This has a result me getting super sensitive and fill of insecurities and second thoughts. That's why I was wondering how ERP can help. Sorry for the long text I'm just so tired
- Date posted
- 3y
@anonymous34563 It can be hard to tell the difference between an OCD thought and a real life one. I would reccomend asking yourself if someone you know (you can choose a very responsible person, just make sure they either don’t have OCD or don’t have the same themes as you), and ask yourself if they would be concerned about it. If the answer is no, you should disregard it.
- Date posted
- 3y
@anonymous caterpillar 🐛 Thanks again 😊
- Date posted
- 3y
@anonymous34563 No problem!
- Date posted
- 3y
@anonymous34563 It helps because you get exposed to your fears and then your reaction get desensitized and then your fear simply stops bothering you.
Related posts
- Date posted
- 20w
If your mind purposely keeps fetching a repetitive word, and you’re afraid it will never go away, is the ERP therapy to STOP the mind from doing it? Or ALLOW the mind to do it, and not react? Also, is repeating a word in your head a mental compulsion? Or would that be the obsession? So then what’s the compulsion? Posting on here? Lol
- Date posted
- 18w
I had just posted a summary of ERP for a group member, and I thought it might be useful for everybody. Here it is below (with a little extra added)…. ERP therapy is researched-based. Most other therapies don’t work. There have been people who have been literally stuck in their houses (from their OCD) who gained their lives back through ERP therapy. NOCD does ERP therapy exclusively. You can find it in other places too, but you have to ask around. There are two tenants of ERP therapy: The first one has to do with the repetitive thoughts inside our heads. These thoughts are actually defined as “obsessions”. You are not supposed to do anything with the obsessions. You are supposed to let them run through your head freely, without trying to fix them or stop them. Imagine a tree planted by a river. The leaves fall off and float down the river. You can see the leaves falling, but you don’t try to stop them or pick them up. You don’t try to fix them. You just let them float away. This is really important to do with your obsessive thoughts. The more you try to fight them off, the worse they get. I used to have blasphemous sentences running in my head 24/7. I felt like I had to put a “not” next to each sentence in order to “fix” it. But this just took hours of my time every day, and it was very scary, because I was worried that if I messed up, that I would go to hell. It was very freeing to learn later that I could just let those sentences run freely through my head without trying to fix them. The second part of ERP therapy is all about “denying your compulsions.” Every time OCD tells you that if you don’t do things a certain way that something really bad will happen, that is a compulsion. Once you recognize what your compulsions are, ERP therapy will have you practice stopping doing all of those things. For some people, that will mean stopping washing their hands or touching lights switches or, in my case, putting “fixing” words in their head. Compulsions are safety behaviors. During ERP therapy, you will practice stopping engaging with safety behaviors. All this is very hard to do and scary, so during therapy you will be given tools to help you deal with the fear. Often ERP therapy will take people from being non-functional to functional. I highly recommend it. ————————————————- PITFALL #1: After you have been doing ERP for a while and become somewhat successful, the OCD will try subtle little tricks to bring you down again. The first one is to tell you that your thoughts are REAL and not OCD, and therefore you can’t apply ERP therapy. Don’t fall for this trick! All thoughts are just thoughts. They are all meaningless. Don’t try to figure out what is real and what is OCD. Just treat all thoughts with ERP therapy. PITFALL #2: The second pitfall is that OCD will tell you that you can’t move forward unless you have absolute certainty that you will be safe. Hate to tell you this, folks, but there is no certainty in life. You will never know for SURE that you or your loved ones will be “safe” from the OCD rules. Therefore, you have to move forward in the uncertainty. It’s hard, but it gets easier with time and practice. We got this, guys !!!!!!
- Date posted
- 17w
What would I do for ERP if my OCD says because I didn’t do something correctly or remember something I will have panic attacks that don’t end?
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