- Date posted
- 3y
- Date posted
- 3y
Omg I think about this all the time! I asked my therapist today about it and all he said was that people learn to "receive it" better when it comes, but you can't prevent it. That would be seen as recovered. Curable no... It will always come back, but I've seen that for some people it did lengthen the "normal" phase. But never gone completely.
- Date posted
- 3y
Lol love your handle. I’m Definitely it having a good time either. Yeah I was wondering about that. It’s just kind of weird. Going through phases when I wasn’t doing erp, some of the best times I’ve felt was before I was even diagnosed. But that was way earlier stages
- Date posted
- 3y
@Ocdislame One thing for sure is that if left untreated ocd goes worst, so it's a never ending work. Acceptance is the biggest work because this will be with you for life and it's extra frustrating. That's all i know lol Good luck on your ocd phases acceptance then!!
- Date posted
- 3y
I know people who have been recovered = symptom-free for more than 10 years. Some therapists even have told me this. I think the reason some tell us it is not curable is because part of the recovery process is acceptance of it. There also two different philosophies out there. One is that you are doomed to have OCD forever just learn to manage it + another that YOU can recover and keep it at bay successfully. Of course the latter is very difficult because you must literally rewrite the was you think. I have personally spoken to people who have recovered from OCD for decades. I wish I was one of them but that is what I am shooting for. Like you, I had a day when I was completely normal. What brought it back was my fear. I think fear has ALOT to do with it.
- Date posted
- 3y
It is totally possible to be 100 percent again, eventually you don’t even realize the things that you feared you feared. At the very end stages you’ll get no anxiety then I pause moment bringing you back. Over time you’ll have less of those moments and they’ll go away eventually. I had up to 15 themes at once, all gone.
- Date posted
- 3y
Thank you for responding. This is helpful and encouraging!!! I get discouraged a lot when I see people that have just suffered for years and years on end. I’m in less than a year at this point.
- Date posted
- 3y
To add I think by unusable they are referring to the thoughts that trigger ocd behaviour. U can't get rid of them, just change ur response too them. But that's just my guess I don't know much on the topic
- Date posted
- 3y
@Aviolet I’m assuming you meant uncurable, but thank you !
- Date posted
- 3y
I’ve been recovered for thre years and all my therapy, including trauma and ERP therapy, took nearly 4 years to complete. ERP is to help lessen your OCD by reaching it what not to fear and to lessen your triggers. You can’t cure OCD, but you can successfully live with it. Just like how I’m successfully living with my PTSD, depression, GAD, and ADHD too.
- Date posted
- 3y
Three* and teaching* 🥸
- Date posted
- 3y
I’d say I’ve been in full recovery about 3 days now. 3rd time in recovery. You know ERP is working if anxiety and or frequency/intensity of obsessions are reducing. You should feel some reduction after doing an exposure exercise if doing it correctly. And yes I would say I go longer periods of time without obsessions when I practice effective ERP. And it really just depends on what you mean by “curable.” I think generally people mean there is no magic pill that makes it go away. You have to do the work of ERP if you want recovery. However, I believe it is 100% possible to get fully better and fully recover, because I have had multiple times where I was doing very well with no obsessions for long periods of time.
- Date posted
- 3y
I think that the true idea of ERP is you get better at resisting compulsions, and over time, the more you put in the work to use your new skills to resist compulsions, your obsessions fade. And triggers will bring obsessions back, but you’re better able to resist letting them consume you. I’m sure that s not the perfect approach for everyone but I think that’s the idea. That you need to be working at applying it every day, and that the way you can tell is working is if you’re better at resisting compulsions.
Related posts
- Date posted
- 24w
Anyone else feel that when they aren’t experiencing a theme that their ocd is almost non existent. It almost makes me feel like I’ve been faking it, and also makes me feel ridiculous for obsessing over things. I feel sorry for myself :/ I know that my themes are valid and felt very real in the moment, but after I “get over” them I just can’t believe that I was obsessing over something that either wasn’t true or didn’t apply to me. I would also like to know how to prevent themes from reoccurring. Health, religion and existential OCD themes tend to take turns throughout my life, I just didn’t know that was it ocd. Trying to break the cycle.
- Date posted
- 22w
In ERP, but have made no progress. I’m also on medication for ocd. I actually feel like I’ve resorted back to when I was at my worst. Is this normal? I feel ERP helps everyone and not me. It actually makes me more anxious and want to stop, esp because my ocd is on something physical (imperfections/hair color) I’m not giving up & going to continue through this journey regardless. I long for mental stability 😭
- Date posted
- 15w
So I’ve noticed that my OCD has calmed down, I’m getting less intrusive thoughts but I feel more uncertain than ever. Is this normal for recovery?
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