sanan

Date posted: 3y

guidance about harm ocd

Everyone said that ERP is gold standard treatment of ocd. I have suicidal ocd .my mind told me to hang on fan but I don't really wanna do that. everytime I entered my room I see fan and my anxiety increase. But I don't understand how apply ERP on this type of condition. For example if we have a ocd of sickness then we wash our hands and that is a compulsion right so ERP works in this type of ocd in that way we don't wash our hands even our mind force us to wash this is a exposure. But in my scenario I have suicidal thoughts hang on a fan and etc. how I expose these fears and apply ERP on this type of ocd. Need guidance plssss

tomtom45

Date posted: 3y

I think the key thing here is to start with easy things and work your way up to harder ones. Are you seeing an ocd therapist? They can help a lot with this. If not the best thing to do would be to write down all the things that could trigger this intrusive thought, from watching a movie, to being near a fan with someone you trust, to writing the word "suicide" repeatedly on a piece of paper. Then write down a score of 1-10 for each one, 1 being super easy, not feeling anxious at all, and 10 being super hard, intolerable, the most anxious you've ever felt. Then start with the easy ones!! Like 3s and 4s. If you go for something too hard it will be overwhelming and you will stop. The aim is to habituate yourself to the fear "oh look, here's that thought, I don't have to do anything about it", but that takes practice! And easier to get there with the easier triggers and you can build up over time. Have you seen the "exercises" section of this app? You can write down your obsessions, triggers and practice exposures in a "hierarchy" where you give each one a score and choose which ones you want to practice. There's a "how to stop doing compulsions" audio which is useful, and an SOS button for a guided meditation if it gets too hard. Your anxiety will definitely spike! That's almost a sign you're doing the right thing, stopping yourself from hiding from the fear. But that's hard tho and go easy on yourself for sure. The key will be to do "non engagement responses", practice saying to yourself things like "maybe I want that, maybe I don't, I can't know for sure" until your anxiety comes down by itself. Takes practice!

Greynocd

Date posted: 3y

Huh. I've been doing the harder ones a lot..

tomtom45

Date posted: 3y

@Novanocd Easy to do! I think cos ocd sends the worst possible images it can come up with to your head, it's maybe tempting to want to deal with those straight away. But there's a reason they feel so hard and we want to get rid of those feelings with a compulsion. It's legit to go easy on ourselves and build up our strength first before we take on the marathon. I know I took on a few too hard ones at the start and i just got stuck not coming down with my anxiety. Happy to say a few weeks in that things that seemed too hard at the start are now pretty doable. I was sceptical at first but yeah can recommend

Greynocd

Date posted: 3y

@tomtom45 Thank you for telling me! I have gained some insight from doing the harder ones. Even if my anxiety has been tiring me out and making me get nightmares.. yesterday I didn't do any and I had no nightmares tonight! So I'll definitely do the easier ones.

sanan

Date posted: 3y

your so good

anne.abby

Date posted: 3y

Read stories about people who Jung themselves on their fan.. create a story about you banging yourself and all the worst case scenario’s that would come of it… say it out loud… watch movies about suicide etc

sanan

Date posted: 3y

when I saw these stories my anxiety triggers

Greynocd

Date posted: 3y

@sanan Yep, exposure therapy.

anne.abby

Date posted: 3y

Be around ceiling fans by yourself for a long time.

sanan

Date posted: 3y

you mean to say I stare at ceiling fan for long time would yuh mind to explain more?

Greynocd

Date posted: 3y

@sanan Yep

sanan

Date posted: 3y

But when I saw any video related to suicide or any news related to suicide my anxiety triggers ... How long I'll do this and what result I get after do these things?

anne.abby

Date posted: 3y

It’s good that your anxiety is triggered. That is what will eventually keep those intrusive thoughts from happening so frequently. Temporary anxiety for permanent relief!

sanan

Date posted: 3y

@anne.abby how much time takes to recover from this?

cows12465

Date posted: 24w

suic. ocd tips

so I need to get back into ERP, but it’s so hard to manage these thoughts and learn to deal with them. like I swear my mind has to make everything about it. Like every time I clean my room, my mind’s like yup make sure it’s clean so when your parents find you, or something so stupid like if I get a headache, my mind convinces me that I like the pain and that that’s why I get my thoughts because I actually want to do it. It’s so exhausting. Because I know I would never want to take my life and I treasure my life so why does it do it to me? It’s hard to comprehend the fact of these thoughts too because I don’t know many people with this exact theme. It’s such a scary feeling. And I’m constantly questioning whether I have actual depression or if it’s just my OCD. Yes I have been diagnosed with suicidal OCD, but my mind still tries to convince me otherwise. I just don’t know how to let these just sit and pass without panicking.

cows12465

Date posted: 24w

suic. ocd advice?

anxietypoops

Date posted: 22w

The RP in ERP

Hi! I've been on my OCD healing journey for about half a year and I have seen a lot of success. I'm reaching out for advice, I am very willing to do exposures because I know the more I do them, the more I get better, but I struggle with the response prevention part. I don't know how to control my brain when it comes to facing the fears especially since most of my compulsions are mental. I can tell myself the typical things "I am okay with the uncertainty of this happening", etc. but its like my brain doesn't believe them. I've been stuck in this disconnect for a while and would love advice you have heard from a therapist or learned that has really help you.

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guidance about harm ocd

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