Is it necessary to go back and heal childhood trauma issues in order to fully heal from anxiety and depression? My therapist (not thru nocd) always wants to go back and address this stuff and idk
Yes, absolutely necessary. You take on each mental illness as needed. I did trauma therapy for my PTSD, then did ERP for my OCD. The other 2 mental illnesses I have, I worked on those with my therapist but they EXTREMELY decreased in symptoms because I handled the 2 main mental illnesses that were causing the most issues for me. I’ve been recovered for 3 years now. It took 6 years in intense therapy.
Omg so recovery is possible ?? Like fully recover ?? That’s what I want so bad but sometimes I’m scared I can’t and my Brain is just ruined. I haven’t tried meds yet but thinking about it . I definitely have trauma to work thru. Ugh. So you feel like therapy really helped you ?
@NrseKris Of course it’s possible. Recovery doesn’t mean cured though; I still have all my mental illnesses and my brain is physically different than those without mental illnesses. I still have issues but they don’t affect my life because I know what to do whenever an issue pops up.
@Nica If there’s one tip you could give me on recovery what would it be
@NrseKris Start practing mindfulness and reading all you can about it now. It takes a while to rewire your brian, but it’s worth it.
@Nica Thank you 💕if there’s any specific books about mindfulness that you recommend please share
@NrseKris There aren’t specific books, just teachings on mindfulness. The best person to go to is Thich Nhat Hanh.
I did EMDR for trauma then later ERP for my ocd
I’ve heard of EMDR, how’d it go for you
I know that they say on here that past trauma isn’t really discussed for ocd treatment. But I’m my opinion having at least an idea of why your certain anxieties exist make me feel like I’m not so crazy, and I can give myself more compassion when I’m having a hard time. That’s my experience. Trauma has a huge effect on who we are and in some cases it really drives a lot of anxiety and depression. So I wouldn’t discount that therapy. I don’t think it helps to dwell on it continuously though.
Yea I agree it kinda helps me feel less crazy to know there’s probably a good reason behind my anxiety. I just wana heal and don’t know the best route but I guess I could always work on things separate like the intrusive thoughts and also do past trauma therapy
@NrseKris I think thats totally fine, I suppose it might be problematic if you start constantly look back instead of forward and healing. This is a journey and I hope you find your way through
I feel really scared and worried that the therapist I find on NOCD might not be effective, and instead of getting better, I might end up feeling worse. I’m afraid that if I don’t feel any progress, I’ll want to switch therapists, but my mom might get impatient with me. I worry that she’ll lose faith in therapy, stop paying for it, and think it’s a waste of time and money. I know therapy takes time and it’s not a quick fix, but I’m scared that things won’t go the way I hope. What if I don’t connect with the therapist? What if they don’t understand my OCD as well as I need them to? I’ve already been struggling so much, and the thought of going through another disappointment is exhausting. I’m only 14, and I feel stuck because I can’t manage this on my own. I need help, but I also need my mom to stay patient and supportive through this process. I’m scared that if things don’t improve fast enough, she’ll give up on paying for therapy. I don’t know what to do, and it’s making me feel really anxious. I just want to get better, but what if nothing works out?
Sometimes I think " do I like kids?" "Would i get aroused if I saw content with kids?""What if I'm a pedo and cant accept it?" "What if I'm ok with these thoughts?" "What if I'm not distressed enough " "What if I enjoy these thoughts?" , i avoid kids as much as i can, i cant look at them bc I'm scared I'm gonna have some groin like response. I keep testing if I'd get turned on or if I'd have some groinal response to sexual scenarios with kids. Sometimes I think that if I took my life this would be over and i wouldn't have to think about this and i wish i doubted something else instead of things like this. I had similar situations just with different topics such as if i loved or found sexually appealing a guy while in a relationship and i kept asking myself those questions for months and i avoided going to school for weeks and when I went I'd cry and have anxiety attacks. I had it with past actions i obessed over and felt the need to exploit every detail and be honest because otherwise i was being a fraud. I had it for sexual things that happened when i was a child. Im not diagnosed with ocd but should i tell this to my local counselor? Can someone help? Give me advice or tell me anything?
Does anyone else struggle with this? It's been the main thing powering my POCD, and it's only been getting worse. Especially when I see posts online of people sharing their personal stories relating to CSA, specifically grooming. It's so triggering now, but before this theme developed, the most I'd feel while reading posts like that would be disgust targeted towards people who did those things. Now, my first thought is, "What if I do something like that one day? What if I've done it before and I don't remember or didn't know I was doing it?" I have many, many different intrusive thoughts or worries related to this theme, but it all circles back to this specific fear that I'll become like the people who hurt and took advantage of me. Does anyone have advice for this? I'm not sure if I've asked a similar question in the past or not, but is this something I need to deal with separately before beginning ERP for OCD? I'm just curious and also lost on where to begin with all of this. I'm just glad I'm able to begin working through all of these issues now, rather than later in life when I'd probably have a lot more responsibilities. Anyways, any feedback is appreciated! 🤍
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