She had me read my fears as an exposure but for some reason I wasn’t that triggered idk if it’s because I already know my fears so reading them was whatever or because I was reassuring my self but now I’m worried that it wasn’t bothering me maybe it’s not ocd or I don’t care anymore has this happened to anyone ????
Yep! I usually have to read them a bunch before they get my anxiety up
Same here. Happened to me last night while doing erp (holding knife to spouse) Remember that we are welcoming anxiety. If it’s there that’s fine, if not that’s also fine. We are trying to show our brain that the feelings that come with the thoughts are irrelevant. Keep doing what you’re doing! It will pay off!!
Omg I was so worried that maybe I actually want these thoughts my fear is depression and self harm or suicide and I can’t stop thinking now why wasn’t it bothering me to read my fears 😭
I’m like what if I don’t get anxious for any exposures and I find out I don’t have ocd and this is seriously bad thoughts I’m having
That’s is also one of my fears. So basically the way I apply erp to that is I stand in front of a mirror, and tell myself “maybe I don’t have ocd and maybe I am depressed” I also say “ I’m depressed and I don’t want to live anymore” I struggle more with the second one.. But I repeat the phrase and sit with the anxiety until the anxiety decreases by at least half. I found that saying some of my biggest fears also didn’t have an affect on me. Just keep digging :)
I try to say that to my self too but when I say it as a statement I get more worried if it’s real and especially if I have a day where I feel down or weird or tired I’m like omg I must really be depressed right now !😫😵💫 I’m scared that it’s severe anxiety and depression and not ocd but I guess I’ll have to just see 😣
This is actually quite common. In many of my therapy sessions with members I always say that you may not have anxiety in the moment- and maybe it will creep up on you later in the day or week. That is all normal. The key is that you do response prevention when the anxiety does kick in. And if it doesn't kick in ever then maybe you need to make the materials more anxiety provoking or maybe you are just getting better with the OCD. There is something called a back door spoke which is basically when the anxiousness goes away and the person then becomes anxious because they don't feel the anxiety- oh OCD is so ridiculously creative.
I think it crept up on me later because I kept worrying that it meant I didn’t care about the thoughts anymore or wanted them and I ended up asking for reassurance and self reassuring but I’m still worried that maybe these thoughts mean I’m depressed or something bad
It is hard work, but you got this!!!
I worry I can fake OCD somehow.
I am probably a lot older than most members on here having had ocd for over 40 years and I have had every type of ocd but its always thoughts based and mental rituals around harming people I love. . I have been doing great using self help books, and thought I had everything under control at last. I had quit worrying about it and realised I was never going to do any of the things I feared and would never ever want to. However out of the blue a few weeks ago I had a weird but horrible thought pop up, which I tried to do exposure for, by telling myself we can say anything in our heads even if its not true, as the self help books taught me. . that then started a whole new ball game as I then started bringing the horrible thoughts up on purpose and made them the worst I could for exposure , thinking it was the right thing to do but now i am feeling even worse again as by doing that I actually said the things I feared coming into my head for example:..'I could say I want ******to happen to the people i love ( then I kept repeating in my head that I wouldnt say that) I would never want anything bad to happen to them ever , they are my world and I love them more than Ive ever loved anyone. has this exposure I tried to do become a compulsion? . I seem to be constantly repeating this and then praying to keep everyone safe,,, why am i being tortured like this its as though the ocd bully is now saying ah but what if you hurt people by saying horrible things. please, please someone help me as I am really anxious and upset over this.
guys, I have a few questions. OCD is such an interesting thing because it is so simple yet so sneaky. The OCD I've been going through recently is (resistance to feelings) "I better not get feelings for anyone because I might lose control and be abandoned" my therapist has got me doing an exposure which is "I will get feelings, fall in love and be rejected" 5 minutes a day, 5 times a day. I noticed the anxiety subsiding but then I do move towards getting feelings and the fears return. Any advice here?
I’ve lived with OCD for over 40 years. Needless to say, I’ve developed a lot of coping mechanisms and small hidden that aren’t necessarily healthy. Yesterday was my first session where I did a very simple exposure (staring at the smoke alarm for 1 minute) that i thought would be no biggie, but turns out really knocked me into a lot of fears and anxiety. Is this common?!?! I think so, but I’ve never actually experienced this. Thank you 💛
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