I am 7 weeks postpartum and my OCD has been awful since the baby was about a week old. I am currently seeing a therapist that specializes in perinatal mood disorders. She gave me a paper titled the 4 steps in the self treatment of OCD. Relabel, reattribute, refocus, and revalue written by Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz. Has anyone tried this? I know that ERP is the standard but wanted to see if this was effective.
Any advice on how to stop rumination?
That is ALWAYS a great question. Rumination is SO DIFFICULT to sort out. My NOCD therapist recommended a bunch of great articles by Dr Michael J Greenberg. His whole deal is rumination focused ERP. Look him up, the content is free on his site. Go to articles and honestly just read them all, in order. It can get a bit technical in places (because a lot of it is written for therapists rather than clients), but it has been really helpful for me. I come back to it on occasion to refresh myself on it.
Congratulations on the baby and I'm so sorry that you are going through this. My OCD became very apparent with the birth of my daughter as well, and I struggled a lot. When I finally saw a psychiatrist after she turned one, the first book he told me to read was "Brain Lock" by Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz, and it helped me immensely. I found the four step method very helpful, very practical, and still use it. Though I am looking to find a therapist who specializes in ERP to continue to treat my OCD, that book was pretty life changing. Good luck in your treatment!
Thank you very much! I will absolutely buy the book recommendation! I am open to anything. I just want so badly to be well. I am having a hard time enjoying this time because of the war in my mind. The constant cycle of thoughts and anxiety is also making me depressed. I am trying to tell myself it will get better but it is hard
My psychiatrist recommended Brain Lock by Schwartz as well. It's on my list to read.
Brain lock is great as are the 4 steps. Just a word of warning though, I think it does tend to work better for physical compulsions (rather than mental ones like rumination) because mentally going through the 4 steps can sometimes turn into a form of rumination or avoidance of anxiety. The 4 steps were a great start for me though personally. They helped me understand what was going on with me.
I had to buy a second copy of Brain Lock because I wrote notes all over the first one, highlighted sentences, reread it over and over and it got worn out. I also bought You Are Not Your Brain and it was good too but I actually prefer Brain Lock.
When I was in my 20's, prior to having such amazing access online to NOCD and ERP treatment, I found the book Brainlock to be a life saver. I will say that there are a few things that ERP does differently but overall this book is amazing. You could also check out NOCD's support groups. But know that you are not alone and OCD symptoms onset after birth is common. I wish you all the best and I am so glad you found this community.
Is it possible for ERP to be too much for people? I am suffering with postpartum ocd among some harm and religious stuff... mostly always geared towards my son. I’m just wondering if there have been other modes of therapy that have been have been found effective and less anxiety inducing inducing. I’m doing ERP, but it’s very hard to just sit with my anxiety when I’m trying to take care of a baby. Thanks for any tips!
Hello- I have been battling many types of OCD on and off for 25+ years. Medication works but wanted to go off for 1st trimester of pregnancy. I am doing a good job deploying ERP tactics for pure o and real event ocd and it has removed physically anxiety symptoms and I can concentrate in life. However I do have a big sense of fear and all day gloomy feeling knowing that the thoughts that are disturbing are sitting out there and fear I will come up with new ones. Will this get better the longer I keep deploying the ERP tactics? I never have this when I am on medication. Thanks in advance.
I am 36 years old with no history of mental illness. I had a stressful event at work about 6 months ago and slowly started getting intrusive thoughts about harming myself or my kids, but am at a point where it’s all I can think about. I was diagnosed with OCD officially this week. I’m distraught and finding it hard to cope since. I’ve never had to deal with anything like this before. I just started ERP therapy. I am hoping it helps but am terrified that it won’t. I just want my old self back! Please, if there is anyone out there who has gone through a similar situation, what helped you continue to function? Will I get to a point that I can function without being tormented by my thoughts?
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