Tried to expose myself to the thing i feared today and totally clammed up. Pushed so hard to do it.. Intense ruminating.. Tried to talk it down.. Then pushed on and knew that i had do it to get better. But in the end I failed and didn't do the exposure.. This is mentally torture :( How do i push in through while having these hyper responsibility ocd thoughts?
First, I disagree that you failed - the only way to fail is NOT TRYING to do anything, and you did the opposite. It was difficult - and you are applying ERP skills in your life - and sometimes we are not ready for the "big" exposures. Please be kind to yourself. Show yourself some compassion - OCD is hard work to deal with and you are showing up to try - and that is a big win in my book. When OCD tells you that you failed, acknowledge the thought without putting any value on its veracity - and then when you are ready, try again. Don't let OCD lead you to believe you cannot do this because you can - with practice. So if not today, maybe tomorrow, maybe next week, who knows? And it is okay not to know - determination is key. I am sorry that you are discouraged - and I believe most of us would agree that we have been there. Now I would encourage you to do something kind for yourself for trying. It's not easy work and it sucks sometimes.
ik how it feels coming from someone else but offer yourself some compassion. this is a daily struggle and is the most difficult thing i’ve faced in my entire life. the fact that you tried is something to be proud of, just try to push a little further next time
Thank you so much.. I really appreciate it....felt so hard to get to agree to do it... Then just chickened out at the end :(:(
Listen...it happens!!! Your not a failure- you tried to do something that must have been really really difficult. You tried- there is nothing wrong with that. So you will try again at another time. ERP is hard! Don't discredit all of the hard work you have likely already done. The good news is that you can always retry. I tell people that the goal is that you do things ERP style most of the time- 80% of the time- and that allows for you to be human- I am 36 years into this illness and I still have moments where I give into a compulsion- but I keep going, I know that as long as I get it right most of the time, the other times don't matter so much. You got this.
Thank you so much guys i really appreciate it... Especially today when my anxiety is at high alert :(
Exposure therapy is so hard and so scary i can barely do it but i don’t want to be consumed by my ocd. does anybody have any tips on how to get through it.
This is one of the worst ocd days I’ve ever had. I’ve tried to do exposures, I’ve tried to not reassure myself, I’ve tried to be more social and go to lunch with coworkers, I’ve tried to not do any compulsions and I feel like crap. I keep wondering why I’m not getting better .
I started ERP therapy yesterday and had my second session today. During my session of trying to do an exposure, I started crying, and became very anxious. I know that this type of therapy is hard, but how do you know this is just some thing that you can’t do? I have been anxious all day and my exposure has been the only thing I’ve been able to think of. I want to get better but I don’t know if I’m able to push myself this much.
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