I started this app today and I feel confused about the exposure exercises. I have relationship OCD pretty bad today and I don't see how listing the ways my relationship is bad is going to help me. Won't it just make me doubt everything even more?
That was literally me 4 months ago. And still a fear of mine, but I am pushing through it. I wind up very afraid that thinking "there is a chance my relationship will end for X reason" will actually lead to more doubt and fear. However, being able to go through exposures without acting on compulsions teaches your brain that you are able to deal with doubt. That even when you are in intense distress and doubting and fearing the worst, you CAN get through it. Compulsions and reassurance, comparing, debating, ruminating, it makes the thoughts sound plausible to your brain. You reinforce them with compulsions. It makes them come back stronger. I've thought of it like teaching a dog not to be scared of the vacuum. There's the fear that if you get closer to the vacuum, you could get hurt. So you teach yourself you can be okay in scary moments. You play the sound of a vacuum to a dog. You show it the vacuum turned off. You run it in the other room. Over time, the nerves become lesser and lesser and eventually, the dog will be able to sleep through the vacuum running. But if you just keep the vacuum away, the dog will always stay scared. One day, I hope that my exposures and all yours and others will eventually allow us to exist peacefully next to doubt, next to fear, and next to any source of our anxieties, whether it be a person, place, or our own thoughts. Listing the ways your relationship is bad or a similar exposure will teach you that you can exist with that fear. Also, there ARE grounding methods to help you during exposures so you don't act on compulsions. My therapist teaches: 1. Address the emotion you are feeling. "I am noticing anxiety." "I am sensing the presence of fear." Etc. Try not to say "I'm anxious" but rather say it in a way that separates the feeling from you. 2. Focus on physical sensations. Push your feet in the floor. Stretch. Move around. Your thoughts may be spiraling but you are in control of your body! Move. 3. Notice 5 things you can see, and 5 things you can hear. Repeat, if you have to. Good luck and I wish you luck with your exposures!!!
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That makes sense. I think the trouble I'm having is because my compulsions are mental, I don't really understand what they are
I feel like my Rocd has become more sophisticated. It’s made me feel as if my healthy loving boyfriend is this terrible person. Or I’ll be thinking to myself like “I love him”, and in middle thought I get “no you don’t”. It’s convinced me that our values and beliefs are just TOO different (we’ve only disagreed on one thing in our relationship, but we talk it out). It’s like my ocd is clinging on to every reason why I should break up, like I don’t want this anymore, even tho I do! It’s frustrating. And the idea of doing erp terrifies me. Because I’m afraid if I do erp statements, that I’ll agree with them. Can someone give insight
Hi! Does anyone experience guilt about doing exposures? Like if my OCD is right and now I’m going to get possessed or cause this terrible thing to happen it will be my fault. And also prove that my brain DOES have that power which is so scary. I just did an exposure and I feel so worried about my fears coming true and the people I love (& me) getting hurt because of it. How do you get past this? It feels like I shouldn’t do exposures because it’s selfish.
Ok so I just downloaded this app like two days ago because I was looking for a OCD specialist. Maybe this is just my opinion but the posting’s on this app can be super triggering. If feels like even sharing your experience on an app like this can contribute to fueling OCD. So many people I see reassurance seeking, confessing and posting the same things multiple times to gain certainty. Makes me wonder if this app is counterproductive to the point of OCD treatment. I’m guilty of spending hours scrolling through the post trying to find people who relate to me, but in the end it makes me more anxious and fuels my OCD. Idk what do you guys think.
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