hii, i have tocd and i want to start doing erp, and those things to get better hahah š„¹ but i really donāt know what to expose myself to? do you have any ideas? how do yāall expose yourselves? i really want to get better, im trying non engagement responses but sometimes they donāt really work:( any ideas?
Whatās been helping me is go to situations that trigger your ocd and anxiety and then donāt run away from it just stay there and tell your ocd that Your not gonna run away just because your scared it could be holding conversations with the same sex it could be complimenting ppl or going to a all girl place
The reason why ocd feels so real is because of the anxiety it brings people like us with ocd we wired are Brains to be scared of certain thoughts because it goes against are morals or beliefs and some days are better than others
What really helped me is picture urself being the captain of a ship and your trying to get to shore(home) and you have ups and down trying to get to shore you have demons(ocd) saying things that your scared of so u could turn around and the demons might get louder when ur getting closer to sometimes it gets harder because ocd wants u to turn around and wants to me In control again
Be *
Now , my anxiety is almost gone.......but, the thoughts r not gone,& the thoughts feel I will like them or liking them If I don't try to stop them ( It is like someone inside my brain laughing saying ayi u liked the thoughts didn't u now ur attempting to stop cuz ur r in denail).......but , when I try not to stop them, the thoughts slowly go away ,but leaving a doubt of did I really like the thoughts or not.......now my question is should I ignore it and move on?......some times I can't ignore it since it is associated with groinal responses & thoughts that r inturn associated with groinal responses which r same as real arousals & at that movement ur convinced that ur wat u don't want to be.....and u cry for hours
@Say101 U canāt agree with the thoughts ur agreeing with ocd and ur giving yourself reassurance which is not good instead tell yourself maybe,maybe not like when u find a guy attractive say maybe I do like guys maybe I donāt same when u find a girl attractive even if your like damn I would date her u canāt tell yourself 100% u like girls or boys because ocd will fight back and make u doubt again
@Anonymous Ya that is exactly what is happening....... Ocd is tricky me when I try to trick ocd........wen I get a thought of liking a man I push that thought further to do erp and say ya I like it earlier I used to get the opposite effect automatically and I would be ya it is working....but I realised I am using it as a compulsion cuz now am am not feeling the opposite instead my mind is saying ur feeling the same feeling u wat to feel with the girl (although during the thought also I feel it is fake but while I feel it it gives me another feeling to convince me that it is true.....at this point I make a sad face automatically).......and now when I deliberately switch to having that feelings with a woman the thoughts say u don't like it and I start crying...........I think I need to stop this .....thank u very much.......did u recover fully
@Say101 Iām in the process of recovering Iām half way its been getting a lot better because of erp and with ocd there is a lot of ups and downs but u have to keep going
Hi! I've been on my OCD healing journey for about half a year and I have seen a lot of success. I'm reaching out for advice, I am very willing to do exposures because I know the more I do them, the more I get better, but I struggle with the response prevention part. I don't know how to control my brain when it comes to facing the fears especially since most of my compulsions are mental. I can tell myself the typical things "I am okay with the uncertainty of this happening", etc. but its like my brain doesn't believe them. I've been stuck in this disconnect for a while and would love advice you have heard from a therapist or learned that has really help you.
Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) is one of the hardest but most effective treatments for OCD. If youāve started ERP, what has been the biggest challenge in resisting compulsions?
How do people start practicing erp on their own? Because I tried yesterday, and it helped for like two hours, but it always comes back and scares me. I donāt think i can practice it the right way without help.
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