For those practicing erp whether it be with a therapist or by yourself, how do you just sit with the anxiety/uncertainty? I've been trying, but it's extremely hard because I know what is true about myself even though my brain is trying to convince me otherwise. How do you guys get through eerp without it just sounding like you're confirming the thoughts?? I'm struggling here.
If ur doing erp u have to sit with uncertainty tell yourself maybe maybe not and when ur barely starting do small triggers then work ur way up
When u find a girl attractive say maybe it’s true maybe it’s not same when u find a boy attractive
Remember it’s not our fault ,ocd is a sickness it makes us obsess over certain things weather the thoughts are true or not it’s not our fault remember remain uncertain it may be hard at first but it gets easier
the thing about OCD is that it’s impossible to know for sure if your thoughts or memories are real or not. in the case of false memory OCD, the more the person fixates on them, the more their brain may fill in these false memories with even more false information, further convincing themselves they are guilty of things they haven’t done. Furthermore, even though behaviours aimed at feeling more certain of one’s memory (e.g., repeated checking) might seem to increase confidence in memory accuracy, research actually shows the opposite: these behaviors actually decrease one’s confidence in their memory (Cuttler & Graf, 2009). you need to let go of the idea that you know what is true about yourself because unfortunately OCD will never let you have that luxury. the more you fight back against it, the worse it gets. let yourself become comfortable with the idea that you ‘may or may not…’ whilst also understanding that the reason you do not know the answer is because you have OCD; the doubt disorder.
My only think is can this simply just appear out of no where? I went to bed sometime near the end of June and woke up like this. Nothing triggered it or anything, I just went to bed and then woke up. The little things my boyfriend would say to me to warm my heart, were not having the same affect on me, I legitimately thought that I lost love for him out of no where just like that. This has never happened before even when he made me upset. This didn't happen until he left for the air force. Can Rocd truly be this light switch reaction like this?
@TowriteorNot18 i’m not sure but one thing i am sure of is that the fact that you being unsure of this is just another way of OCD tricking you into seeking certainty. here’s an article which might help: https://www.treatmyocd.com/blog/relationship-ocd
OCD is a disorder of uncertainty. The stress results in a host of behaviors or obsessive thoughts. If we have an internal problem you bet your butt we will be in some other arena going hard. It's mostly always seeking to control. Control is an illusion and therefore the cycle continues.
love this! let go of control!
For me when I would get a thought that would make me uncomfortable I’d say to myself “ok this makes me anxious” I will be mindful that I’m anxious that the thoughts are in my head and they make me feel the way I’m feeling. I do not jump to try to comfort myself and protect myself from these thoughts. I’d used to find explanations for thoughts in an effort to make myself feel better but that was just another form of reassurance and it’s true that that never helps bc it never helped me. Being mindful and sitting with that uncomfortableness is the only thing that helped me started to recover
So essentially understand that they are there, but ignore them if I'm understanding that right?
@TowriteorNot18 Not even that. Recognize those thoughts and the way it makes you feel. Maybe it makes your stomach feel knotted or your heart beat… breathe and be mindful of every sensation you’re feeling and the cause of those sensations (the thoughts). Don’t ignore them, dont research them, don’t ask this app or other apps if those feelings are normal, don’t do anything to them. Just practice mindfulness
@TowriteorNot18 Part 2. For example, when I first started accepting that I may never know what the future holds, it made me very nervous and anxious. But I had to practice just sitting with that anxious feeling and not running to comfort myself. Be mindful that the concept of uncertainty is scary and that it makes you nervous. You don’t have to do anything about those things though.
Accepting uncertainty feels like I'm accepting my intrusive thoughts (that I know are false) as truth. Does anyone else deal with this thought and have any tips to avoid thinking this? (I know it's my OCD telling me this so I can continue ruminating and "proving intrusive thoughts wrong", but it's a thought that makes me feel like ERP will make things worse)
How do you practice ERP on mental compulsions? I don’t understand. So I’m having an intrusive thought which mine are usually not about me doing something but something being done to someone else. Then thought sticks and becomes more intense the more I try to push it away or replace it etc.. am I supposed to force my self to have the thought and have anxiety. Is telling myself it’s just a thought, a compulsion? How do you sit with your thought? And what happens when you do? Will the thought go away? I don’t understand
Ok so I’ve started ERP about a month ago. It’s been really tough and I think I’m a little resistant to the work BECAUSE it’s so anxiety inducing. Although I don’t want to be. Could someone please clarify for me what the eventual goal with ERP is? I had thought the responses were supposed to help me “accept” the thoughts, aka feel relief. Now I believe I was using them as a compulsion. It can feel so shitty to sit with the intrusive thoughts, I don’t understand how to do that yet. I worry that it will never get better. Also one thing I really struggle with is believing my thoughts are 100% real. Makes it hard to accept. Makes me feel like a shitty person. Does anyone have any advice?
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