- Date posted
- 6y
- Date posted
- 6y
Erp with certain mental rituals can be tricky. One that sounds like it would be good place to start is your researching compulsions. If you have a particular type of thought that starts this researching exposure yourself to it maybe by writing a script. John Graysons book Freedom from OCD has lots of good script examples. I think you can find examples online too from the same author. The mental checking is harder to figure out how to do erp. I still struggle with that one. Regardless start with the obvious behavoiral issues your having.
- Date posted
- 6y
Interesting thank you I’ll look into the script ones by that author online. Definitely though I cut out researching compulsions and other ones like avoidance or even ones that are little and you wouldn’t think add to it but do. Thanks!
- Date posted
- 6y
I think I understand this type of ocd!! I have some of this type of existential ocd .. “what’s the actual point of life, what’s my purpose ” etc are sum thoughts that go through my brain intensely and I sometimes can’t seem to handle the unknown of life or the future or not knowing, it’s super hard to explain! I also research a lot and had to start to recognize whether I was doing so for comfort or because I actually was curious. If you find urself researching because U need relief from the ocd thoughts or u actually already know the answer to what ur researching then that is a compulsion and u should try to resist doing it. Overtime you will be able to see the difference between research for relief vs curiosity..... the book I read called overcoming unwanted intrusive thoughts was insanely helpful for this type of internalized ocd. This is more mental ocd and it’s what I struggle with the most. Your brain uses false comfort as the compulsion, erp therapy and the therapy in that book trained me to understand what my brain was doing and to not listen to it all the time. To ignore the anxiety and the false comfort and to let the thoughts come in and out without analyzing them or researching. Eventually after enough practice and exposure to ur sticky thoughts ur brain will learn to automatically understand what’s happening and watch the thoughts come in and out like watching a fish in a tank! Seriously google the book it saved my life!!
Related posts
- Date posted
- 25w
I'm thinking of trying some ERP on my own while I wait for treatment, but I'm having some trouble knowing what is a compulsion and what would be good exposure. For example, I have huge fears of being a narcissist and/or a generally bad person. So whenever I watch a movie or read something that has an evil character in it I automatically compare myself to that character and stress over if I'm like that person. A couple of things I do when this happens is Google other people's experiences, seek reassurance, rumination, etc. Sometimes I'll also google different symptoms of narcissism, freak out over things that I relate to, then get relief over things I don't. So my confusion is, would researching people who have narcissism be an exposure, or a compulsion since it's something I sometimes do during a spiral? Or, would the exposure be watching movies/living life hearing these stories, and refraining from the spiral of rumination and no Googling at all?
- Date posted
- 25w
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.
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 24w
I used to get caught in a loop with existential thoughts very frequently. Every question made my stomach drop: (TW: existential questions) … … ... "Why does anything exist at all? What will death be like? Is anything even real? Is there any meaning to this? Is the universe infinitely big, and if not, what's beyond it? Are there multiverses? Has the universe been around forever? Will the universe end for good, or will it keep going forever? What is forever like? What even IS reality?" It would get so overwhelming that I remember lying on the floor in a fetal position for hours because I felt like there was no escape. I spent most of my days reading articles and watching videos about theoretical astrophysics and philosophy in a desperate attempt to "figure it all out." Of course that only made me more anxious, raised more questions, and kept me trapped in the cycle. Things started to improve once I learned to turn TOWARD reality, rather than away from it, and ERP really helped me do that. I learned that these questions weren't the problem. I learned that I can actually handle the anxiety that arises when exposed to these ideas and concepts. I don't have to figure anything out to make the anxiety go away; it arises and passes away on its own. Ironically, bringing myself into the present moment and becoming more aware of reality helped me escape the cycle of existential dread. Because of that, this topic no longer takes over my life. If I'm triggered by something I see, hear, or think, I may still feel a little twang of anxiety, but then it just goes away. "Maybe, maybe not" has been the single most useful phrase of my life. Do you ever get trapped in a cycle of existential questions? Are you worried that the ERP approach would be too scary to handle? If so, I'm happy to give my advice.
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