ERP

Honestly doing exposures for mental compulsions will be my biggest obstacle. My physical compulsions are much easier to face, but it’s really hard to combat mental compulsions because it’s so automatic. If I have a negative thought my brain just immediately tries to respond with positivity and logic before I even realize I’m doing it. I’m proud of myself for at least right now working on catching myself doing it and redirecting my attention back to the present moment, and I know the more I do it over time it’ll become much easier but right now it’s so hard because now my brains obsessing about not doing the compulsions so I’m just always thinking about ERP and mental compulsions.

baci2016

Date posted: 2y

take the time to honor how much you have grown, you are able to identify when you are doing mental compulsions! even if it takes awhile. congratulations!!!! i also have worse mental compulsions the phrase “i dont need to figure this out right now” and “ill think about this at (random time)” really help me and i immediantely redirect my focus to something else

Uphamia

Date posted: 2y

@baci2016 Thank you so much! And I’m definitely going to try implementing those responses :)

julyie

Date posted: 2y

This is my biggest problem and I didn’t even realise until I just saw this ! I analyse the thought and apply logic to it and I thought it was doing me good but maybe it’s where I’ve been going wrong ! I say phrases like “I highly doubt that” or “there’s more chance of this/that happening” !

Uphamia

Date posted: 2y

@markson Honestly following ocd specialists on Instagram has helped me learn a lot, it’s where I found out that I was basically keeping myself in a mental loop by trying to argue with the thoughts. My therapist had said something that really stuck with me about how when we keep responding we’re basically just playing tennis, the ocd will keep swinging back until you stop.

Catperson10

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 2y

It's definitely a huge struggle of mine. But catching yourself is really good so definitely give yourself credit for that. It takes a lot of time and practice. I had years of therapy that basically had me replacing bad thoughts with good. I didn't know I had ocd and I was just paying lots of money to make it worse. That's been a big challenge for me too. So it's a process but you've got this!

Uphamia

Date posted: 2y

@Catperson10 Before I was diagnosed with OCD I had a similar experience, I was so frustrated the therapy wasn’t clicking. Im glad we’re both on the right path now ❤️

Anonymousssssss

Date posted: 25w

Do you have to do erp?

I’ve noticed that I’m somewhat happier also ignoring my thoughts than I am instead of doing compulsions (I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired atp) but I’ve heard you’re technically supposed to do erp rather than pushing under the rug. But idk if I have a thought I just refuse to think about it again and im fine even if I want to do compulsions

Crook

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 18w

OCD in the morning

Each night I go to bed determined to stop compulsions and start beating this disorder. Then I wake up and it smacks me in the face first thing and I’m doing a compulsion before I know it. I told my therapist that I would try to handle it like we do in session, but I’ve already failed. It seems like I can’t bring ERP into my “real” life.

Patrick McGrath

User type: Therapist

Date posted: 15w

What's been the biggest surprise from ERP?

Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) isn't always easy, but as one of the most effective treatments for OCD, it's worth it. If you've started ERP, what has been the biggest surprise you've experienced in learning to resist compulsions? If you haven't started ERP yet, what is holding you back from starting?

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