Triggers
I've been exposed to an absolute barrage of triggers over the last four days after months without any exposure. Doing my absolute best to practice ERP but almost in a state of shock.
Ugh, I’ve been there, this sounds so hard. Shoutout to you for doing your best to practice ERP even in the midst of all the triggers. Be gentle with yourself, too. Even when you do engage in a compulsion, you can always undo it or try again with the next exposure. Perfection isn’t the goal, just practice. For what it’s worth, for me when I am exposed to a lot of situational exposures I create a couple of lower-level intentional ones, too, so I can get back in the practice of choosing to do them rather than constantly feeling like I’m on the defense. It helps remind me that I’m in charge, not OCD. You got this. Rooting for you 💜
Thank you, fantastic advice! Really appreciate the support 🙏
You’re not alone! I have felt that way lately too, like it’s just one thing after another that really messes with me. Do your best not to let it get you down ❤️ try not to let OCD brain spiral 🌀 and try to treat it all as opportunities for ERP that can benefit you in the long run. Short term discomfort and anxiety for long term happiness and a better life for future you. I just had to do exactly that ^ yesterday because someone had to come in to my apartment, and with contamination OCD I swear I can almost SEE the germs coming out of people’s mouth and nose and landing on all my stuff 😱 and it was really really hard but I didn’t sanitize anything afterwards. There have been a lot of other triggers lately that I won’t overshare and haven’t been 100% successful ERPing, haha! My point is that if I can do it, you can do it. You got this!
Thank you so much ❤
Can earbuds help
I'm not sure? Have you heard about ways in which they can?
@Anon2294 Soundproof ear buds block out outside noise
Tried to practice ERP today. I was able to handle some things. It just seems so scary. I hope I can continue to improve but worried something may trigger me. Yesterday i had a bad episode to the point of being in tears. I dont like when it gets to that point. Hoping to stay strong. Any tips from anyone on here that helped them stay motivated?
I've been doing more "surprise" exposures (like just watching TikToks and if I see a trigger, I try to just watch it and move on like normal) and I'm running into the issue of: now I'm having more intrusive thoughts, and they feel more sticky than they did *before* the exposures. I ask because I don't have access to a therapist to guide me on this, but is this common? It isn't a backdoor spike because I'm, quite frankly, not managing my OCD that well yet to have that happen. I have absolutely seen progress in myself, but I'm really hitting a wall and it feels like I'm getting stuck - and I hate it. Especially while I'm doing everything on my own because I don't want to live like this anymore. :/
So I've unintentionally started to confront some of my triggers. I have real event OCD with "I don't deserve" thoughts that have latched onto pretty much every aspect of my life. I'm leaving overseas tomorrow with my partner to go and see her family, we've had this trip planned for awhile, and for a long time I was good with it. Two days ago my head goes "but wait, you don't deserve to enjoy going overseas" forcing me to confront this trigger. So long story short, I'm unintentionally doing erp. The problem is I find it so overwhelming, all my old OCD triggers have come up at the same time due to me being stressed. I've also stopped sleeping well, is this normal for starting erp?.
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