Does natural exposures work?

Okay so I’m just really confused/lost/nervous/etc about the way i am feeling. I am still struggling with harm intrusive thoughts but i feel like they are not as bad. I still have the commands,what ifs, and images but i feel like they aren’t as bad. I am not in therapy and i know some people said it’s nearly impossible to recover without therapy. So how am i possibly getting better? The only thing i can think of is that I’m a cook everyday so i am always holding a knife. And it’s not like i can just not go to work so i just go because it’s what i normally do. And I’m not isolating from my family because i don’t want it to be noticeable that I’m struggling. So i was just wondering if natural exposures such as knife holding and doing things normally help with the intrusive thought? Because I’m just so scared that I’m getting better without therapy and that secretly means that I’m a bad person.

Have Some Ch...

Date posted: 2y

I also got a lot better Thank God from intrusive thoughts and religious ocd without any kind of therapy...... 🤷Why would that secretly mean that you're a bad person..... If you are feeling like this that recovering without therapy means you're a bad person remember that that's another trick from ocd to keep you stuck.... As ocd saw that you're recovering or getting better it has to try an another way to defeat you... As it wants to win... Don't let it win!!

Anon17

Date posted: 2y

@Have Some Chocolate 🍫 I don’t know i mean i guess I’m just new to the whole intrusive thoughts/ocd illness. I’ve only been dealing with it for about 3 months after i watched a tv commercial. And when i hear or read stories on this app about how people have to isolate and contemplate admitting into a hospital for help, and they are physically sick and all this other terrible stuff it truly makes me feel horrible and makes me feel like I’m different because i don’t feel like them. Like i am not to that extreme and i am not that bad and it makes me question everything about myself. Like maybe it’s not really ocd? Maybe it’s me? And so the fact that the thoughts that i do have slowly aren’t bothering me as much without the help of therapy is just nerve wracking i guess because people on here are struggling so bad. I’m glad you are doing better!

Have Some Ch...

Date posted: 2y

@Anon17 Actually my religious ocd and intrusive thoughts just don't trigger me anymore but i have new themes now... Pure ocd is now my main theme.... With false memory and also real event sometimes....but my contamination ocd didn't get better but when i see other people's contamination ocd i feel like Thank God i have it much better..... Tbh seeing other people with extreme cases make me feel like i should be Grateful to God that i didn't have it this bad.... So you should also be thankful to God that you have it better than others..... And don't think that having better than others or getting better without therapy makes you a bad person or like you didn't have it.... Some people have it worse some people have it less worse... Like fever or any other disease can be High or low.... So can ocd also..... That doesn't prove anything or say anything....... So if we can get better without therapy that's for the good only :) there's nothing to feel sad or doubtful about it.... And if it's making you feel like a bad person for getting better without therapy remember it's definitely ocd trying to trick you as it don't want you to win to get better and feel better..... So we can't let it win.... And look there's a lot of people who can't have Professional's Help At the moment..... Like I'm also one of them.... So it's better for the people like us To get Better without therapy so we can get well with our life... Isn't it?? So don't feel bad, guilty or doubtful for not having it worse than others... It's normal that not everybody would have it at the same level..... If you have it less than others or recovering without any help Thankfully that is and should be a Great thing...... So don't let ocd win and don't feel bad about feeling or getting better.... I wish you all the best!💙 May you Get Even More Better and Better!! 👍

Anon17

Date posted: 2y

Thank you so so much! I don’t care that you wrote a lot i just appreciate every single bit of it so much. You are so right i should be more grateful. Not everyone is the same and i should stop comparing. If i got lucky with a slight case of ocd i shouldn’t dwell on it i should just be grateful. And i definitely still get triggered like i got triggered last night and this morning. However i feel like I’m not as bothered i guess. Like i have a word stuck in my head but it’s not causing me extreme distress so i should be grateful for that. And yes in the beginning i truly didn’t know what was wrong with me until i started doing research as realized that it is indeed Normal. And then i finally realized what ocd was. I still am not diagnosed which makes everything scarier of course. And yes i too think that before i realized what ocd was that i was trying to get myself better. Like i stopped drinking pop because i know caffeine affects mental health, and i started meditating(am stopped now but should definitely start again). So like i know that these thoughts are not something that i want and of course they still bother me but at first i was convinced i was different because i wasn’t as bad as others. This helps me so so much thank you so much. I’m glad I’m not alone with trying to recover without therapy and I’m so happy to hear that you are doing good :)

Have Some Ch...

Date posted: 2y

I'm very glad that it helped you 😊 and yes I'm also still not officially diagnosed...yeah i can keep in control my ocd now somewhat... It sometimes triggers me tho.... And when it triggers at first it's bad but if i can manage it it gets better..... Tho it would have been better if we all could consult professional help as no matter what was the ocd level it still cost us pretty much.... Mentally and to our well being and happiness..... Ocd costed me at my studies also and it costs with everyone's worklife as well...... So it would have been better for us with professional help.... Never mind if we still can be well with it Then Thanks to God.... God should keep blessing us and we should get better and better.....:) but now more than ocd what causing me problem that is I'm suspecting i might have ADHD lol...... Maybe.. Maybe not who knows..... Actually ADHD is a lot more difficult to diagnose than OCD...... Tho OCD is more worse disease..... But if i really do have adhd i will be in huge trouble dealing with it without therapy 😅 having ocd is alone enough imagine having another one 😅 i was scaring some days ago that i might have schizophrenia... As i was having hallucinations and sensations that weren't real but then here an nocd therapist reassured me that i most likely don't have it and it can cause for Anxiety...... But now I'm really worried about the adhd thing as i procrastinate a lot at work and can't finish work and pay close attention for long time..... Now i don't know what to do.... I could self diagnose ocd at my own as ocd symptoms are very clear and obvious but diagnosing adhd is tough... As it's get mixed up if I'm just having an extreme bad habit or there's something serious....... I don't know anymore.... This life sucks so much and these mental illnesses even more.... What i realise now that staying healthy is actually a Blessing we take for granted..... Like Prophet Muhammad PBUH Said it also that "There are two blessings which many people do not appreciate health and leisure time" Well i didn't think about His Quote well But He was so right.... Healthy people do not appreciate health or take it for granted.... We only understand when it's gone haha..... Well i hope my suspection for adhd is just a bad habit.... And God Bless you and makes it Easy For you too.... I wish the Best for your upcoming days.... ❤️

Anon17

Date posted: 2y

Omg I’ve definitely had a fear of schizophrenia before even though I’ve never had hallucinations or anything(one day i was convinced i seen something but i don’t think i actually did). I’ve had a fear of schizophrenia, psychosis, insanity, madness, etc. So you are definitely not alone on that. I’m so scared of one day just randomly having a conversation with someone that’s not really there and it is beyond scary. I cannot relate on adhd as i don’t have it nor do any family members have it. So I’m so sorry i have no advice there. I definitely wish i didn’t take my healthy happy life for granted. :( i would always dwell on the fact that I’m single, have never had a boyfriend, my brothers are all happy about to be married soon and I’m just me. I wish i could turn back time and not worry about those types of things. I just want to go back in time and let myself know that it’s okay to not have those things right now. I wish i could just go back before this mental health crisis that I’m experiencing and really live in the moment and realize how lucky i was. And now i have this and i don’t even know which way to turn sometimes. I wish the best for you as well and am so appreciative of your responses! Thank you❤️

Have Some Ch...

Date posted: 2y

Well that therapist She told me that people who have schizophrenia don't even realize themselves that they have schizophrenia.... Means they strongly believe what they experience is very true and real which is not...... And that's definitely not the case with us as we are doubting it and fearing it.... So most likely it all happened with us cause of Anxiety and ocd.... And it's ok that you did not have any relationship yet.... That doesn't mean anything/ matter..... There are many people who didn't have any relationship yet... And it's okay nothing to worry..... It's just the Right Person haven't come to your life yet.... When the right time comes right person will eventually come into your life.... It's not a thing to worry....It's all about destiny....and it's just a matter of time... There's someone out for you too it's just not the right time.... But they will eventually come you don't have to be sad or worried about that..... And yeah We all wish to return to the time we could think clearly and had not so much mess in our head🙃..... Good Old Times😌 But its okay if God wants we can still have the good days again..... Life can get a lot better..... But for me it is actually ironic to say as my life sucks... And it has been sucking since 2020 ever since corona came 😂 and i don't see any way for it to get better 😂 days are just only getting worse and worse... And i don't know where it all will eventually end.... Whatever I wish that Your Good Days Come Soon... Amin 🙏

Anon17

Date posted: 2y

@Have Some Chocolate 🍫 Thank you so so much. I hope like gets better for you as well 🙂

Have Some Ch...

Date posted: 2y

And listen time period like you said 3 months Doesn't matter at all...... You know ocd is like this : 📉 📈 It can get better sometimes or even worse... Or The Best is You just get Cured for Forever but it will still exist for your whole lifetime... But when you're recovered it just loses it's power upon you and you don't get triggered by anything anymore... And about time span it doesn't matter a bit like i had the most bad ocd period in my lifetime back in 2020 it also lasted somewhat like 3 months and it was hell.... As i had no idea about ocd and didn't even know what intrusive thoughts were.... So it was very scary.... I prayed a lot... Tried a lot to not think like that but nothing helped and i was so damn Scared and anxious about what's happening to my mind and why I'm thinking like that.... It was a very dark period... Then after months i stopped panicking and fearing the thoughts or being anxious about them..... No my ocd was still Not diagnosed then... But i stopped reacting or fearing it anymore cause i was tired and i noticed that nothing would help... Nothing helped.... And i simply didn't know what was wrong with me..... So i stopped caring about it anymore..... I just started living my life normally from then.... The intrusive thoughts would still come but i didn't care about them or gave them any kind of airs as without even knowing about "Intrusive Thoughts" i realised that these thoughts are coming from a long time and they will just keep coming so i shouldn't care about them anymore as i can't feel Sick anymore...... Believe me after then those thoughts just got less over time cause i stopped caring about them.... So this is how i dealed with my ocd even before knowing what it was.... See it got better without even knowing what it actually is..... So does that mean i didn't have it??? No it can never mean that.... Neither it does mean about your case.... And then in 2021 i got to know that i had ocd and i was like 😮 and i felt a lil bad too as i didn't think that i had a mental disorder.... But it also gave me satisfaction as it became clear to me that What actually was happening with me for the past 2 years..... It was A Relief.....

Have Some Ch...

Date posted: 2y

Sorry I Wrote Too Much 😂

FaithSheagren

Date posted: 25w

Intrusive thoughts about intrusive thoughts

Hi everyone. I’ve been doing therapy for about two months now and I would say it’s slowly helping me a lot. I explained to her the breathing techniques and “sitting in the anxiety for a bit” and I feel like those are helping. But then my therapist said “don’t sit in the thought because then you might act on it”. I don’t “sit in the thought” but rather i sit in the anxiety to comdition my brain into thinking it’s not a threat. But ever since yesterday, my therapy appointment, I’ve been really shooken up. Even though I don’t “sit in the thought” I feel like a bad person that she even had to bring it up even though I explained it wrong. I’m so upset I feel like I just took 3000 steps back from my progress and this little thing is really scaring me. Am I a bad person? I don’t want to act on any of my thoughts and it scares me so bad I hate living.

laladracu

Date posted: 15w

a thought?

I cant get over this thought that is messing my recovery up so much. it was “if you dont act on your thoughts this will never go away” which led to thoughts like if i even wanted to get better, if i even want my life back, if i even WANTED this to go away, etc. im scared. im confused. is this normal? am i gonna have to act on this stuff now? im mainly concerned about my family. i dont wanna hurt them. this disease is horrible. this subtype is horrible. i love my family. why would i want to hurt them? im so afraid this is it for me. i try to do what everyone tells me. ignore the thought, let it sit, sit with the uncertainty/discomfort but the anxiety doesn’t go away. this thought keeps coming back with a vengeance. i thought i was making great progress but im back where i was. i ruminate about this 24/7 and i dont know how to stop. we tried sitting on the couch together last night and it felt like i was RESISTING hurting them. im in constant awareness that i can act on these anytime and it hinders my daily life and work so much. everytime i talk to anyone in my family i feel things like i shouldnt be talking to them if im gonna hurt them and i dont deserve to be around them. i feel like i dont deserve to be alive, i dont deserve to be happy, and i dont deserve to be comfortable. i feel like a psycho whos never gonna get to live life with a husband and family. i feel like i don’t deserve my sweet boyfriend. i dont want my thoughts to latch onto him. this is my mind when i wake up, when i try to go about my day, and when i go to sleep. it feels like it just wont dissipate regardless of what i do. the cycle never ends. its been 4 MONTHS. what the fuck do i do anymore

Harm OCD

Holl1

Date posted: 15w

OCD

So I’ve noticed that my OCD has calmed down, I’m getting less intrusive thoughts but I feel more uncertain than ever. Is this normal for recovery?

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Does natural exposures work?

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