do i have to go to a therapist to get help?? now i’m paranoid that it’ll never get better if i don’t go to a therapist. is there anyone else on here who is trying to beat this by themselves? or do you all have therapists??

That’s great!!:) Honestly for me, i do it every time I get triggered. I ‘prevent’ the usual ‘response’ that I have to the trigger. I guess I’m kinda missing the ‘exposure’ part but I’m exposed to so many things every day it kind of happens itself haha! Like I was watching the new season of black mirror earlier and the first episode had triggering content, but I just decided to stick with it and delay for as long as I could the anxious response that I would normally have- (it worked?). I also expose myself to things that I KNOW I want to avoid. So like things on social media, or people, etc that I want to stay away from so as to not get triggered, I put myself in the scenario, and then do NOTHING. Don’t check for anything, don’t fix, don’t test, don’t don’t don’t. Just be:) Sorry, that probably wasn’t much help, but that’s what I’ve been doing!!:)

that helps a bunch! because for me it’s a bit hard to do ERP since i don’t really know what triggers my anxiety. most of the time it just pops into my head so i never know what to do ahaha. but know i know it’s not doing something but rather NOT doing anything...just letting it be. not sure how to just let it be without reacting but i guess i’ll figure it out soon enough!

Oh good!:) Yes, it’s just the intrusive nature of the thought that triggers you. Whenever that happens, try your best to not ‘fix it’, neutralize it, check it again, question it, and of course- be scared of it. THESE acts alone are the ones that make the thought seem real to your brain. ‘Omg she got out the extinguisher?? There must have been a fire then!!!’ (When there was never a fire there to begin with?)

I don’t have a consistent therapist. I’ve had one session with one though, I just couldn’t afford any more. When I really work hard on erp I can feel myself getting better. It’s hard, but not impossible to do it alone. You just have to be honest with yourself about what you can handle/ how much self-discipline you have! (hocd as well by the way!)

what do you do for ERP? i’ve been doing some but i really want to challenge myself. i know it’s different for everyone but i was just wondering what you do and what has the greatest effect :)

No you don't but it's completely normal to go.

should i embrace them?? i feel like it would be easier to direct all my nerves toward just embracing it rather than letting them flow. i feel like i wouldn’t know what to do with myself if i just let them flow haha

Thats a good way to diffuse the bomb that ocd has created! Thoughts inherently don’t mean anything, so letting them know that they have a home in our brain and that they are welcome, shuts off the alarms they create! Personally I find myself doing better when I just let them be there and say ‘hi! okay moving on now!’??