When will it end - please read

I've been in treatment for about 3.5 months and I have definitely improved. However, I feel like I'm always relapsing... I do exposures for specific thoughts and it definitely helps. Usually my anxiety will go way down and that specific thought will improve. Then I may have a period of a week or so where my intrusive thoughts aren't so bothersome. But they ALWAYS come back. My ocd will latch on to anything at all and Im constantly having new intrusive thoughts. I seem to be stuck in a cycle of improvement and relapse. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. Will the intrusive thoughts ever subside??

Username: AnonymousAnonymous

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 1y ago

You are misinterpreting normal cycles of OCD with relapses. The goal of ERP is reducing intrusive thoughts. Those are involuntary. The goal is to reduce the reaction you have after. Every single person in the world, OCD or not, has intrusive thoughts. It’s just that us with OCD interpret those thoughts as meaningful or symbolic or important and it causes us distress. So try not to see having intrusive thoughts as relapsing. Also, aim for C- level work. The goal is not perfection. You are doing the best you can at dealing with an illness that is very powerful at times - give yourself credit for being here, for trying, for improving even in a small way. OCD will always jump from topic to topic because it wants our attention. Once it’s starved in one topic, it goes to another where it can get fed attention. Don’t feed the monster. Recognize that it is NEVER about the content of your anxiety or thoughts - notice that you feel the same type of anxiety at a variety of topics - that’s OCD trying to trick you. “This time is different! This thought is more important than the others you deal with”. No it is not. OCD will lie to you because it’s desperate for your attention. You know the patterns, you know the cycle. Don’t answer the questions.

Username: 6827368273

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 1y ago

@Anonymous Wow, this is first time I hear C- work. I was feeling so frustrated as I wasn’t sure if I was doing erp correctly and just wanted to give up because I want to do it right.

Username: AnonymousAnonymous

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 1y ago

@68273 that’s been my mantra as of late - just aim for C level work. Trying to do everything perfectly is also an OCD tendency. So release that expectation of yourself - sometimes I treat doing C level work as sort of an exposure for myself. Like, ok I’m going to intentionally not try so hard at this - what if I intentionally do less than I think I’m capable of? How do I feel? “Exposing” myself to less than perfect has been helpful as I learn that there’s rarely consequences beyond your own personal judgement when you’re not perfect.

Username: AnonymousAnonymous

Date posted: 1y ago

I am also in recovery. I have multiple inappropriate and different images and thoughts a day. It is very annoying as you want nothing more then for them to stop coming. Unfortunately I don’t think ocd will ever truly stop appearing in your life. I have Pocd thoughts which is really hard to get to the point of not caring if that stuff if In my head because I strongly do not want those thoughts or images. However, over time have become better of not really giving the images much attention which seems to lessen the amount of images and thoughts that appear because my OCD is starting to realize that I don’t really care for those types of thoughts or images. I want them to go away more then anything but also realize that unfortunately I have OCD and that stuff may be background noise so to speak. I want you to know that you are not alone. At times it makes me feel like a pedophile from expecting these images and thoughts but at the end of the day those are just thoughts which are harmless and they are not also of my values.

Username: SophieSnowSophieSnow

Date posted: 1y ago

@Anonymous Thank you. I really appreciate your thorough response. I guess I don't mean relapse, more so just a cycle of on again off again intrusive thoughts. And at times I have such a higher frequency of thoughts and i don't understand why. I guess when I first got diagnosed I read a lot of accounts of people saying they overcame their ocd in a matter of months but mine just seems to keep manifesting in new ways. When one thought is addressed, another will appear. And I try hard not to care but I just get so frustrated when my brain is throwing a variety of NEW thoughts at me every few days or weeks. I just don't know what I have to do for the cycle to end

Username: AnonymousAnonymous

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 1y ago

Sorry important edit. ******The goal of ERP is NOT reducing intrusive thoughts*******

Username: 6827368273

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 1y ago

I just started with nocd just finished my second session and I just want to cry

Username: 6827368273

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 1y ago

Following

Username: MK30MK30

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 1y ago

So glad I’m not alone. I’m following this too. I try to give advice to others on here but it’s so hard to actually practice it myself too. You’re not alone. I’ve been in therapy since May and this is pretty much how it goes for me too.

Username: boilerup

Date posted: 4y ago

When will it end? I wake up in the morning and my OCD feels so real. It’s hard because I know it’s Ocd because my obsessions rotate but I’ve been stuck with sexual orientation OCD for a few months and I can’t shake it. I’m working with a therapist but it’s to the point now where I don’t have as much fear to the thoughts but they are still intrusive and very real but since there’s no fear due to my progress in ERP, it feels like it might be true but I know it’s not.

Username: Anonymous

Date posted: 4y ago

So last night I tried some ERP and tried as hard as I could not to give into the compulsions of my thought, I didnt do well, but I was able to do it for at least a little bit until I fell asleep. Guess what was on my mind as soon as I woke up?! That same obsessive thought. I obviously dont expect things to change overnight, but I feel like I'm never going to catch a break. As much as I try not to give my OCD attention, it always prevails. Has anyone experienced this? Like any "unfinished" thought or obsession always creeps back in? They just seem to always resurface whether I have tried for ten minutes or a day to not give into them. I'd love to hear anyone's thoughts. Thank you!

Username: MoonFairy

Date posted: 3y ago

Question for people who’ve been doing ERP for a long time: do you feel like you have to keep doing exposures continually over time, in order to stop obsessive thoughts? Or do you feel like once you’ve done them long enough you’re able to clear the obsessive thoughts and stop doing ERP? In other words, do you feel it is an ongoing way to manage OCD or do you feel it can stop it from recurring?

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