Hi all, I’m newly diagnosed with OCD, and the path to treatment seems kinda overwhelming. For those taking meds, how do you know when they are working? What should I expect in ERP therapy (or other forms of CBT)? Thanks!
Hi there! Thank you for reaching out, and welcome! I understand feeling overwhelmed. There's a lot of unknown and uncertainty in the process. I myself tried some meds before therapy, and I unfortunately didn't see the best results, but I know they work great for a lot of people. From what I hear though, overall your mood can improve, and you may "feel better", as a whole. Sometimes meds can lessen intrusive thoughts as well, but unfortunately there is not currently a medication specifically aimed at OCD. ERP therapy is very different than general talk therapy - in the best way! It is exercise-based, versus talk-based. ERP is the most effective therapy for OCD. The goal is to trigger your OCD, and learn how to resist any compulsions while doing so - if successful with this over time, all OCD symptoms can decrease overall, and your usual triggers can become meaningless. To be honest, it is not easy, but living with OCD untreated is also not easy - that's how I've always looked at it. During therapy I had good days and bad days, and "okay" days in between. When doing ERP, you are essentially working to create a new pattern with your thoughts. OCD has created it's own toxic pattern, and you are working to break that. Because of that, it's easy to go back and forth between the old pattern and the newly created one when you're working through ERP. But as you continue to push for the new, it can begin to stick, and the old pattern can subside. Are you currently in therapy, or thinking of starting?
I’m starting NOCD. I had several years of cbt as a child (well over 20 years ago) and I see a trauma therapist. But now I’ll be seeking further help for OCD and just really scared. CBT wasn’t helpful for me. How has ERP been helpful for you? Do you feel like you’ll finally get your life back? I’m consumed by my obsessions 😢 Would love others feedback if ERP helped you ❤️
Hey everyone. I’m new to this app and have been recently diagnosed with OCD. My symptoms were something I had all my life but only recently took the step to seek therapy. Hoping to share my journey with y’all soon and recover together.
Hello, I’m in undergrad and recently was diagnosed with OCD. Its a very new diagnosis and it’s both been stressful and relieving to receive it. Looking back at my past I’ve been able to explain a lot of behavioral issues that I thought were simply attributed to me being “crazy”. It’s comforting to know it’s something that others struggle with and that there are set coping mechanisms and treatments for it. There are a number of thing of which I obsessively think about, and it’s been getting really hard to deal with all of them. The most troubling are my thoughts toward suicide. I can’t stop thinking about it. There’s not really any intent, it’s just like my brain has tuned into a frequency that plays in the background at all times. Usually though this leads to more dangerous behaviors, and so I always try to do any preventative work to keep myself safe. As for the asking for advice portion of this post, what do you all do to combat unending loops of thought? Because I’m so new to my diagnosis, my therapist and I haven’t found good strategies for me yet, outside of just labeling those thoughts as OCD in an attempt to delegitimize them.
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