Real events ocd…

I’m new to this one here. How do I cope with a fear that is truly real? I posted before that my dog had been diagnosed with heartworms (don’t come at me, he lived outside for over a year on a chain before we rescued him.) but ever since then, we’ve obviously begun treatment and I’m not sleeping. My OCD has been triggered by this and im CERTAIN he’s going to die. Even knowing his odds are very good, I’m still so sure he’ll die and I’m obsessing. Not sleeping. Watching him sleep all night…This is triggering old fears that I haven’t had in a very very long time surrounding children. I’ve struggled with infertility for over a year and we are FINALLY beginning treatment. This trigger has me wondering all over again if I even want to be a mom which is crazy because it’s all I’ve truly ever wanted! Also this fear didn’t creep back in until I was triggered by my dogs diagnosis…I guess I’m wondering how I do ERP around events that could genuinely happen. While my dogs odds are good, there still is a chance he could not make it and I need to get ahold of this anxiety before I spiral.

Anonymous

Date posted: 2y ago

I also struggle with death anxiety. Freaked out today because my parents weren’t answering the phone and my mind went to the worst place. I just have to remind myself that death is real, we all face it at some point. Every living thing does. Worrying to the extreme of it effecting your every day is too much. I just think about how this is a fact of life everyone faces, and how most people get a long just fine knowing that death is real. I’m Christian, and it helps to think about how Jesus experienced death too. I am so sorry you are experiencing this. It really is so hard because it’s a real thing, not just a mental thing.

Erin P

Date posted: 2y ago

OCD can be based on a grain of truth. OCD wants us to worry about the possible even of it is very unlikely or even improbable. This does make ERP difficult. But ERP does work for this. I have contamination OCD and used to worry about so many things that could have made me or others sick but were unlikely. With ERP I’m down to one core issue instead of many. So with regard to you dog - you have gotten him the right treatment so changes are really good for his health. You know you have OCD so take the level of worry you have and label it OCD. Then do a worry script - here’s an example ( not about showering though that’s in the title) - https://www.shalanicely.com/fredtalks/shower-scripting/ I hope these ideas help. Do ERP so you ate well prepared for motherhood. I can speak from experience that untreated OCD makes it hard to be as good of a parent as you would be otherwise. Many regrets here but all I can do is be the best mom I am able to be.

Anon.

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 2y ago

To be honest, a great deal of people's OCD fears are actual possibilities. The point of doing ERP is to learn to embrace the uncertainty surrounding such events. In this case, it sounds like the probability of your dog dying is slightly higher than it was before he had heart worm. It's still possible to embrace the uncertainty surrounding this! Possibly try an uncertainty statement such as, "I'm feeling anxious because my dog could die, I can't be 100% certain that won't happen today or in the future, I accept that uncertainty and am willing to live with it happily." Sit with the uncomfortable feelings produced without compulsions. A therapist could help design more specific ERP exercises to your fears. I highly suggest getting one if you can, it really helped me!

nae nae

Date posted: 20w ago

I'm sorry. Just need to vent. :(

This might contain triggering content, but I'm also wondering if others have dealt with this similar thought, and if so, how to deal with it? Overall, I've been doing so well these past few days. I'm able to eat again, which I hadn't been able to do because of how much anxiety I'd been experiencing. I'm spending time around loved ones and not just rotting in my room, and I've been able to wake up without immediately being bombarded by intrusive thoughts. When things first got really bad, I'd wake my mom up every night for reassurance, but I haven't done that in a while either. I'm really proud of myself, but there's still this nagging thought in my mind... While looking through others posts on here, hoping to find advice that'd fit my situation, I ended up making things worse. Someone mentioned how they had a fear that they'd purposely search for illegal content (related to POCD). I panicked, and "what ifs" flooded my thoughts. "What if the intrusive thoughts affect who I am as a person, and I do that?" I'm terrified that I'll search for those things, which I know means I wouldn't do it. But then, another person on here said they'd actually looked for those things, and that freaked me out even more. Does that mean it's possible for that to happen to me? I don't want to do that, but I keep having intrusive thoughts surrounding it. I've been doing so well these past few days. I'm just... stuck. I don't know what to do. I've spoken with other people who have the same fears, but how do I manage this? It's not something I've even thought about before seeing those posts. I've been practicing accepting the uncertainty, but I'm really struggling with this one. I hate this. This morning, I woke up, and the intrusive thoughts were back. It's just disheartening.

Sosa2loud

Date posted: 12w ago

Kind of Spiraling

Hi guys! I’m new to the community and I’ve recently received my OCD diagnosis (tho I’ve known about it since childhood). I’ve been somewhat spiraling lately as I wait for my first ERP session (hooray!) I was just wondering if any of you guys have received ERP for existential OCD and if it was successful? My existential OCD compulsions are more so mental and have been affecting me in the sense of dream/memory flashbacks and giving me a sort of “uncanny” feeling about everything around me. Any advice is appreciated! Thank you❤️

Girlypop

Date posted: 11w ago

ERP for fear of cancelation? (Event/False Memory)

What ERP or other techniques do you use to combat fear of cancelation? Especially curious about those with taboo thoughts, false memory ocd and event ocd based off of real events where the fear of cancellation may actually hold some validity. I once did my own ERP not under a therapist but just on my own I decided to create an anonymous account on Twitter and defend a friend who was receiving online criticism. I knew that this would be semi-controversial so I was expecting backlash and when I recieved troll replies it actually seemed to be a really helpful low-stakes exposure activity. Is this something that others have done? Low stakes online posts etc. that you know will recieve negative responses? I have had severe OCD as a kid as pretty much every subtype under the sun, and as an adult I pretty much have all the types under control except for this real event and false memory and taboo thought OCD. It seems like a different beast since it's somewhat realistic in the camcellation culture today, and it's confusing to address. Ive shut down almost all social accounts and it's keeping me from progressing in a career where I need to have an online presence :/

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