I know everyone is different, but I want to hear about your recovery journey. How long were you in ERP before you started to see results? I’m three weeks in and struggling!
6 years of intense therapy for all my mental illnesses—and I have 6 mental illnesses.
@Nica That’s amazing that you stuck through it all and persevered because I know that’s not easy. That’s inspiring! May I ask if you take any sort of medication? (You don’t have to say what you take, of course) but do you find it to be necessary? I’m personally debating on whether I want to go back on meds or not. I like to hear about people’s experience with meds alongside therapy.
@Tee10 No medication works on me.
I started therapy in June 2022 and just ended it in January 2023. It was a lot of back and forth between feeling better for a few days and then back to feeling downright awful. Each time it spaced out a little more though and I was able to conquer things I wasn’t able to before. Keep at it and don’t give up. Don’t beat yourself up if you give into your compulsion. This takes time and healing isn’t linear. It’s hard to say how long it will take for you or anyone to heal from this. I was struggling a little bit today, but I did my best to not give in. It’s hard and takes a lot of practice. You can do it. ❤️
I’m also 3 weeks in and struggling. My therapist said it is different for everyone and it’s about building the muscle memory of this new practice we are learning. I’m frustrated because I wish it was quicker but a lifetime of this ocd prior and those brain groves of how to handle the anxiety (compulsions) are deep and will take time to revert to a new , healthy behavior - we can do this , I feel you
@smyers02 Same! I’ve had OCD since I was 12 and just got diagnosed last year. I have a lifetime of telling my thoughts to “stop” that I have to overcome.
Hey everyone. Long post, but just want some advice. I’ve had suicidal ocd, with some relationship & existential on the side lol, for about a year and a half. My suicidal ocd is pretty severe. I did a small amount of erp for a month or two, but then took a break. Last week I started an IOP program. I also take 10 mg of Prozac, and have for about 5 weeks. The first week of IOP was great. This week I have went downhill and feel like my ‘old ocd self’ again meaning heavily ruminating and seeking reassurance. My exposure today was standing near train tracks. It made me sad, and scared. I didn’t want to do it. I keep ruminating. I am absolutely terrified I will not get better. I’m scared I will get depressed and think life is not worth it. Thoughts constantly run through my head. I want to be here so bad, but I’m scared I am going to give up. I constantly worry I won’t be “happy” long term and I won’t recover. Can anyone give me some hope? I am scared I’m a lost caus. Any recovery stories? I’ve never had depression and I’m feeling a bit worried about myself from feeling tired and sad. I don’t know many people with suicidal ocd- I just want to know I can recover. Thanks for reading!
To peoples who are struggling with ocd and wants to know if ERP will actually work or not read this: It's been a year I'm struggling with OCD, in 2023 I didn't realize that I was being a victim of OCD, I thought it was normal to worry about the thoughts I was having, actually the thoughts are not even about me, I'm having thoughts about singer's sexuality since years I know it may sound silly but I have been since a year these thoughts are real to worry about, in January my ocd became stronger, I strat having episodes of ocd every week, in may I got to know that I have ocd and from the moment I got to know that I have ocd I didn't have a single day struggling without ocd, in April I started doing ERP it's been 5 months I doing ERP but I'm not still recovered fully but yeah I don't have episodes anymore, I don't worry about the single thoughts for days but still my every thought is controlled by ocd , I still have anxiety which is out of control, I still feel like these thoughts will never go away but I choose to live the way I want without caring about these thoughts.....I know no one's free to care about my mental health but if anyone's reading this please encourage me😔🙏
I’ve completed 11 sessions so far and I can honestly see progress. I’m not back to my “normal” self but I’m gaining parts of my life and my personality back. I never knew I had OCD. I always attributed things to anxiety. Being diagnosed let me know I’m not alone, I’m not crazy, and that there’s help for me. I have a long list of OCD subtypes. As you can imagine, the thoughts and images in my head were extremely distressing and I was concerned for my quality of life and my sanity. 11 sessions in and I’m able to watch shows and movies without being scared I’ll see a trigger, I can practice exposures and navigate through my obsessions better, and I’m finding joy in the little moments in life. I used to avoid so many things and people because I was scared I’d have intrusive thoughts. I still struggle with intrusive thoughts every single day. Some days and even weeks are bad and I struggle more than usual. I have mood swings, extreme irritability, and even sometimes experiencing depersonalization. Sometimes I just plain out feel uncomfortable and weird. But like my therapist said, progress is not linear. I’m learning to count my wins instead of always counting my losses. I’m learning to enjoy the little bits of life that are ok, and I feel proud when I get through hard moments. I’m excited for the future. I’m excited to see how much I progress. Sometimes I’m still scared but I know that’s my OCD trying to get me to quit because we both know this ERP therapy is helping. If you’re struggling, please seek help. It does get better. I wanted to quit after doing my first exposure. I’m so happy I didn’t. And on hard days when I want to give up, I know this is what I’m supposed to be doing to help myself.
Share your thoughts so the Community can respond
