- Date posted
- 2y
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 2y
First - congratulations on doing this difficult exposure ! That is awesome ! Remember the goal of erp is not to eliminate anxiety - but to learn how to tolerate it when it happens, so keep going. The exposure is working and you are training your brain to respond differently. It takes time and practice. Be compassionate with yourself. This is hard work and you are doing it. Do something nice for yourself today - for doing the hard work.
- Date posted
- 2y
It is okay. Keep working on your exposure(s). It seems difficult at first, but you will get to a point that the anxiety will be manageable. Even if you take a step back, just keep going with your exposure.
- User type
- NOCD Alumni
- Date posted
- 2y
You’re doing hard work! Congratulations on working on a big fear item and fighting OCD! I’m sorry that it then targeting another fear, don’t feel lost, this isn’t a step back, it’s a step in the right direction! OCD often targets other fears when one isn’t bothering us anymore, We can then practice the same methods of sitting with our fears no matter the subject of them. You’re doing so awesome, it’s incredibly difficult and ok to feel down about it, but have hope you can tackle other fear items like you did with the T-shirt!
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 2y
That was great you did a difficult erp! I fully understand your frustration. It happens to me too. You are not alone with that experience.
Related posts
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 23w
I'm currently at one of the lowest points with my OCD despite me working so hard on it and everything that I know it stems from because a lot of my OCD comes from trauma from sexual abuse as a kid and as I got older and a lot of other stuff which is also why I have Complex PTSD. I was doing so well, I started medication, and I was in this dual housing program for treatment and everything was going okay. That was until I ended up getting SA’D by a man there and none of the staff cared or did anything despite me doing everything possible and gathering all of this evidence and all the people there either didn't care or bullied me relentlessly as they laughed with my abuser. It was so painful and I felt so alone. I think what triggered my spiral was that it was very similar to the reactions of my past assaults and thus my OCD came spiralling alongside my C-PTSD symptoms and I feel like it is worse then before. I left that place but its still absolutely terrible and I feel so hopeless and hurt. Not only did this man hurt me like I have been in the past he brought back the very thing that caused me so many years of suffering. It makes me sick. I don't want to think these thoughts or feel these horrible urges and sensations. I feel so disgusting and broken.
- Date posted
- 22w
Please help. I have felt so off/wrong all day. I constantly worry that the “bad guy” is going to get me. I have awful thoughts and I constantly want God to know that I don’t mean these thoughts. I am at a point in my therapy where I need to choose to use my ERP but it feels too scary. I then do compulsions, which makes the OCD worse, which makes me want to use ERP less. And the cycle goes on. I am currently sitting in my car crying because I feel so lost and exhausted. I’m not supposed to figure out my thoughts, but today I just went into a spiral of sadness and depression, thinking that I will always feel like this. When my thoughts got really bad at the end of the day, I tried to use ERP even though I was shaking and not believing my responses and I ended up feeling like I missed something and that I gave into the “bad guy.” I have no one to talk when I’m not doing therapy twice a week. I am alone and have no one to talk to when I am like this… please help
- Date posted
- 20w
contamination ocd has really been messing with me the last couple of days. usually i only struggle when i can connect something to possibly throwing up, but this time it doesn’t matter. so earlier, i took a shower and i also use a wash cloth to wash my body. after i showered i cleaned up my dirty clothes and towels. then when i came back to grab my phone, there was a soap speck on my phone so without thinking i just wiped it on the back of my crewneck i was wearing. well that then spiraled into me thinking what if the soap was from my dirty wash cloth. i know most of you are probably thinking it’s clean since you use soap to clean ur body. well i clean every inch of my body, including my bottom so that’s where my anxiety is gravitating towards. this sounds so ridiculous saying it out loud, but i just have so much anxiety over it. i tried my hardest not to change but i did. at first i just changed my crewneck, but then i had to change my shorts cause my crewneck touches my shorts. but then i changed my shorts. and now i feel like my shirt is contaminated cause i was wearing it with my other shorts before changing. moral of the story, i just have so much anxiety over it and i feel like i shouldn’t because it’s really not a big deal. and i don’t want to change again because that seems ridiculous to me. plus now i’m connecting the contamination to my bed since i was laying on my bed before i changed. i hate life, this sucks.
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