Heart ocd

Hi guys, I'm working pretty hard on overcoming heart-focused ocd by doing exposures and refrain from doing all my rituals related to it. I have to admit that the event which launched my ocd in the first place was in itself not terrifying, but I experienced it as dying and it had lasted for months. Now by doing the exposure, I'm being thrown back in fear which literally burns me up and creates a severe flight-response and I often stay dysregulated for days. I have the idea that I'm doing almost everything I should do, but isn't there a limit to the severity of the anxiety? Just like you maybe just put a war-soldier in erp. No erp is not the solution, but maybe someone has some experience and strength about this. Hugs, william

victoriam00

Date posted: 2y ago

Hi William! It’s possible that maybe this exposure is too high on your hierarchy to tackle straight away. If you’re able to talk with a therapist about this, that would probably be best. Sending love & strength!

Anonymous

Date posted: 2y ago

Hi William, I share your heart-related/somatic OCD as my primary diagnosis. I just started ERP for it this past week and am not noticing a huge spike in anxiety as of yet so I guess I’m having the opposite problem. My exposure has been imagining my death. I even wrote it out as a story and recorded myself reading it to play back. I think my timing on upping my meds may be blunting my anxiety for better or worse in this case. Anyway, just wanted to throw meds out as an option. I know SSRI’s are often used to assist in conjunction with therapy for OCD. Definitely agree with the previous response about trying a less provoking exposure as well. I’m curious what exposures you are trying for this? I also wanted to recommend checking out the DARE response. It is a book and app and I’ve seen others mention it here. It’s been really helpful to me in reframing and slowly (very slowly) beginning to change my relationship to anxiety. You’re not alone my friend, hang in there.

AlexPG

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 2y ago

@Anonymous DARE response helped me so much! I second this

Josh M

Date posted: 22w ago

Winners

Those of you who have overcome at least a bit, if not all, of your OCD. When you went through the CBT and ERP, did it feel like the end of the world? And how did you face the fact that your fears and uncertainties might actually come to life?

Freddy327

Date posted: 19w ago

Waiting for therapy

Hi everyone. I'm feeling kinda scared because I have to wait a whole month to start ERP therapy, but I feel like I need to start doing exposures now because the longer I wait, the more anxiety I get. It just feels like the OCD monster is getting worse. One thing that helps me is asking one person about an obsession I have...asking a person that I trust, and then doing an exposure after I get the "ok" to do it. I feel like I do need 1 reassurance and then I can go ahead and do it. I know i'm not supposed to ask for reassurance at all, but i dont think you're supposed to do ERP on your own right? Does anyone have any suggestions for what to do while waiting for therapy? PS-the reason there is a wait is bc she's on vacation. After she's back we will meet regularly.

Sosa2loud

Date posted: 11w 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❤️

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Heart ocd

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