Hi there! I really wonder.. is anyone out there that ever worked on ERP dealing with existential OCD and managed to get through this situation? If so, any ideas? Any tips?
I find what works best for my existential OCD is ACT (acceptance commitment therapy). Finding triggers for existential stuff has been pretty hard for me because I find it acts up the most when I’m doing something I enjoy. And I don’t really want to turn things I enjoy doing into exposures but I’ve been trying to! I find when I’m doing crafts or planning my future, my brain will be like “what’s the point of doing this if i could die tomorrow and it would mean nothing?” and I’ll just agree with it. “Yep for sure I could die tomorrow. Oh well!” “Thanks for that thought, maybe that’s true maybe it isn’t!” The more you find triggers and the more you kind of learn what your “true” fear is you can learn to accept the outcome of the fear as a possibility. It’s taken a while to be able to take my life back from existential OCD, but I’m slowly getting there. I can get excited about things now without having existential dread. I’m not sure if that makes much sense, I am extremely sleep deprived right now 😂
@Rayna_lp25 “I can get excited about things now without having existential dread.” I can relate to this! Has your experience of existential dread helped you, in terms of being more intentional with what you choose to spend your time on?
@S.C. I still have a few struggles with doing mundane things- I’ll get some “what’s the purpose of this?” Quite often. But I’m able to just disregard the thoughts for the most part. It hasn’t really changed my perspective of life much, although I’m finding that I don’t get frustrated or angry with people really at all anymore. I’m not sure if it’s related to the existential stuff or if that’s just a coincidence
Yes. I'm in CBT therapy two years now and in medication (enlift) also. Last year I was getting better and better. Even if some intrusive existential thoughts may came then they left. The dose of medication was reduced to a half. But about 3 months ago I got stuck again. Am I alive? Do I actually see this? Is anything real? Some of the context. The truth is I'm getting better again. I once again increased the pill dose (this was advised by my psychiatrist/psychotherapist).
@agronace7 I’m sorry that you’re going through this, however I’m happy to hear that you’re on the right track. OCD loves to keep us stuck any way that it can. We never can give it 100% certainty, which is what he wants.
@MK30 What it wants* sorry, typo.
These are some good resources: https://www.treatmyocd.com/blog/existential-ocd, https://youtu.be/CDJI0hS4_Oc, https://youtube.com/shorts/F6xgZss94uU?feature=share
Hi there - are you currently in therapy for OCD?
I used to get caught in a loop with existential thoughts very frequently. Every question made my stomach drop: (TW: existential questions) … … ... "Why does anything exist at all? What will death be like? Is anything even real? Is there any meaning to this? Is the universe infinitely big, and if not, what's beyond it? Are there multiverses? Has the universe been around forever? Will the universe end for good, or will it keep going forever? What is forever like? What even IS reality?" It would get so overwhelming that I remember lying on the floor in a fetal position for hours because I felt like there was no escape. I spent most of my days reading articles and watching videos about theoretical astrophysics and philosophy in a desperate attempt to "figure it all out." Of course that only made me more anxious, raised more questions, and kept me trapped in the cycle. Things started to improve once I learned to turn TOWARD reality, rather than away from it, and ERP really helped me do that. I learned that these questions weren't the problem. I learned that I can actually handle the anxiety that arises when exposed to these ideas and concepts. I don't have to figure anything out to make the anxiety go away; it arises and passes away on its own. Ironically, bringing myself into the present moment and becoming more aware of reality helped me escape the cycle of existential dread. Because of that, this topic no longer takes over my life. If I'm triggered by something I see, hear, or think, I may still feel a little twang of anxiety, but then it just goes away. "Maybe, maybe not" has been the single most useful phrase of my life. Do you ever get trapped in a cycle of existential questions? Are you worried that the ERP approach would be too scary to handle? If so, I'm happy to give my advice.
Been struggling with existential OCD lately. Very hard to describe the thoughts/feelings, but it is a constant feeling of being stuck in my head. Like what is consciousness and where do I think from? Like I think it’s OCD, maybe it is maybe it isn’t. But if it is, what would be good ERP exercises? Just existing (lol)? And what would be my response prevention? I’m not even sure what mental compulsions I may be doing.
Suffering from solipsism ocd where I think that everything around me is fake and that I’m stuck in a simulation as the only conscious being. I also have thoughts that there is a higher power that is controlling everything around me and that I’m the main character in a video game. Everyone and everything around me is an npc or generated to keep me in the “game”. This is the worst ocd theme that I’ve had to deal with thus far. Is there anybody else that has had this? and what ERP techniques can I use? Need some ideas. Thanks.
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