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?
Does anyone have any tips that helped them? Mine is due to a specific person and I work with them so it’s been really difficult. I’ve started ERP which has been reaaalllllly challenging and I would love to hear from anyone else that has gone through any type of contamination ocd and how they have overcome or are fighting their way through it. Thank you!l
I have, alongside my other OCD themes, an intense fear of insomnia. Although this has been improving somewhat — partly thanks to medication and The sleep school on YouTube — I still find myself ruminating about it throughout the day when I have something important the next day, I get stuck in the fear that everything will be ruined — for both myself and others — because my mind is so preoccupied with sleep. + a fear of depression coming back. It honestly feels like a form of sleep OCD. I'm not sure if that’s an official thing, but that’s how it feels to me. A form of erp is the idea of befriending wakefulness. That works great tbh. Things like sleep hygiene, meditation, etc. — tend to backfire because my OCD latches onto them and becomes too obsessive about “doing them right.” I’m genuinely wondering whether ERP — for example in the form of a worst-case-scenario audio loop (imaginal exposure) — could be helpful in this case. I’m hesitant to start unless I know it can actually help. Is there anyone who has experience with this or thoughts about it? I’m not looking for reassurance or tips to fall asleep — only for ideas on how ERP might be applied in this situation.
I read about ERP and have seen information about it on here. One of the goals is to say, "maybe I am this or that...ect." That terrified me. The thoughts and images that go in my head are disturbing and upsetting. I don't want to even think about saying, "maybe this or that." It's devasting to have these thoughts and question why you're having these thoughts. Doesn't the "maybe" make it worse? The one thing that helps me is that is to remind myself that these are just thoughts and I know I'm not a monster, even if I feel like one. Is ERP not for everyone? Has anyone else had a problem with the techniques used in this kind of therapy? I had cognitive therapy for years with an OCD specialist and that seemed to help a lot. Writing out the worst case scenarios would make me suicidal. Im having a difficult time not obsessing over the "maybe" after intrusive thoughts now. It doesn't make it better.
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