- Date posted
- 2y
Afraid of doing ERP
I am about to start my ERP journey and I am so afraid. I have HOCD and I feel of I do the exposures I will end up liking them and and it will turn me into something I know I’m not.
I am about to start my ERP journey and I am so afraid. I have HOCD and I feel of I do the exposures I will end up liking them and and it will turn me into something I know I’m not.
Hi, ERP is counterintuitive to what we normally do, but it works. The first, most important step to recovery is to make up you mind to use the tool. The second is to take the leap of faith that the tool your therapist is subscribing, ERP, will work. OCD cannot turn you into something you're not. It can only increase your fear and anxiety. You're doing the right thing by facing it down with ERP. Trust me, there is light at the end of the tunnel!!!
Yep, sure have! Just keep in mind the big picture, it's ALL OCD.
Maybe it will Maybe it won't, but this is the only way your going to get better. Keep ur head up I believe in you
Encouraging words!! As a Alumni, did you personally go through ERP, what OCD subset were you suffering and did it work (not 100% but did to help at all)???
Absolutely, and I still use the tool. I
I'm having technical trouble with this thread. Let's try it again...Absolutely, and I still use the tool! I’ve suffered from OCD all my life, in one manifestation or another, but in my generation (I’m in my late 60’s) no one knew much about it and certainly not how to successfully treat it. Only when I found NOCD and got a trained therapist who uses ERP did I begin to recover. In the past few years, I’ve been dealing with harm OCD, existential OCD, scrupulosity OCD, Pure OCD. I am now well into recovery, and am looking forward to my twilight years. One other thing I learned during recovery, kind of an epiphany, is that it’s ALL OCD. No matter what the flavor of the month is, it’s still OCD. I found this to be enlightening.
@Steven55! Hi! Thank you for your comment I really appreciate it❤️
You're welcome. Any time.
Did you ever deal with sexual oCD?
Would you please be a bit more specific? Do you mean same sex OCD, POCD or sex addiction?
I meant Same sex OCD
Oh yeah, that's a very common one. ERP will help you with it, no doubt.
Sorry for 20 questions, last one! again not for reassurance (cause I know what that does) but did you ever feel you couldn’t look at a guy or in the direction of any guy cause your mind was racing like it felt like you were attracted to every guy no matter who it was?
Thx man gonna keep doing my ERP work and keep pushing!
Great!
it feels like therapy isn't working at all, like I've been super reluctant to participate or try and get better. I was doing really well at first but I've been in a slump with it lately, and the idea of doing exposures again makes me really scared. Like, I know if have to do them to get better but I'm so afraid that I'll pick something, watch it, and think the child character is attractive and start fantasizing about them. Like what if the only thing keeping me from doing that is because I've been avoiding them? Also is it normal for pocd to convince you that you prefer one gender more strongly than the other? Bc for some reason it feels more real with boys than it does girls (I'm mostly straight) and like.. idk I'm just not feeling good.
I’m thinking about doing erp but my ocd is so severe the thought of accepting my fears happening to me makes me sick to my stomach. I also believe in the power of my words and saying I accept this Bad thing will attract it into my life. I’m not sure what I should do🥲
So been trying to do erp with my therapist for a while now, and tis really hard and feels like it's not working. Il get this weird sensation or feeling that makes me feel"gay" or as if I'm attracted to someone, and I know my therapist keeps telling me" you don't have to put meaning into the thoughts or feelings" but that seems impossible to do because and I'm sorry to say, it makes me feel that specific way. And I'll use the Erp quotes, "maybe maybe not" or"the more I struggle, the worse it gets" or"these feelings and thoughts are here, but I'm choosing to let them be" and I'll do nothing and try to let it be here but it's so distracting and feels very real, and it's like this sensation, small or big and it last all day, and even just sitting with it isn't working. And my therapist will tell me"you don't have to believe in it" and I'm sorry I feel like if it were that easy, OCD would have never been a problem in the first place, or live with uncertainty, however it doesn't feel like uncertainty, but feels very truthful or valid. Idk what I'm doing wrong tho
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