- Date posted
- 2y ago
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!
i don’t think i can, i can’t stomach the possibility of these things, or maybe i can (because they might be true and deep down i know that) and just don’t want to and want to pretend it isn’t there. i can’t do ERP, i just want to pretend it isnt there and won’t happen to clarify, i know i have to do ERP, i know it’s necessary; i don’t need to be told this, this is just how i am feeling currently
**TW for POCD** I’ve spoken about this a few times before. That urge I had to type in “child porn” into google. I talked to my NOCD therapist today about it. She told me the ERP for it was to type it in. She even did it with me. Obviously nothing but news stories, crime statistics, and photos someone would use for a project showed up. I’ve been so petrified of typing that in there. She wants me to do it every two hours and listen to what OCD will say. I typed it in that way, I typed it out full, and I typed it out with an additional word. I clicked and browsed through all the google tabs. I’m okay, but I can’t stop crying. I’m scared to do it again. She said it’s not likely going to get flagged due to people looking that up for research projects and stuff. I’m just afraid repeatedly searching it up will cause some sort of alert. I feel so scared and full of nerves. I guess that’s what the ERP is supposed to do, but it was so scary. So scary :(
Does anyone else struggle with this? It's been the main thing powering my POCD, and it's only been getting worse. Especially when I see posts online of people sharing their personal stories relating to CSA, specifically grooming. It's so triggering now, but before this theme developed, the most I'd feel while reading posts like that would be disgust targeted towards people who did those things. Now, my first thought is, "What if I do something like that one day? What if I've done it before and I don't remember or didn't know I was doing it?" I have many, many different intrusive thoughts or worries related to this theme, but it all circles back to this specific fear that I'll become like the people who hurt and took advantage of me. Does anyone have advice for this? I'm not sure if I've asked a similar question in the past or not, but is this something I need to deal with separately before beginning ERP for OCD? I'm just curious and also lost on where to begin with all of this. I'm just glad I'm able to begin working through all of these issues now, rather than later in life when I'd probably have a lot more responsibilities. Anyways, any feedback is appreciated! 🤍
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