Hi all! I did 2 months of intense ERP and I have felt great for the past few weeks. Not anxious at all really anymore and the thoughts have reduced/don’t bother me. I feel so happy and free again. So now, I am asking for those in recovery —- how do you make sure you stay well and don’t relapse? Any tips? Thanks! 😊
Hmm I was just in your shoes a couple months ago and then went through a significant spike and relapse. I think something I learned is to accept that there will be a time when your anxiety and urge to do compulsions will come back stronger. But I think the key is when that happens to recognize it and really resist the urge to do compulsions and sit with the anxiety. I made mine worse by giving into compulsions again and it took awhile to recover from. Better to accept that you’ll have a shitty day, or several, but know you can get through it without compulsions. Also when the thoughts start to bug you again I think that’s a good time to start doing ERP again for awhile.
@Ocdeeznuts55 Amazing!! Thank you for this
I would say it’s important to recognize certain events in your life or triggers that can make the OCD worse-for me, it’s when my routine changes significantly and I’m going through big changes in life. This is when I usually increase or get back on my medications, start scheduling appts with a therapist that helps, decrease caffeine-whatever has helped you before. Remind yourself that if you are able to conquer it once, you will do it again and it will most likely be easier than the first time.
@Anonymous1208 True! but I’m also in the constant fear of it coming back when I’m pregnant and all and in the future when I have kids and actually snap and hurt someone ( ‘sun theme is self harm, suicide harm ocd, harm ocd)
@Anonymous I definitely think this is a great point to bring up to your therapist! Having a plan for if it does happen (and I’m emphasizing the “if” here) is great because the thought of it potentially coming back isn’t as anxiety provoking. Which, in turn, can decrease intrusive thoughts.
I completed the program and it really helped me! However I didn’t do the program how my therapist told me to, I spaced apart appts etc. also talking to my therapist was actually a trigger for me to try and stay present so I honestly didn’t start getting better until the end. I am going to do the program again because I saw how much it helped me. Completing the program doesn’t mean you won’t struggle ever again. It just gives you the tools to now know how to deal with your ocd and get control of your life. I’m finding though that I will likely talk to my therapist a lot through my lifetime to get reminders and help.
Also I’ve had points in life where I haven’t had symptoms of ocd at all. Life can be great! But ocd is your brain chemistry so it doesn’t just magically disappear if that makes sense?!
@Jennica B. It just makes me more upset when I’m in constant fear of harm ocd coming back … I’m continuously pushing myself trying to do exposures but the thoughts won’t calm down and it’s been almost a month. I’m exposing myself to fears and I’m just so gutted
@Anonymous I get it! I still struggle but talking to a therapist helps soo much!
@Jennica B. yes I only two sessions w NOCD but idk we haven’t rlly started anything
@Anonymous There’s a few things that can be happening. Are you sure you are eliminating all your compulsions? Also the fear of OCD returning can also become a theme so be aware of that. Lastly, sometimes it gets worse before better. For me it got worse for a month before I finally felt relief. Keep going
I did the program - it helped a lot with my theme at the time - I was finally free! But then it latched onto (or I noticed finally) that I had other themes so doing it again. It really is an amazing life changing therapy! So glad I’m not where I was before.
@Honeyshark what program?? Is it possible to get another flare up of the same theme even if you did erp? mine is rumination lmaooo and I just can’t stop
@Anonymous The NOCD program! Yeah it basically helped me get through my SOOCD and then I realized I have ROCD.
@Anonymous I don’t tend to have flare ups of SOOCD anymore. OCD has jumped to a new themes for me.
can you give me tips on how to start ERP please?😕
@manuh ⋆ ˚｡⋆ Get a therapist on here asap! I don’t recommend doing this alone. It is scary alone. My therapist did wonders for me!!
I’d like to hear what people have to say about staying well/ not relapsing
So this means that you’ll always get a flare up no matter how much treatment you do/ erp? So sad 🥲
@Anonymous Well there is no “cure” for ocd meaning it will always be there, but you can manage it really well with therapy!
@Anonymous Maybe but I think the better we get at managing the less frequent and intense they become and it becomes easier to deal with
@Jennica B. well for me I had harm ocd and the darkness I felt … I felt so traumatized by it … it’s back after two years and this is the first time I decided to do erp… it just kinda went away on its own. My issue is more mental rumination than compulsions. I’m in such a dark place I can’t seem to get out of it. What do I do :(
@Anonymous I’m sorry to hear that. I also mostly struggle with rumination. But that is also a compulsion, just like all other ones. It is tougher than physical compulsions to stop but it is possible just like with other compulsions. I think for ERP you can write worry scripts about your fears ‘maybe I could hurt that person’ ‘maybe I am dangerous’ etc and sit with the anxiety that brings without doing the mental rumination. The goal is to learn to sit with the discomfort of your fears without ruminating about it. If you catch yourself ruminating just notice it and bring yourself back to the script. If you’re just starting, I think it’s helpful to write down a list of your obsessions/fears and the different types of ruminating and other compulsions you do in response to those fears.
@Anonymous I am sorry you are suffering. Harm was my biggest theme ! Just practice ERP daily and sit with it. I have gotten to the point where I can just laugh at some of the harm thoughts my brain throws at me. It’s just a story your brain came up with. But you can always put the pencil down and not continue to write it.
Hey guys, I hope you’re well! My names Matt, and OCD has struck me again 😂 When I was 10 years old I had to attend therapy as I was having excessive intrusive thoughts. P.s. I didn’t even know this was possible at the age of 10! I then completely forgot about it, until 2.5 years ago when I started experiencing ROCD. I really couldn’t understand why I was feeling/thinking this way however, I soon after remembered my struggles as a child and then realised my OCD had returned. Also, my mum has serious OCD so I guess that could be why too. I had a a really hard battle with my emotions and mood due to this however, the last 1.5 years had been really good and I managed it well. I got married and had the best day of my life. 3 months ago, a thought about having an affair in my head appeared, and BOOM, it’s back again. I’m struggling a lot right now however, I’ve accepted that this could be a re occurring theme throughout my life, and it’s time to learn to deal with it again. I’m back on medication and have started ERP therapy, so hopefully it’s on the up from here. I’m not here to list off my triggers and thoughts as this would be me seeking reassurance however, I’m here to show that recovery is certainly possible!
What ERP or other techniques do you use to combat fear of cancelation? Especially curious about those with taboo thoughts, false memory ocd and event ocd based off of real events where the fear of cancellation may actually hold some validity. I once did my own ERP not under a therapist but just on my own I decided to create an anonymous account on Twitter and defend a friend who was receiving online criticism. I knew that this would be semi-controversial so I was expecting backlash and when I recieved troll replies it actually seemed to be a really helpful low-stakes exposure activity. Is this something that others have done? Low stakes online posts etc. that you know will recieve negative responses? I have had severe OCD as a kid as pretty much every subtype under the sun, and as an adult I pretty much have all the types under control except for this real event and false memory and taboo thought OCD. It seems like a different beast since it's somewhat realistic in the camcellation culture today, and it's confusing to address. Ive shut down almost all social accounts and it's keeping me from progressing in a career where I need to have an online presence :/
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