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- 5y
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- 5y
I live in a country where there is almost no erp therapist so i can relate to you , you can start your exposure here , in this app , i too have hocd and trying my best to do the exposures , we got this ?
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- 5y
Well self epr can be dangerous but a good mental exposure would be that everytime you think a thought you say “yes that makes me gay” and then kinda create a story in your head that is super gay for instance if u found a guy attractive say “yes I’m gay because I find him attractive, I’m going to go ask him on a date and we’re going to have a really good time and then I may even ask him over after and who knows maybe we’ll be in a lifelong relationship” something super out there and maybe even to the point where it seems ridiculous.
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- 5y
It’ll create a sense of “this is rly stupid” and make u realize there’s nothing to fear.
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- 5y
There’s not a one best exposure. The best treatment is simply to do ERP correctly. You’re going to want to create a hierarchy of triggers going from least distressing to most distressing. Then you’re going to design exposure exercises for the first and practice exposure to it daily until your response to it lessens drastically. Then you tackle the next item on the hierarchy. That’s a super brief summary. But here’s a great article for more details: https://iocdf.org/expert-opinions/expert-opinion-self-directed-erp/ Just to get you started, some common exposures would be watching tv shows with gay characters, reading about or watching videos about coming out stories, going to lgbtq events, writing scripts about being with a member of the same sex, etc. Please don’t make a common mistake many do and jump into watching gay porn and then waiting to see if your body reacts. (1) bodies react to all sexual content regardless of orientation and (2) that’s a compulsion called body checking and (3) it will not give you the answer you want and is entirely inaccurate and will simply cause more distress/confusion. Eventually you may watch gay porn for exposure, maybe, but only after months of other exposures after you know exactly how to do them correctly and have tackled many other stages of your hierarchy. Good luck!
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- 5y
Thank you so much really appreciate it
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- 5y
*erp
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- 5y
Thank u
Related posts
- Date posted
- 17w
I cant afford therapy which is why i’m not diagnosed with ocd. The first time i had heard what ocd was truly abt was 6 years ago when i overthinking my sexual identity and it fit. Additionally, i struggle with debilitating health anxiety and when i was in a rlt i was extremely anxious that i might not love my partner. This is the third year i experience distress around my sexuality but this year it feels real. And it could also explain my rlt anxiety. Comphet is a concept that really scares me. I dont want to be with a girl. I would rather die than discover i was lesbian. I cant accept uncertainty cz i dont want to be homosexual. Chat GPT told me it wasnt ocd + the thoughts dont distress me anymore. I experience 3 intense weeks of anxiety prior to now. Maybe its internalized homophobia. Maybe its comphet. I do find women to be attractive but i dont wanna be with them. Maybe i’m in denial. Idk anything anymore. I’m remembering times where i would find an actress attractive and try to shift my focus towards the man cz it would make me anxious. I’m not well at all.
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- 9w
I struggle with HOCD or SOOCD. I’m a married young woman to an amazing husband. I’ve had this since I was 16 but it only came in flair ups. However this round started in October, and it’s been really rough and I would just break down all the time. I went up on my medication and I actually noticed a difference! My thoughts were still very present but I wasn’t really paying attention to them or giving them power. HOWEVER right when I thought I was getting better, my brain started feeling and saying to myself that I just know I am bi but you want to make excuses for it like “oh it’s normal to find someone hot since we as a society have an interpretation of what that looks like” or “I see the girl as myself and that’s what ‘turns’ me on” or “well I mean that girl looks kind of like a man” and it’s it’s making me spiral. I won’t ever come out as Bi as deep in my soul I don’t feel I am. I have always wanted to be with men sexually and romantically and that has not changed but my brain is making me believe I am and I just don’t want to admit it. Please help me, what has helped you?
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- 5w
I’ve recovered from HOCD before and got my attraction and my usual actual identity back. I was recovered from end 2022- start 2025 until I got triggered UGHHH😭 My HOCD is REALLY trying to convince me and it’s SO annoying cause I genuinely don’t want these thoughts. I know I naturally like men and always have done so. I can’t wait for my first therapy session in two days Omg! I need your advice, not necessarily reassurance, but more advice? My HOCD is throwing random “proof” I did/ saw as a child in my face, which back then had no meaning in my life and I continued to live a perfectly heterosexual life. I’ve educated myself about arousal non concordance / child’s play, but it still doesn’t remove the HOCD. I’ve read therapists great explanations on how it’s not a sexuality issue, BUT ITS AN OCD BRAIN ISSUE. So basically I’ve been straight and i will die as straight. But my ocd is still continuing with the intrusive thoughts/flashbacks. I’ve had some moments where I haven’t done as many compulsions and had less anxiety but still had those damn thoughts and I DO NOT want those damn thoughts. I have so much proof and factual/logical explanations but HOCD is still continuing to thrive. I absolutely hate this and I feel so alone. I wish there was a reset button cause I don’t want these thoughts to happen. I want a man and I stand by that. How do y’all deal with these situations? Cause sitting with the thoughts is clearly not helping.
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