I feel like doing an erp hierarchy is hard for me to make because I feel like my triggers are on the same anxiety level maybe? I dunno but I don’t notice a huge difference it tends to get worse if I focus on it for my sperm contamination ocd I don’t know what to do for erp
A good hierarchy should start with doable (3 on a scale from 0 - no fear to 7 - pure terror). Then as you conquer each you go up the hierarchy. So for example you might start by looking at a piece of clothing with dried sperm on it until your anxiety drops in half and come back and repeat until it’s a 1 or so. Then touch where the clothing was without cleaning off your hands in any way. I’m just someone whose been through a lot of erp so these are not professional suggestions. An erp therapist could help you much more than this.
I have contamination OCD that causes me to excessively wash my hands/clean items with disinfectant wipes. I know I just need to start with small exposures but how do I do that without spiraling? I tried a while back by just touching the outside of my dishwasher and not washing my hands after and it led to me being unable to even exist in my house. I basically lived on my couch for three weeks as it was the only 'safe' space that I had not touched with my dirty hands. I had to take a week off work to clean my house to make it somewhat liveable. I still haven't got round to cleaning everything though so things like my kitchen are still no-go zones that I don't enter. I just don't know how to start ERP without it making everything worse. Any advice would be appreciated. I am not seeing a therapist at the moment due to financial constraints.
I’ve noticed that I’m somewhat happier also ignoring my thoughts than I am instead of doing compulsions (I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired atp) but I’ve heard you’re technically supposed to do erp rather than pushing under the rug. But idk if I have a thought I just refuse to think about it again and im fine even if I want to do compulsions
Sometimes I notice my intrusive thoughts cause me to spiral and sometimes not. I've been practicing ERP for quite a while so it's a bit easier for me to not spiral. But I wonder why that happens. Does anyone else have it? Also I'm on medication idk if that plays a role.
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