During therapy I got to understand that my ocd requires relaxation and peace, I started spending time with family and started meditation. Helped me a lot but past a few days it feels that my rituals of relaxing have become compulsive. I wonder what would work properly and long term. I have pure-o ocd and haven’t tried ERP. Seems that relaxing techniques are also going down the gutter.
I practice meditation, but I only do it when I'm feeling ok (i.e., not anxious or as a way to counter intrusive thoughts). If you feel like you're using those techniques compulsively, you may want to pause for now. Beginning ERP is your best chance of getting better - mindfulness skills are helpful in treating OCD too, so its good that you've been practicing that! You may be able to continue those techniques when you're feeling calm as self care and stress management, so I wouldn't discount them altogether. An OCD specialist can help you navigate all of that.
@ReadyForImprovement How long have you been/were you in ERP therapy? Did you feel like it made a substantial difference for your quality of life? I had my first intro session a few days ago and officially start next week… and I’m so nervous! My therapist said that things will likely get worse before they get better… and that has made me so anxious!! But at the same time, I desperately WANT to get better and back to feeling like myself. I’d appreciate any insights you might have.
@MissingHappy I've been doing ERP for the better part of 2 years. I've had OCD for my whole life, from what we can tell, so it's taking time and effort. The more consistently I do ERP, the better I do. I have times that I'm feeling quite well and I go through stretches of time (like now) where I struggle and it seems worse. Often correlates to times of stress, transition/change. But if I step back and look at the big picture... 2 years ago, my world was so small that I could basically visit my parents and go swimming and work remotely. Anything else was either a no-go, or done with great anxiety and hoping to avoid. Now? I'm able to get together with my whole family and *enjoy myself* without being anxious about the conversation direction, or having panic attacks, or controlling the topics, or having an exit strategy, and not having to spend 2 hours when I get home settling by doing compulsions. I've gotten on a plane by myself and traveled to a place I'd never been, rented a car, drove to a spa resort, and stayed for 4 days. I *enjoyed it* without doing compulsions or fighting anxiety. Even in my rough times like this past week, while I'm struggling with meta OCD and not catching my compulsions, I know I've made a ton of progress and this isn't setting me back to the beginning. It's a temporary crappy time, and once I get through it and keep working on ERP, it'll get better again. So this is all to say, yes, worse before better, then temporarily worse at times, but still so much better if you look at the overall state of your life as it gets bigger.
@MissingHappy P.S. it still feels scary for me sometimes when I'm working on harder exposures or my harder themes... and I get stuck/avoid it sometimes, even though I KNOW it'll make me better if I keep pushing. If that happens, go easy on yourself, it's not a failure. You just need to focus on why you're doing the hard stuff and remember the progress you have made. If you push yourself to do the smallest step toward facing your fear, and do a little baby step at a time, you can push yourself to take it on. It's normal to have that sometimes. You can do this!
@ReadyForImprovement Thank you! That is so helpful. I appreciate hearing your experiences. I am happy to hear that ERP has given you back so much of your life. That is amazing to hear!! I am not to the point where OCD is limiting my daily activities— as hard as it it, I make myself live my “normal life.” My biggest issue right now is the extreme self loathing and shame that comes from these thoughts, as well as the doubt. It makes me doubt EVERYTHING that I think I know about myself, and that is so brutal. It makes me feel extreme shame and self hatred, and like I don’t deserve this beautiful life that I have. And like it’s inevitable that I am going to do something to mess it up. Does ERP also help with that? I just want to feel some peace again! Thanks for being a great support!
Cranial osteopathy was one I tried, that worked alongside a specific meditation that I will not share for safety reasons. That brought up memories of events that were the birth of some of my compulsions, fears and behaviours. It mainly targeted the traumas in my life in which my ocd is comorbid. Next on my list to try is reiki, to see if that has any effect in calming me down or grounding me. I'll respond with results next week. 3rd is hypnotherapy which I'm excited to start as it's something I wish to go into. I want to experience it first hand before I consider investing in an education on it. 4th is neurofeedback therapy which looks really promising with all the stuff I've seen. I think there may be a real good combination of things in which we can rewire our brain and body. I feel so excited about this, that I don't know where to start 😅🤯
Hello, I was diagnosed with autism and ADHD at 25 years old. I attributed my overthinking to autism but I realised a few months ago that Pure O OCD is the most meaningful explanation for it. I am also an asexual, so I am, simply put, a shitshow of symptoms. I constantly review the past - particularly painful memories. I have a consistent fear of getting cancelled. When I was 18, some YouTubers I followed got accused of sexual misconduct and cancelled. I was obsessed and concerned for them. Others found my obsession strange. I did not like how their lives were ruined over accusation and no trial. (I was naive then to why public accusations are happening, as it is because the legal system often fails to address predatory men.) Even 6 years later, I googled one of them 240 times between January 2020 and April 2020. It was plain obsessive. When I burned bridges, I continued to search the people involved in my past dramas. Often multiple times in the same day with nothing new to see. They would likely be scared if they knew how obsessed I was with them. I have started doing ERP exercises. I wrote a script where I receive public false allegations and my life is ruined. It is forever googleable and I am a complete pariah. Completely unemployable, unliveable, even my family abandons me. I listen to it for 15 minutes on loop per day. What else would you recommend to tackle the ruminating? I wish I had this information at 18. I should have been solving these issues then and enjoying my life, not figuring it all out so much later in life.
Hello! It has been well documented that OCD can manifest itself in the form of religious rituals. There is a fine line between genuine piety and OCD. For those of you who have struggled or are still struggling with this, have you sought the guidance of a religious figure in addition to a therapist? Meaning, that you attend therapy with a therapist who works with you on ERP exercises, but also have a rabbi, priest, or imam who you use for guidance in determining what is actual piety versus behavior that is OCD?
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