This is a little win for me, I had rated the exposure quite high in things that would trigger me and it didn’t trigger me half as much as I thought. How often and how many times would you suggest doing exposures? And do you do the same ones?
Congratulations ! Honestly it's best to do an exposure every day. But it also depends on were you are currently at in your process.
Yayyy great work! SOOCD and ROCD affected me a ton but after doing ERP, it got better. At first I did my exposures everyday, multiple times per day for a few weeks, and now I do it once or twice a day. What exposure did you do, if you don’t mind me asking? :)
@blazed Thank you!!! I watched a coming out video, small step but a big one for me as I’ve put it off. I’ve always been a massive ally toward the lgbtq+ so when this theme hit me it felt awful.
Congratulations!! Keep it up 🤙🏻💪🏻
@JordTheNord Hey Thank you, I’ve just read your bio and it’s inspiring well done for overcoming this. How did you overcome it if you don’t mind me asking? Was it through therapy, exposures?
@bdiz96 I’ve have suffered severely for 7 years on and off, and if I’ve not been struggling majorly it’s always been simmering on in the background.
@Bdiz Unfortunately it was kind of self taught/self discovery/ trail and error because I had no idea what to do. I dealt with it off and on for over two decades. Nobody ever mentioned it could have been OCD which I’m hearing a lot more ppl experiencing the same. When I finally was diagnosed my therapist asked me a few questions and when I answered she’s like “oh so you’ve been actually doing a lot of this stuff on your own and you seem to really understand the concepts”. I was actually doing ERP on my own for years. Of course everything wasn’t as smooth as it could have been if I found very precise help and understanding. It was still really nice to hear that I forged my own path through my own determination and learning. I really was in the very end of recovering when I was ACTUALLY diagnosed because I was just curious what have I been dealing with all my life. So here are some things that helped me: 1)ERP (which was all self) I’d recommend doing it by yourself and with a professional. 2)Finding ppl in the world that accepted me and didn’t drag me down and were able to handle my compulsions 3)A best friend that really saved my life in talking with me and my thoughts on life. 4) learning about the world because I’m been naturally curious and always wanted to help ppl so I figured it be best to understand life. So I’ve read a lot of philosophy books and psychology books and talked to ppl throughout my life to hear how ppl are experiencing their own life. This actually help me understand things better and helped keep some intrusive thoughts in check and learned to not engage. 5) everything this app and its ppl say: disengage thoughts, disengage compulsions, sit with uncertainty, practice ERP therapy, give yourself grace, and above all keep moving practicing/moving forward. Of course this is all easier said than done. The tipping point for me was knowing I wasn’t alone and seeing everyone on this app and hearing ppls stories (crazy in all my life no one still ever suggested OCD probably to any of us early on but that is because it’s been misunderstood) made me feel not alone and that I’m not special in “this is only happening to me and I’m the short stick of the draw”. Just was the cherry on top to put it to rest. Thanks for listening. Also, Alan Watts lectures on YouTube (suggested by my friend that really helped me) was really my driving force for healing multiple aspects of my life. I’d recommend listening to him. So in short basically learning more about life, believing in myself, and all NOCD techniques to conquer OCD.
@Bdiz Oh and I’ve experienced very subtype of OCD throughout my life. Some themes are just more frequent
@JordTheNord Thank you so much for such a detailed response! And thank you for continuing to help people with this cruel illness 😊
@Bdiz My pleasure! Thank you for taking your time and reading it lol. Honestly that was my biggest motivation to get better. I didn’t want others to feel so alone and in darkness (I had This feeling when I was like 8) like I did because it felt unbearable so I wanted to get better and to learn things to be there for others to know they aren’t alone and I can do something to help them. Plus one of my favorite sayings is with great power comes a greater responsibility. I want to give back for what life and the ppl in it has given me.
Congrats! 🎈 What is your assignment/homework day from your therapist? Because it depends on the person.
@Nica So I’m kinda of going it alone. I’m currently having a form of therapy and I’m going to mention exposure, response therapy next week in session. I’ve only recently been honest about my thoughts and we are looking at getting me a diagnosis.
@bdiz96 Basically I’m not with NOCD
@bdiz96 Usually it’s every day unless you’re sick 🙂
Hi! I was given exposure HW that I chose to do by my therapist but lately I’ve been feeling overwhelmed by it and thinking that maybe I need to start with an easier exposure. However I can only see my therapist every other week due to her schedule and I’m really having a hard time feeling like I’m not following the “rules” of therapy. I feel like she’s not going to help me if I don’t do the exposures and that I’m gonna be all alone again and have no where to turn. So, part of me was gonna just force myself to do the exposure to avoid feeling bad. I don’t want to let OCD run the show also by not doing the exposure…but also feeling like doing the exposure is not quite right either. Please if anyone can relate I could really use some help.
One problem - Various themes This is my first post. I had a relapse a few months ago. Life was amazing and then boom, I got triggered by something and started spiralling about my sexuality (having finally been at peace for two years, entered a healthy new relationship and come out of the closet as an older women). How do you, when you're not triggered practice ERP? I'm able to try and accept the thoughts every time I see a man. What should I be doing when I don't encounter these triggers. I was to say as well that I also am starting to get real event OCD about some of the sexual things I did in the past when I was married and in an unhealthy toxic relationship with my ex husband. I am shamed and disgusted and I'm working on it but there's a certain subsection of the LGBTQ community that trigger these thoughts, groinals and thing for me... I feel like I'm beginning to realise I need to maybe be a little more active in my recovery instead of waiting for triggers... But I don't know how
Earlier today I did some pretty high-level contamination exposure, inspired by my therapist, and now I'm listening to a triggering song on repeat — the very song that kicked off my first serious bout of OCD in high school. There is a part of my brain that is telling me I can't handle the song and that I should find a compulsion to do, but my goal is to have it in the background while I go about my self-care tasks. I'm already starting to get used to it 💪 How are y'all challenging your OCD today?
Share your thoughts so the Community can respond
