New to NOCD wanting ERP information

Hello I’m new to this app and hoping to become a part of a community that could be a positive part of my healing process. I have contamination OCD that has caused me enough distress to drop out of college for a while to get my life back on track. I tend to do a lot of handwashing and have to be clean to a certain standard to do things like laundry or sleeping in my own bed. I have read online and have talked with a counselor about ERP and the idea of it does not sound like it should work to me. If there are some people willing to share a bit about the ERP they went through for contamination OCD I would be very appreciative. I also wonder how long before ERP starts to be effective. Thank you in advance to anyone who responds to this message.

Estrid

Date posted: 1y

Welcome here! Why don't you think it should work for you? With OCD we often think we are the exceptions. I have been in to ERP with contamination OCD. It's important that you do it with a competent therapist, and that you together come up with a plan where you work in a strategic way through your fears. You take babysteps in the beginning and then your trust to the process grows and you can take bigger steps. If it's hard it can be combined with other modalities as ACT, DBT, mindfulness, and medication.

Nink

Date posted: 1y

I tend to think in a very logical manner so the idea of slowly exposing your self to something that causes a mental problem does not seem like it will change anything. I know that people can build up physical tolerances to things through ingesting them in small dosages and building it up, but the idea of having something like that work for a mental problem does not feels like it should work. I was hoping to be able to potentially hear some stories or experiences of people who had gone through it and know a little of what they were thinking through the process since I have trained my brain to think in the physical sense through my major of engineering. I have trouble wrapping my mind around a lot of the ways that things work with thoughts and things since they do not have set rules that are the same throughout every human and will differ slightly between people. It is hard to convince myself that ERP will work for me since I don’t understand the process and how it actually works since I end up having a crazy amount of anxiety from exposing myself to any level of “contamination”. The idea of just exposing myself to it in a more controlled manner makes me think that it won’t change anything since the amount of anxiety has not changed since the last time I interacted with the contaminant. Not to say that I am not willing to try ERP or even hopeful that it could improve my life, I was hoping for a bit more information about the process and the way people think through it before I started it myself so I could have some idea of what is actually going to happen.

Ruminating1

Date posted: 1y

@Nink Well in the beginning you will be asked to do something that you rate relatively low on your scale of “contamination level” like maybe touching the door knob that your mother touched without washing her hands. And you will be expected to tap it with the finger tip and move on without washing your hands afterwards or performing any rituals. you will certainly feel some level of discomfort touching the door knob (fyi: this is just an example of course, and may not be a good example for you) however you will move on with whatever you had planned to do next in your day despite the level of uncertainty and distress u feel, and slowly but surely you will build up your exposure to higher level contaminants and do so without performing any compulsions or rituals afterward-simply moving on with your day and somehow in time you realize you can not only handle the discomfort and uncertainty, but also you’ll be okay. I compare it in my mind to working out. In the beginning of working out i could run on an incline of 4% and it would become uncomfortable after about 4 mins but I would push myself to 4.5 minutes and then somehow a few weeks afterward, id be able to run on an incline of 5% for 4.5 minutes and gradually move up and build my tolerance to the discomfort until running at 4% incline for 4.5 minutes felt like a breeze and I can’t understand how it ever felt difficult for me. But you must continue “working out” everyday so you don’t lose that strength.

Nink

Date posted: 1y

@Ruminating1 thank you for the explanation. It makes more sense after reading that.

Jennifer Dal...

User type: Therapist

Date posted: 25w

Let’s talk about Therapy

So you got to ask me anything… Now I’d like to ask you something! I’ve heard from Members that they were so scared coming to their first ERP session. They were terrified that I would think they were crazy, that I would tell them their worst fears were true. That I would confirm they are some form of a terrible person or have them hauled off to prison for their thoughts. I’ve also had Members share how they’re very scared to begin ERP treatment because they’ve researched enough to know it means facing the fear, without the compulsions that have kept them feeling safe (but not really safe) this entire time. They struggled to see how they could be capable of doing this, while simultaneously acknowledging that they did not want to live like this anymore. If you have had your first session, what were your thoughts before? Did you have any hesitations or fears going into it? How did it turn out? If you haven’t yet begun to work with an ERP specialist, what is holding you back?

Anonymous1990

Date posted: 25w

ERP

I’m starting NOCD. I had several years of cbt as a child (well over 20 years ago) and I see a trauma therapist. But now I’ll be seeking further help for OCD and just really scared. CBT wasn’t helpful for me. How has ERP been helpful for you? Do you feel like you’ll finally get your life back? I’m consumed by my obsessions 😢 Would love others feedback if ERP helped you ❤️

"Pure" OCD

bun <3

Date posted: 15w

everything around me feels contaminated :((

sorry this is super long i just wanna know if anyone else has been thru something similar bc i feel super alone 🩷 i have super bad contamination ocd. it was bad already but my house was like my safe space until a few months ago someone brought something into my house that i considered ‘contaminated’. and so then i felt like that part of the house was contaminated, then it spread to everything outside my room (since family is moving around touching stuff) and then somehow i got convinced everything in my room except my bed is contaminated and i need to wash my hands after touching it. in my mind its like the contamination just infinitely spreads to things after the tiniest bit of touch. idek what im afraid of anymore or even what the original thing was but i can’t let it go. when i have to wash off contamination i have to wash at least 4 times or until it feels right, or sometimes take rlly long showers and wipe down all my stuff. i even throw away food and clothes or just whole items sometimes because they feel so contaminated i don’t want them in my space. i can’t be super near people or have anyone touch me, and i also can’t bring anything new into my room since it had to go through the entry of my house which feels contaminated. i feel like all i do is lay in bed and then wash my hands and do compulsions so i can go eat or do other stuff around the house. also i never go out because i’m bc people outside make me feel dirty, and i hate thinking about how many people have touched stuff in stores or in public and stuff. so im just in my room worrying all day. i feel so trapped and the contamination/avoiding it is all i think about anymore i barely have time for anything else and im never present when i talk to people because im worrying about if i accidentally got contaminated. im starting erp next week and knowing that im going to have to expose myself to things is really freaking me out. does anyone else have this kind of ocd ? im exhaustedddd 🥲🥲💔

Contamination OCD

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