pureolife
- Date posted
- 5y
pureolifepureolife
- Date posted
- 5y
@survival5050 Avoidance is a compulsion, so yes, evading her is a compulsion. Talking to her is probably one trigger. I’m sure certain circumstances, events, topics of conversation, etc. trigger you more than others. If you’re not sure if a thought is OCD, treat it as such. There’s no harm in treating a harmless thought as OCD, but there’s plenty of harm in treating an intrusive thought like it’s not, especially when your response is a compulsion. Check out this piece on ROCD: https://ocdla.com/rocd-relationship-ocd-myth-of-the-one-3665
pureolifepureolife
- Date posted
- 5y
Sounds like ROCD to me. If it wasn’t, you’d simply feel disinterested or even bored at the topic but able to handle that feeling pretty easily.
Ania85Ania85
- Date posted
- 5y
This is great, thanks!
survival5050survival5050
- Date posted
- 5y
How do i identify a trigger and a compulsion? sometimes after a lot of time it starts to feel like a normal thing to do
Ania85Ania85
- Date posted
- 5y
Trigger is something that increases your anxiety (I touching a doorknob that's filled with germs), compulsion is what you do to make yourself feel better (i.e. washing your hands)
Ania85Ania85
- Date posted
- 5y
The more times you wash your hands after touching a doorknob, the more you're telling your brain that this is something to be fearful of, continuing the OCD cycle
survival5050survival5050
- Date posted
- 5y
In my experience i started obsessing about being gay, it was a much stronger anxiety than with the other anxieties but it was easier to identify: i had a thought about a man naked i just had to think about that image for a couple of minutes, so it was easier to overcome (i only get a couple of unwanted thoughts and feelings every once in a while) but with my relationship is different sometimes is hard to identify if it is ocd or i simply don't love her, so talking to her is my trigger and evading her is my compulsion?
survival5050survival5050
- Date posted
- 5y
Now started beinging afraid of ending with no friends because of ocd, and im seeing some patterns
survival5050survival5050
- Date posted
- 5y
Exactly whenever she talks about love and sex or marriage i start shaking like diesel engine
Related posts
anxietypoops
- Date posted
- 22w
The RP in ERP
Hi! I've been on my OCD healing journey for about half a year and I have seen a lot of success. I'm reaching out for advice, I am very willing to do exposures because I know the more I do them, the more I get better, but I struggle with the response prevention part. I don't know how to control my brain when it comes to facing the fears especially since most of my compulsions are mental. I can tell myself the typical things "I am okay with the uncertainty of this happening", etc. but its like my brain doesn't believe them. I've been stuck in this disconnect for a while and would love advice you have heard from a therapist or learned that has really help you.
Rachel Owsley
- User type
- Therapist
- Date posted
- 22w
Challenges with ERP
Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) is one of the hardest but most effective treatments for OCD. If you’ve started ERP, what has been the biggest challenge in resisting compulsions?
Cody Fournier
- User type
- Therapist
- Date posted
- 20w
OCD switches themes
I was just thinking about how OCD tries to be tricky and switches themes on us!! The amount of times I have said to myself in the past, IF ONLY I HAD THE OLDER THEME I USE TO WORRY ABOUT BECAUSE THIS NEW ONE IS SO MUCH WORSE!!! Has anyone ever experienced this before? Once I started ERP therapy, I began to really start understanding what mental/physical compulsions I was doing to really keep my OCD alive! While I did this, I would also tap into my self-compassion bucket, even when it felt like it was dry at times, because it was SO easy to judge myself for because of the sheer presence of my thoughts. I would also have the most self-compassion for myself for those taboo intrusive thoughts that really felt so strong, ego-dystonic and real!!! My OCD would hop around from theme to theme and just when I thought I figured it out (compulsion) it would hop again and make me discouraged! I noticed for me that once I really understood my compulsions, it didn't matter when the theme switched as I could tackle it at its core. If I was able to stay steadfast and resist compulsions the best I could, I started to notice that my CONFIDENCE increased in the long run! I also noticed that some of the core fears were the same for different OCD subtypes. OCD treatment is hard BUT living with OCD is harder. I have experienced subtypes including Harm OCD, ROCD, Moral Scrupulosity, Sensorimotor, Contamination, Perfectionism/Just Right, Hit and Run, Magical Thinking, Real Event/False Memory. ERP therapy allowed me to really work on stopping these compulsions and switching from theme to theme. I was fed up with what OCD took from me and I needed to do something about it. I talked to an ERP therapist and it was one of the best decisions of my life. If you are struggling, keep pushing and get the help you deserve!! You got this!!!
Be a part of the largest OCD Community
Share your thoughts so the Community can respond