Struggling with self-harm thoughts and panic attacks; seeking help.

I am so incredibly sorry for what you’re going through and I know from experience how painful it is. One thing that has helped me in my journey is giving OCD a silly little name and responding to the thoughts sarcastically even when they still stress me out. For example I would say “thanks Bob you’re ever so helpful 🙃” and then I would try my best to move on with the day/moment by engaging in a positive distraction like watching a show or coloring.

I've never dealt with that specific theme but I totally understand the difficulty of ocd. You're not alone. Keep doing ERP!

I take a deep breathe and pray. And I just remember that OCD can make you feel like you have urges and get intrusive and ego dystonic thoughts that don’t align in your values stuck in your head. The more we interact with the thoughts the stickier they get, kind of like a spider web! If we take a moment and sit with the thoughts they will eventually subside. Let me know if any of this helps you!

It may feel uncomfortable but you will be so much better for it when you take a moment and allow yourself to come back into the present and then suddenly OCD loses it’s grip.

What I would do, I’d take a stress toy if you have one and squeeze all your stress into it as long as you want and take deep breaths while doing it to relax your mind.