i think doing erp is making my obsessive thoughts worse. i feel like im ruminating more and triggering myself in my sessions. is this something other people have experienced?? does this mean erp isnt for me?? someone please help me )-:
Sometimes you might have self judgement during ERP, which can be both a compulsion and/or self criticism within the mental health recovery. Try to notice if you’re feeling perfectionist tendencies about doing the exposure. It is kinda like a spectrum so try to speak with your therapist about it as well
you’re in control of the rumination!! it’s not gonna just go away because you’re doing erp you have to stop yourself from doing it. triggering yourself is the exposure part and stopping ruminating is the response prevention
I think this is the hard part. Talk to yout therapist about how youre handling/not coping with the recent exposure. I am thinking about the trigger instead of enabling the problem with avoidance. Are you use to avoiding the triggers that enable the ocd? I suspect that when I avoid confronting the trigger, when it does happen it feels really intense compared to a topic that I encounter a lot
So I’m starting therapy this week but I’ve been trying to use ERP myself, my main compulsion is rumination which I wasn’t even aware was a compulsion. I’m trying to do ERP but when I focus on observing the thought it goes, I dunno if I’m focusing too much on actually how to follow ERP or is this normal? I feel like I might be subconsciously blocking thoughts because I know how bad it is when I go down the rabbit hole, but then I also worry that the anxiety goes too quickly and that I’m finding it too easy to ignore the thought?
Well, ERP is not working out for me. In fact it has only served to make me more depressed because the idea of accepting I might be a "bad person" or pervert (or whatever) just makes me feel, well, bad! I'm not sure how this could help anyone honestly. Has anyone else experienced this and had luck with other treatments?
Ever since I started ERP I feel like my OCD is only getting worse. I have more intrusive thoughts and memories and they feel worse than they did before. Am I doing it wrong?
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