- Username
- Anonymous
- Date posted
- 41w ago
Someone please explain
Why is reassurance a bad thing for OCD?
Why is reassurance a bad thing for OCD?
You'll stay in your comfornt zone, and you'll keep wanting MORE reassurance and each time you get it you feel like it's not enough so you CONSTANTLY NEED it and it doesn't help you beat the problem you'll just be simering in it for longer.
It will never be enough. Its bad for ocd because it can be ocd. It's a common compulsion to seek reassurance. It reinforces the walls to your comfort zone but ironically cages you within it. Your comfort zone is like a place of rest at the end of the day. Life gets uncomfortable when you leave it sometimes. Doesn't mean you should avoid going through discomfort especially when it benefits you in the end. Reassurance counteracts all that and provides shelter when you're supposed to be vulnerable. That's when you grow
Here’s an article about seeking reassurance and why it’s bad for those with OCD. The Psychology of Seeking Reassurance: https://www.treatmyocd.com/blog/reassurance-seeking-ocd-anxiety-how-to-stop-cycle
Seeking reassurance tells your brain that your intrusions are important. And when something is important our brain tends to focus on it more, causing the frequency of the intrusions popping up in your head to go up. The more the intrusions pop up, the more anxiety we feel, the more compulsions we do and the more reassurance we seek. By doing that, we give attention to the intrusions and signal our brain again that they are very important, which leads to our brain focusing on them even more and increasing the frequency of them popping up in our head again goes up. This goes on and on and at some point it turns in to a vicious cycle.
Can someone explain to me why reassurance is bad for OCD?? I often have overwhelming anxiety that my boyfriend is upset with me. So I will sometimes ask him if we’re good. Even though nothing has happened to suggest anything is wrong. He knows I have terrible anxiety so he never makes me feel bad for asking. And as soon as I’ve asked I feel better.
Why is it wrong for someone with OCD to seek reassurance? Does it really prevent us from learning how to tolerate stress?
Can someone please help me understand why ERP therapists encourage OCD sufferers to not seek constant reassurance. Many times telling me to just ask once, when I tried ERP therapy, gives me even more agitation and anxiety than anything else. I have other mental health conditions that makes this request difficult. Please explain.
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