I called a therapist to consider switching my therapist and told her about my thoughts and then she asked me “is it the ocd thoughts? Don’t you have a plan to do it?” SERIOUSLY?????????????
It’s frustrating when people don’t understand the content of OCD self-harm thoughts. Idk if this is similar to your situation, but I have had many people treat me like I was actively suicidal when they were just intrusive suicidal thoughts. It was frustrating for me. I’m sorry 💗
@HopeM365 She needed to ask to make sure, but if I was sure I wouldn’t call her at first place or go to therapy 😫😫😫
This has happened to me before. For a long time I was misdiagnosed with depression and suicidal ideation, even though the thoughts absolutely horrified me and I was fixating on them to try to get them to stop!! Finally having an answer and knowing I wasn’t alone in having these thoughts helped a lot. And you deserve to have a therapist who is knowledgeable about OCD as well. When my OCD was still very severe, all I wanted was reassurance, and a therapist can’t build trust with you to ultimately treat you if they can’t provide you with reassurance up front. Ultimately, challenging that reassurance will be positive for treatment, but in the beginning it can be very triggering in my experience. I’m sorry you had that response. I know how it feels!
@andip37 My therapist gave me the reassurance still I didn’t trust it 100% but I wanted to switch therapist bc she is very pricey and I think there isn’t enough CBT but the thing is that she knows me and another one might hospitalise me or something bc I can’t say 100% is because of the ocd 😫😫😫 I’m not terrified enough anymore I’m just on it all day and don’t want the thoughts
@confused writer I hear you. OCD is insidious!
@andip37 How did you get better? Did you think about it ALL the time too? 😫
@confused writer ✨🙏 you can do it! one day at a time you can get better 🙏✨ your OCD is a part of you but it doesn't define you! accepting it and learning to live with it will bring you peace 😔 🌙 the road is hard but you can absolutely do it 💪✨ it will get easier if you keep at it there's a path for you 🤗 sending prayers 🙏 ✨
@confused writer Oh boy, did I! Yes ALL the time. It consumed my life. And when I wasn’t having the thought, I was worried they would come again. So no matter what I was fixating on them. Going through the ERP process with a knowledgeable therapist helped a lot. And then when I had a really bad flare up and realized that I was someone who needed both therapy and the right medication, I started meds. And now with both the ERP tools plus meds I feel SO much freer, like a weight has been lifted. The thoughts are still there sometimes, but much less intense and it feels much easier to just let them go by. You WILL get better - you can do it! But I know how it feels to be where you are right now. And it is a lot. Keep talking about it because that helps, too, to know you’re not alone.
@andip37 The hardest thing for me is to believe it’s only ocd, because I feel like I’m going through every day and survive it 🤦🏻♀️ if it makes sense… I know deep down I don’t really want to die,but it’s deep deep deep down I’d love if we could talk!
@kathleenshubby4eva Thank you so much!
@confused writer Totally get that. I thought I was legit insane for a long time, always worried what if I’m just fooling myself, fixated on wanting to hide the thoughts so badly because what if they are what is real, etc etc. OCD traps you in a loop and it is soooooo hard to see out of it.
@andip37 Exactly
Has anyone switched therapist before? How did that conversation go? I really like my current therapist, but my psychiatrist got me into a OCD center at one of the top hospitals in the country. Now I have to tell my current therapist that I can no longer work with them. Looking for advice on how to handle this conversation.
TW. Also long post ahead . I’ve been dealing with OCD for the past 10 years. I’m 32 years old . I didn’t get diagnosed with OCD until this year. I was always diagnosed with GAD, panic disorder, and depression. I don’t have your typical compulsions. Mine are mostly all mental. Reassurance seeking, avoidance , repeating a prayer , etc . I have three main themes . Schizophrenia OCD, sexual orientation OCD, and HIV. Sometimes i deal with harm OCD and POCD but my main big three are the ones I listed first . I feel like the schizophrenic OCD is the most debilitating for me. For the last ten years I’ve been thinking I’m losing my mind . I thought once I got to a certain age the fear would go away but it hasn’t and is in full force . I’m constantly checking my surroundings, what I’m hearing, how I’m acting , questioning if things are real and so on . Now I do have times where this theme doesn’t bother me . It’s put on the back burner . I go through cycles . But when I’m focusing on this theme I feel like I’m hearing stuff . Most of the time I can’t make it out but recently I feel like I’ve been hearing a whisper saying “hey” . It mainly happens at night . It sends me into a complete panic and I feel like “this is it “ I’m seeing an OCD therapist and she recommended me to go to this psychiatric place in town to get meds to help my anxiety from the OCD. My last psychiatrist always pushed the newest medicine and was constantly changing up my regimen. I thought I would give it a try. WORST IDEA EVER . Keep in mind my therapist gave me a letter to give to her explaining I have been diagnosed with OCD and explaining it . She doesn't think I have OCD at all. She wanted to put me on an antipsychotic so me with my OCD brain . I asked her if she thought I was psychotic . She said I was nearing psychosis . She called me interesting . She feels like I have major depressive disorder . I'm just at a loss for words. It was honestly the strangest meeting I have had with a psychiatrist. It was very unprofessional. She has no idea the damage she has done nor do I think she cares. I just don't know what to Believe in anymore ... We met for approximately 45 minutes . First time ever meeting. I just want to cry and I’m freaking out 😢
I feel like my therapist knows my issues well enough by now, why haven’t we started erp or why hasn’t she given me any strategies to help when I’m triggered? I’ve had 4 sessions. She just says we have to stick to the method that she works by, but if I don’t know when we will start the work that actually helps me, how can I feel confident in sticking with the therapy? I am so unsure. I keep asking her but she never gives me an answer. It’s not too much to ask to know when the help will actually start is it?! If the next couple of sessions go by and we still haven’t talked about strategies or erp, I will get so anxious because I can only afford 12 sessions 😔 I don’t know what to do. People are saying to be patient and go with it, but I can’t trust it. I would have expected to start some sort of erp plan. If in the next couple of sessions we haven’t started it, what should I do? (I get really triggered by phrases like red flags or that doesn’t sound good in the comments, just objective advice would be so appreciated 🙏🏻)
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