I struggle to think of ERP messages to anchor myself to when trying to avoid mental compulsions. Anyone have any to recommend, especially in regards to ROCD fears and moral scrupulously?
Yes. I think it's the hardest ones to do. Most of my relationships issues are do I love my partner, are they going to leave and they can spiral from there. I have a thing w being honest to a fault and worrying I overstepped a boundary or did or said something wrong. Quite honestly I'm not sure if what I do will work foe you. When I have these thoughts I do the following in the order. I tell my partner " hey my ocd BOB is saying a ton of shit now about you. BOB is a pain in my ass. And my partner will respond yeah he is a jerk. That usually will stop me from getting into a 5 plus hour long discussion about our relationship and from asking for reassurance. If the thought pops up again, cause come on BOB is nothing but persistent I will journal. Then outlook I say maybe, I don't know, omg your annoying me I'm going to listen to an audiobook. But that's foe that thought. Keep them coming BOB. For the other stuff like lying, did I hurt someone's feelings etc I again tell my partner " hey, BOB is telling me I lied, hurt so and so etc" and my partner will say we'll who know, or maybe. I say yup, I'll just wait and see. That's what I do. Idk if it will help. And no matter what I do not go seek relationship advice from Dear Google or my friends. Noone can give me the answer I want because there's no answer so I just don't go there.
@Anonymous This was honestly really helpful, thank you! My OCDs name is Clarence. 😆
@danielle421 Well honey, Clarence is a jealous jerk and wants you all to himself or themselves. Bob and Clarence should get together and leave us alone.😏
I try and think of the things that bother me everyday and then purposely put myself into a spiral to habituate out of it
My NOCD therapist (who has been awesome) and I are both struggling to identify ways in which I can practice exposure therapy while in-session, because the vast majority of my OCD symptoms are mental compulsions. For example: indecision and inability to commit to a choice; seeking reassurance on decisions from friends and family; mental review of things that have just happened / social situations; over-thinking and catastrophizing. I also have some other hallmark symptoms (contamination fears, moral scrupulosity, etc) but those tend to be inconsistent too. It’s hard to really practice these during my sessions because so many are in the moment and fleeting. By the time I join my session they are no longer active. How can we establish exposure responses during my sessions, if most of my OCD involves mental rumination and overthinking patterns/thought loops that only occur “in the moments - rather than specific or consistent compulsions (such as hand washing)?
Been struggling with existential OCD lately. Very hard to describe the thoughts/feelings, but it is a constant feeling of being stuck in my head. Like what is consciousness and where do I think from? Like I think it’s OCD, maybe it is maybe it isn’t. But if it is, what would be good ERP exercises? Just existing (lol)? And what would be my response prevention? I’m not even sure what mental compulsions I may be doing.
One problem - Various themes This is my first post. I had a relapse a few months ago. Life was amazing and then boom, I got triggered by something and started spiralling about my sexuality (having finally been at peace for two years, entered a healthy new relationship and come out of the closet as an older women). How do you, when you're not triggered practice ERP? I'm able to try and accept the thoughts every time I see a man. What should I be doing when I don't encounter these triggers. I was to say as well that I also am starting to get real event OCD about some of the sexual things I did in the past when I was married and in an unhealthy toxic relationship with my ex husband. I am shamed and disgusted and I'm working on it but there's a certain subsection of the LGBTQ community that trigger these thoughts, groinals and thing for me... I feel like I'm beginning to realise I need to maybe be a little more active in my recovery instead of waiting for triggers... But I don't know how
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