- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 1y
Probably the biggest was when I conquered rumination. That stopped the months-long periods of anxiety, which Iād had my whole life up to that point.
- Date posted
- 1y
@dirholly I can relate!
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 1y
Incredible!!! Don't forget how far you've come :)
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 1y
@dirholly Do share tips!
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 1y
How exactly did you do that? This is my biggest issue, to stop ruminating. I feel so helpless when it's overwhelming.
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 1y
First session of ERP! I didnāt actually believe facing my fears would heal me until I did it. Still, it surprises me every time.
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 1y
Facing your fears can be so hard. Keep up the great work!
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 1y
Egosyntonic vs. egodystonic
- Date posted
- 1y
@CaseyDemk May you explain this?
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 1y
Yep!
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 1y
@Anonymous Following a life of our values. Who we are and what we believe in. Not giving every to lies and things against our values
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 1y
When I realized content didnāt matter. No matter what my ocd was attacking, all was treated the same.
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 1y
@Burrchick95 Same here!!
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 1y
ERP >>>
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 1y
@Burrchick95 Thatās a good one.
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 1y
Iāve had so many of these , they are wonderful. One of my favorites was when I realized that I can do the opposite of whatever my ocd wants me to do both as an exposure, and as a way of following my values. Two huge things at once!
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 1y
Thanks for sharing this! Love it so much!!
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 1y
Getting diagnosed and realizing that I am not crazy, I don't have to hide my thoughts anymore. It's just OCD
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 1y
When I realized I was finally doing what I wanted, not what my OCD wanted. I was finally separating myself from my disorder.
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 1y
ooo LOVE this! So important to be living by your values, not by OCD!!
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 1y
When my therapist pointed out that I would never be satisfied (by engaging in my compulsions)
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 1y
Stopping compulsions is hard but worth the reward!!!
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 1y
I asked my therapist, āWhen are we going to start doing exposures?ā And she said, āWeāre doing them right now.ā It literally didnāt sink in for two weeks and then one day I was like ohhhhhhhh
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 1y
Keep it up!
- Date posted
- 1y
Realizing I just have to do nothing. It is more unlearning. Sure there are helpful tips and tricks and ERP was necessary at first for me at first but at the end of the day just realize whatās happening, that you will never ever ever win the battle with your thoughts, trust it is OCD, and just do what you wanna do anyways no matter what OCD says. The answer will always be the same, to not engage and just focus on what youāre doing. Thereās no other magical answer that is better maybe other ways of saying it butā¦trusting that I already know what to do.
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 1y
" that you will never ever ever win the battle with your thoughts, trust it is OCD" is so great! Thanks for this reminder!
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 1y
Iāve had many, but one of them was realising when it was OCD speaking vs real me. Noticing sensations of ocd anxiety vs me.
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 1y
Learning RPMs and how to use them was very helpful.
- Date posted
- 1y
@Anonymous What is RPMs?
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 1y
@Anonymous Response Prevention Messaging
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 1y
Love it!!
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 1y
I would say two things: one was the the realization that if I make the rules, I can change them. The other, and this has to do with compulsions, is the concept of delay ā as in, I wonāt do it again now, Iāll do it later. Then the urge disappears. Or I forget, which produces that same result.,
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 1y
Looove this. This will definitely give others hope
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 1y
When I did an exposure that I really did not want to and actively avoided. Then one day I threw caution to the wind and did the exposure. Has made OCD less scary for sure.
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 1y
Yessss, this is awesome!
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 1y
That there was a program that if I follow will help me
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 1y
When I realized that a thought that comes with a feeling doesnāt mean it will happen/come true
- Date posted
- 1y
The moment I did ERP and realized that my worst fears were only in my head
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 1y
oooo OCD is such a liar!
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 1y
Recognizing and being mindful of when Iām ruminating on an intrusive thought.
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 1y
Great one!!
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 1y
Understanding no one can guarantee certainty no matter how hard you try it will never be 100% fail proof. Bad can happen š„ŗ
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 1y
Yes.. 100% certainty isn't real! Learning to live with that uncertainty is so key
- Date posted
- 1y
I donāt remember things have clicked way too many times in the last month. I can remember the first
- Date posted
- 1y
@Anonymous74 Canāt
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 1y
Let's go! That's awesome!!
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 1y
Embracing the idea of āI canāt knowā. It provided a surprising amount of relief, rather than stoking the anxiety of uncertainty!
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 1y
THIS! Love it!
- Date posted
- 1y
1. When my therapist helped me understand that what I Feared was loss of connection and how I'm already losing connection by what I'm doing. 2. When I finally understood that I can't just do the exposure, I need to embrace the uncertainty. And that I WANT to.
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 1y
Embracing the uncertainty is hard but so worth it!
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 1y
Noticing and labeling āthis is OCDā not me and my personal identity.
- Date posted
- 1y
Realizing that I am not my brain. I am not my thoughts and my thoughts aren't ME! š”moment. My brain and and my mind are not the same. That my brain has been hijacked by this OCD jerk, and needs a little rewiring of the circuit board, so that it doesn't combust, over heat or fall apart. One day at a time. I am relearning all of this again during this recent flare with OCD
Related posts
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 19w
December 14, 2024, marked two years since my first ERP therapy session with my NOCD therapist, Mixi. And October 2024 marked a year of being free from OCD. It was not an easy journey, confronting my fears face to face. Exposing myself to the images and thoughts my brain kept throwing at me, accepting that I might be the worst mother, that my daughter wouldnāt love me, and that I deserved to be considered a bad person. It was challenging having to say, āYes, I am those things,ā feeling the desire to run, but realizing the thoughts followed me. At the start of my therapy, I remember feeling like I couldnāt do this anymore. Life felt unbearable, and I felt so weak. I longed for a time before the OCD, before the flare-ups, before the anxiety, the daily panic attacks. I thought Iād never be myself again. But I now know that ERP saved my life. The first couple of sessions were tough. I wasnāt fully present. I lied to my therapist about what my actual thoughts were, fearing judgment. I pretended that the exposures were working, but when the sessions ended, I went back to not sleeping, constantly overwhelmed by fear and anxiety. But my therapist never judged me. She made me feel safe to be honest with her. She understood OCD and never faltered in supporting me, even when I admitted I had been lying and still continued my compulsions. My biggest milestone in therapy was being 100% transparent with my therapist. That was when real change began. At first, I started smallāsimply reading the words that terrified me: "bad mom," "hated," "unloved." Then, I worked on listening to those words while doing dishesānot completely stopping my rumination, but noticing it. Just 15 minutes, my therapist said. It wasnāt easy. At one point, I found myself thinking, āWill I ever feel like myself again?ā But I kept pushing through. Slowly, I built tolerance and moved to face-to-face exposuresāsitting alone with my daughter, leaning into the thought that my siblings might die, reading articles about my worst fears, and calling myself the things I feared. Each session was challenging, but with time, the thoughts started to lose their grip. By my eleventh session, I started to realize: OCD was here, and it wasnāt going away, but I could keep living my life despite it. I didnāt need to wait for it to be quiet or go away to move on. Slowly, it began to quiet down, and I started to feel like myself again. In fact, I am not my old self anymoreāIām a better version. OCD hasnāt completely disappeared, but itās quieter now. Most of the time, it doesnāt speak, and when it does, I know how to handle it. The last session with my therapist was emotional. I cried because I was finishing therapy. I remember how, in the beginning, I cried because I thought it was just startingābecause I was overwhelmed and terrified. But at the end, I cried because I was sad it was ending. It felt like I had come so far, and part of me wasnāt ready to say goodbye, even though I had already learned so much. It was a bittersweet moment, but I knew I was walking away stronger, equipped with the tools to handle OCD on my own. If I could change anything about my journey, it would be being open and honest from the beginning. It was the key to finding true healing. The transparency, the honestyāit opened the door to lasting change. Iām no longer that person who was stuck in constant panic. Iām someone who has fought and survived, and while OCD still appears from time to time, I know it doesnāt define me. I'd love to hear your thoughts and comments. Have you started therapy, is something holding you back? Is there something you want to know about ERP therapy? I'll be live in the app answering each and every one today from 6-7pm EST. Please drop them below!
- User type
- Therapist
- Date posted
- 19w
So you got to ask me anything⦠Now Iād like to ask you something! Iāve heard from Members that they were so scared coming to their first ERP session. They were terrified that I would think they were crazy, that I would tell them their worst fears were true. That I would confirm they are some form of a terrible person or have them hauled off to prison for their thoughts. Iāve also had Members share how theyāre very scared to begin ERP treatment because theyāve researched enough to know it means facing the fear, without the compulsions that have kept them feeling safe (but not really safe) this entire time. They struggled to see how they could be capable of doing this, while simultaneously acknowledging that they did not want to live like this anymore. If you have had your first session, what were your thoughts before? Did you have any hesitations or fears going into it? How did it turn out? If you havenāt yet begun to work with an ERP specialist, what is holding you back?
- Date posted
- 19w
Can someone please tell me at what point did you finally accept that itās OCD? When did the ERP click for you? When did you just stop buying into the lies of OCD and finally let go? Like what does it take. Itās been 2 years of this for me and Iām in ERP currently and itās just not clicking š£ is it just me???
Be a part of the largest OCD Community
Share your thoughts so the Community can respond