- Date posted
- 39w ago
Do things get better?
I only see negatives on this page… can anyone share positives? Is anyone getting better from therapy?
I only see negatives on this page… can anyone share positives? Is anyone getting better from therapy?
I've went years between "themes", almost OCD at 0%. So whatever you're feeling now, it won't last. Trust me. :)
Of course. I’ve been recovered for 4 years. What do you want to know?
I have gone years between flair ups where I don’t even think about OCD. It is possible!
When I first found out I had ocd, just before my diagnosis I saw negative comments everywhere on it. All bleak and hopeless. I then looked up the stats for recovery and they're shockingly bad. I said a massive f u to the stats and best them. Don't let negatives weigh you down or put you off. Smile and wave as you surpass all preconceived results and always have your goals in mind
Proud of you ☺️
Just curious, what stats on recovery do you mean? I thought erp had pretty high effectiveness?
@Anonymous Google statistics. I remember seeing 1-2% of the population have ocd. 10% who do, seek therapy. 10% of those who have it get better with an average 6-12months. I'm unsure if they include meds in those stats. That wasn't good enough for me so it made me push harder
@Anonymous Those stats may also include therapies not fit for treating ocd. Who knows 🤷♂️
@Wolfram I've read stats where erp effectiveness was given at like 60-80%. But I of course it always depends on the sample and how you measure more or less subjective things like"improvement in symptoms" and such.
@Anonymous I was aiming for zero symptoms. "Fully recovered". I know a few people with it who have it to the point where its manageable but I wanted to be free of it completely
Yes they can. What would you like to know?
@Wolfram How you’re feeling now vs. before therapy things like that. Is there a light at the end of the tunnel?! I need something to keep me going.
@Bossybacon So bear in kind I was undiagnosed for 27 years. Before therapy I felt out of control and completely confused to who I was. I felt torn and it was affecting every aspect of my life. I lost someone I cared about and lots of others through not knowing what I had. I didn't want to die but didn't want to live like that either. I thought everyone else was the problem and they didn't think enough. I had so many questions and so little answers. I was always searching for an answer but didn't know what the question was. During therapy, everything started to make sense. My questions answered slowly but not the ones I was asking for the majority of my life. New ones. Ones that gave answers. Ones my therapist helped me with. I went in to therapy knowing the recovery stats and wanted to prove them wrong. I wanted 3 months with no meds and to be completely symptom free. My therapist was on board with this. She didn't push me hard enough so in between sessions I did way more erp than she expected (once you get an understanding, run with it. If you make mistakes, learn from them and keep going). After 3 months of therapy I had a few good months with zero symptoms. Then I decided to cut out some distractions in my life and uncovered a mountain of crap I needed to deal with, honestly overwhelming to the point where I felt hopeless. Ocd came back for a bit and this time I dealt with the triggering trauma and the theme on my own. Took longer without a therapist but I did it. Now I'm symptom free. It feels weird at first when you're getting better, especially if you don't have memories of a life before ocd. The silence in your mind is unnerving and I didn't know that was my goal. I think clearly now. My brain isn't full of ocd spam mail clogging it up. I feel as if I've had a massive capacity open up and now I'm hungry for life. All this time I thought if I found out what was wrong I'd be better. I wasn't looking for a finish line after all, I was looking for the start line. That's a very short version of it 😊
@Wolfram In mind*
I got better before I even knew what this was. Just muddled thru it with a program for anxiety. I've gone years in between episodes of what I called "my weird anxiety". If I got better for years I can get better again. Starting ERP here. I see no reason why it won't go away again 😊
Thank you everyone! This gives me hope! I have been thinking it’s not possible to get better. Everyday is a struggle and I forget what happiness feels like. I just want peace again! I will keep fighting.
I feel like in some ways receiving a diagnosis for OCD has in some ways made things worse. I’ve always had what I called “phases” throughout life, which I now know were ocd episodes, but I didn’t really make too much of them and even if it was over several long difficult months, they’d always seem to kind of just pass. Recently I’ve begun my worse flare up in the last few years and now that I’m older I seemed professional help which led to my diagnosis. This all sounds great of course but I can’t actually afford therapy right now so I kinda just have the diagnosis but not the support so now that I realize these phases are actually this incurable mental illness I just feel like I’ve lost all hope that I’ll ever be happy and I feel like I basically obsess about obsessing at this point and it just sucks. Has anyone else had this or a similar experience?
I feel really scared and worried that the therapist I find on NOCD might not be effective, and instead of getting better, I might end up feeling worse. I’m afraid that if I don’t feel any progress, I’ll want to switch therapists, but my mom might get impatient with me. I worry that she’ll lose faith in therapy, stop paying for it, and think it’s a waste of time and money. I know therapy takes time and it’s not a quick fix, but I’m scared that things won’t go the way I hope. What if I don’t connect with the therapist? What if they don’t understand my OCD as well as I need them to? I’ve already been struggling so much, and the thought of going through another disappointment is exhausting. I’m only 14, and I feel stuck because I can’t manage this on my own. I need help, but I also need my mom to stay patient and supportive through this process. I’m scared that if things don’t improve fast enough, she’ll give up on paying for therapy. I don’t know what to do, and it’s making me feel really anxious. I just want to get better, but what if nothing works out?
Now that we’ve kicked off the new year, I find myself reflecting on where the OCD community is today—how things have changed for the better, as well as my hopes for the future. Ten years ago, it was almost impossible to access a licensed therapist with specialty training in OCD using health insurance. Most professionals simply didn’t understand what OCD actually looks like, so over 95% of OCD cases weren’t correctly diagnosed. As a result, insurance companies weren’t able to see how widespread OCD actually was—or how effective exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy was at treating it. Instead, people with OCD had to pay about $350 or more per session, all out of pocket, for their best chance at getting their life back. I know this from personal experience. OCD turned my life completely upside-down, and I reached out desperately for help, only to be misdiagnosed and mistreated by professionals who didn’t understand OCD. When I finally learned about ERP therapy, the evidence-based treatment specifically designed for OCD, I learned that I’d have to wait for months to see the one OCD specialist in my area, and I couldn’t afford the cost. But I was fortunate. My mom found a way to help us pay, and I finally got the help I needed. Otherwise, I don’t think I’d be here today. In a few months, I started seeing improvement. As I continued to get better using the skills I learned while working with my OCD specialist, I learned I wasn’t the only one with this experience—in fact, millions of people across the country were going through the exact same things I was. That’s why we started NOCD. Since 2015, we’ve always had one mission: to restore hope for people with OCD through better awareness and treatment. The OCD community needed an option for evidence-based treatment that they could afford and access, no matter where they live—an option that also provided necessary support between sessions. And the entire healthcare industry needed to understand how OCD actually works. As I write this post, I’m more enthusiastic than ever about our mission. Just recently, we’ve partnered with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, Texas, New Mexico, Montana, and Oklahoma. To put this into perspective, 155 million Americans can now use their insurance to access NOCD Therapy. This year, I have high hopes for the OCD community. More and more people will be able to use their insurance to pay for NOCD Therapy, and we’re working hard to give everyone who has OCD the ability to access the treatment they deserve. In addition to providing ERP Therapy, our OCD-specialty therapists also support our Members in prioritizing their overall well-being. With a focus on developing important lifestyle habits, including diet, exercise, mindfulness, and healthy sleep hygiene, they help our members build a strong foundation for lasting mental health so people are more prepared to manage OCD long-term. For every person who gains access to a therapist specialized in OCD for the first time, 2025 could be a year that changes their lives. If you or a loved one is suffering from OCD, please comment below or schedule a free 15-minute call with our team to learn more about how to access evidence-based OCD treatment and ongoing support using your insurance benefits.
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