Of all the things you’ve learned in ERP therapy, what’s been the most helpful?

Your top takeaways

This is my OCD and I choose not to engage with it at this time. Also that OCD is a liar, a bully, a leech and a thief! And I can handle each one!

You can TOTALLY handle all of those things. You're stronger than OCD - thank you for sharing this encouragement!!

The concept of “ride the wave” and face my feelings and embrace uncertainty. “Live uncertain.”

“Live uncertain.” >>> such a great reminder.

That I can handle feeling anxious, that the anxiety might never go away- but I can still choose for myself and live my life regardless. 

Knowing you can handle anxiety makes OCD lose its power!!! Keep it up!!

Learned the tool of treating my unwanted thoughts like junk mail. It's like when you scroll through your emails and see a message saying you've won a free iPhone. You know it's not true, so you acknowledge it, mark it as junk, and move on without letting it affect you. Then you look back and find it kind of funny how ridiculous it sounds because of how untrue the “junk mail” (ocd thoughts) are. This approach has been a game changer for me! 

The realization that there is no “solution” and life’s questions will always remain unanswerable. Life = ambiguity

Definitely the fact that ERP pays off! It can be so so hard, but when your OCD is bothering you, do ERP, and get ahead of its games! You’ve got this!!

It definitely takes time and hard work, but we agree that ERP can totally pay off!!

Sassing my OCD right back - no, I don’t have to spend my precious time engaging these thoughts. They are not protecting me. I can cope. OCD is a liar and a trickster.

@Brenna - NOCD Team Member It’s still very hard to remind myself that my anxiety and rumination isn’t protecting or preparing me. It feels so engrained - but I just have to keep listening to my own voice, not OCD’s!

Let the thoughts be there. Resist engaging in them. Accept uncertainty. 

@Anonymous66 Engaging with the thoughts is one of my main compulsions and not engaging with them feels almost impossible

don’t get discouraged if it feels hard right now. Our brains are used to a certain way of responding, so when we challenge our usual response, it takes time to retrain our brain. What we once saw as a threat, we are now showing our brain it actually isn’t. And that takes time. Show plenty of compassion and love towards yourself in this time. But also know that you can do hard things and see changes when you stick to it. Like working out a muscle at the gym, hard at first but over time you see muscle definition. 

I needed that! I have a hard time being kind to myself, thinking I should "be better" at resisting compulsions. This is hard work.

To approach my fears - never run from them

Learning to distinguish the “ocd voice” from my own inner monologue

Leaning into the fearful thoughts and feelings. Don’t try to make them go away, allow them to be there and even hoping for those negative thoughts and feelings to arise so I can practice feeling anxious without pushing it away. This is so important for OCD management. It’s probably the hardest thing I have ever done but the most effective by far. 

100% agree with you on this. Trying to push away thoughts never works in the long run!

Do the response prevention and do it often. Never slack on the response prevention. 

ERP helped me rediscover my strength-to tolerate uncertainty, work through my fears, and live a life according to my values. 

I did ERP therapy at home not knowing even what it was. I deal with harm ocd, existential ocd, suicidal ocd and I brought myself to get a blade and stick it to my arm and showed myself I didn’t want to harm myself and now I am no longer scared of these thoughts !!! I’m 16 years old.

@ysabelleveloz1 that takes a huge amount of bravery 😭 im proud of you 💗

Sit through your uncertainty. It’s part of life and you’ll always need to. ERP is about handling the uncertainty instead of fixing/acting.

I think ERP lets us stop acting on our impulses and compulsions so that we can act on our goals instead.

LOVE! "ERP is about handling the uncertainty instead of fixing/acting." This is great!

That thoughts themselves can be compulsions, and that I fit the pattern of someone with OCD even though I don’t act these out physically.

My OCD tries to protect me from being hurt emotionally by making sure I don’t reach out for help and making sure I feel insecure or unworthy. It’s hard to remember that these aren’t good either, I guess because OCD feels so reliable.

Being able to catch negative/intrusive thoughts and work through them by checking their cognitive distortions

I have my first ERP appointment tomorrow and im scared 😭😭

Honestly just learning more about what OCD really is! Coming to terms with my diagnosis & finding more compassion for myself 🩷

Can ROCD make you think you don't like your boyfriend anymore and like someone else. It's really distressing:( 