- Date posted
- 50w
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!
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 50w
You can TOTALLY handle all of those things. You're stronger than OCD - thank you for sharing this encouragement!!
- Date posted
- 50w
The concept of “ride the wave” and face my feelings and embrace uncertainty. “Live uncertain.”
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 50w
“Live uncertain.” >>> such a great reminder.
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 50w
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.
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 50w
Knowing you can handle anxiety makes OCD lose its power!!! Keep it up!!
- Date posted
- 50w
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!
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 50w
Love this!
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 50w
The realization that there is no “solution” and life’s questions will always remain unanswerable. Life = ambiguity
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 50w
Uncertainty is HUGE in OCD recovery!!
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 50w
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!!
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 50w
It definitely takes time and hard work, but we agree that ERP can totally pay off!!
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 50w
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.
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 50w
"They are not protecting me" YES
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 50w
@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!
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 50w
Let the thoughts be there. Resist engaging in them. Accept uncertainty.
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 50w
Keep it up!!!
- Date posted
- 49w
@Anonymous66 Engaging with the thoughts is one of my main compulsions and not engaging with them feels almost impossible
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 50w
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.
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 50w
Yesss, this is awesome!
- Date posted
- 46w
I needed that! I have a hard time being kind to myself, thinking I should "be better" at resisting compulsions. This is hard work.
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 50w
To approach my fears - never run from them
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 50w
Yes!!!
- Date posted
- 50w
@dirholly Yes I did the same thing!!
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 50w
Learning to distinguish the “ocd voice” from my own inner monologue
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 50w
Be scared and do the thing anyway!
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 50w
Yes, live the life you want to live!!
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 50w
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.
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 50w
100% agree with you on this. Trying to push away thoughts never works in the long run!
- Date posted
- 50w
Never stop doing exposures 🙌
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 50w
Great reminder!
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 50w
Do the response prevention and do it often. Never slack on the response prevention.
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 50w
Love this!
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 50w
ERP helped me rediscover my strength-to tolerate uncertainty, work through my fears, and live a life according to my values.
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 50w
YES!! Great encouragement!!
- Date posted
- 50w
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.
- Date posted
- 50w
@ysabelleveloz1 that takes a huge amount of bravery 😭 im proud of you 💗
- Date posted
- 50w
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.
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 50w
LOVE! "ERP is about handling the uncertainty instead of fixing/acting." This is great!
- Date posted
- 50w
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.
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 50w
Spreading awareness!!! This is great.
- Date posted
- 50w
@Anonymous Yes!
- Date posted
- 50w
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.
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 50w
OCD's a liar. You're stronger than it!
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 50w
Thoughts are not facts!
- Date posted
- 50w
Being able to catch negative/intrusive thoughts and work through them by checking their cognitive distortions
- Date posted
- 50w
I have my first ERP appointment tomorrow and im scared 😭😭
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 50w
There's so much hope for recovery!
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 50w
@weregonnabeokay Rooting for you!!
- Date posted
- 49w
@weregonnabeokay Same
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 49w
Honestly just learning more about what OCD really is! Coming to terms with my diagnosis & finding more compassion for myself 🩷
- Date posted
- 50w
Can ROCD make you think you don't like your boyfriend anymore and like someone else. It's really distressing:(
Related posts
- User type
- Therapist
- Date posted
- 19w
So you got to ask me anything… Now I’d like to ask you something! I’ve 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. I’ve also had Members share how they’re very scared to begin ERP treatment because they’ve 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 haven’t yet begun to work with an ERP specialist, what is holding you back?
- Date posted
- 19w
Can I hear some examples of specific parts of ERP that has helped you? I've been doing talk therapy for a few years and the major issue I have with it is that I already have analyzed all of my problems from every angle, so I'm kind of just sitting there yapping about it for an hour. I need solutions and things that make me feel better.
- Date posted
- 18w
I’m starting NOCD. I had several years of cbt as a child (well over 20 years ago) and I see a trauma therapist. But now I’ll be seeking further help for OCD and just really scared. CBT wasn’t helpful for me. How has ERP been helpful for you? Do you feel like you’ll finally get your life back? I’m consumed by my obsessions 😢 Would love others feedback if ERP helped you ❤️
Be a part of the largest OCD Community
Share your thoughts so the Community can respond