- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 1y
I stoped having panic attacks and anxiety attacks. I also could sleep the whole night again and be able to leave me house again.
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 1y
Amazing!!
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 1y
@Brooke cookie Oh my God, I struggle with leaving the house in panic attack as well. I’m sorry this may be a lot to ask. Do you have any advice for tiny steps to take? I appreciate it and that’s so awesome, you inspire me (:
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 1y
@Brooke cookie Due to panic attacks *^
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 1y
@jessica_c I don’t know if it is the same for you but treating my OCD with ERP and  and learning to sit with the anxiety helped me be able to keep my anxiety levels for my OCD lower and that helps me not have the panic attacks.  I highly recommend trying to  treat your OCD slowly, and you should be able to see progress if your panic attacks are because of OCD as the anxiety levels should go down. I’m sorry you’re struggling with this having panic attacks from your OCD really sucks.
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 1y
@Brooke cookie My panic attacks are basically a reaction to super high anxiety and stress. Getting my anxiety and stress to a normal or lower level pretty much stops me from having them.
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 1y
@Brooke cookie Thank u so much this is really helpful (:
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 1y
When something I thought was going to be a 6 turned out to only be a 4 which then only took 4 minutes to get to a 1 during session
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 1y
This will provide encouragement to a lot of people! You're stronger than you think :)
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 1y
When I was having intrusive thoughts and still went about my day like nothing was happening.
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 1y
Nice work, stay the course! Teaching OCD that YOU are the one who's in charge.
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 1y
@Brenna - NOCD Team Member Thank you so much!
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 1y
When I am realizing that I'm not in control
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 1y
We know how challenging this can be.. awesome progress!
- Date posted
- 1y
When I had a full conversation that included some triggers and I felt no feelings of panic and my thinking felt truly rational. My husband and I high-fived because it was such a huge improvement!
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 1y
Love the support!!!
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 1y
When I was able to get from a seven to a one - to actually work through an exposure and have my mind calm down.
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 1y
Keep it up!
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 1y
When I was able to walk outside and see all the grass move and sway and the light reflect on everything and see how life is so beautiful!
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 1y
Absolutely love this. Being able to notice the little things :)
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 1y
When I could sit with the feeling of anxiety in my body, the discomfort, and not have to do anything about it 🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 1y
A huge "win"! You CAN handle uncomfortable feelings, no matter what OCD tells you!
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 1y
Pretty sure I unknowingly suggested my biggest fear as an exposure yesterday during session. I have real event OCD and I told the story of what happened. Felt so light and free after the session. Today, not so great ( but I’m still doing better)
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 1y
Progress sometimes isn't linear. Keep it up with the exposures - that is awesome!
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 1y
I left the house.
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 1y
YES!
- Date posted
- 1y
When it clicked that me and my ocd were not the same person.
- Date posted
- 1y
Some of my intrusive thoughts were drowned out by my therapist’s voice. 🙌💗
- Date posted
- 1y
I have hyper awareness which is linked heavily to my health anxiety ocd. After resisting the compulsion of body checking my movement. I got up from a self coached 35 minute session and I felt that lingering anxiety went from a constant 4/10 to a 1.5/10. Progress over perfection.
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 1y
Keep it up! Thanks for sharing this piece of hope!
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 1y
When my intrusive thoughts weren’t bothering me as much
- Date posted
- 1y
I noticed my ritual/compulsion to record most of my day turned into only half. Currently I’d say only 30-35% of my day I document which before was about 90% 😌
- Date posted
- 1y
@SpiceyPisces Keep it up you are doing great and amazing progress! You are telling OCD you are in control of the situation. Give yourself a little something for what you have accomplished a little self care goes a long way!
- Date posted
- 1y
@IN-tuition-FJ Thank you so much for the kind words of encouragement!! 😊 it’s a work in progress but I know I have definitely come a long way as many others have! ☺️
- Date posted
- 1y
@SpiceyPisces My pleasure, but it’s all you! You have done the best you can and for that i congratulate you! Keep it up!
- Date posted
- 1y
@SpiceyPisces A little extra I like to say is that breathing exercises help a great deal, the same goes for walking in nature because Nature does not judges. Grounding - putting your feet on the ground, grass, sand can help because of the elements, now I know this one might be hard to accomplish but if you do this one with meditation or simply listening to some soothing music it will be easier. I wish you the best SpiceyPisces! 😊
Related posts
- User type
- Therapist
- Date posted
- 25w
Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) isn't always easy, but as one of the most effective treatments for OCD, it's worth it. If you've started ERP, what has been the biggest surprise you've experienced in learning to resist compulsions? If you haven't started ERP yet, what is holding you back from starting?
- User type
- Therapist
- Date posted
- 25w
I was just thinking about how OCD tries to be tricky and switches themes on us!! The amount of times I have said to myself in the past, IF ONLY I HAD THE OLDER THEME I USE TO WORRY ABOUT BECAUSE THIS NEW ONE IS SO MUCH WORSE!!! Has anyone ever experienced this before? Once I started ERP therapy, I began to really start understanding what mental/physical compulsions I was doing to really keep my OCD alive! While I did this, I would also tap into my self-compassion bucket, even when it felt like it was dry at times, because it was SO easy to judge myself for because of the sheer presence of my thoughts. I would also have the most self-compassion for myself for those taboo intrusive thoughts that really felt so strong, ego-dystonic and real!!! My OCD would hop around from theme to theme and just when I thought I figured it out (compulsion) it would hop again and make me discouraged! I noticed for me that once I really understood my compulsions, it didn't matter when the theme switched as I could tackle it at its core. If I was able to stay steadfast and resist compulsions the best I could, I started to notice that my CONFIDENCE increased in the long run! I also noticed that some of the core fears were the same for different OCD subtypes. OCD treatment is hard BUT living with OCD is harder. I have experienced subtypes including Harm OCD, ROCD, Moral Scrupulosity, Sensorimotor, Contamination, Perfectionism/Just Right, Hit and Run, Magical Thinking, Real Event/False Memory. ERP therapy allowed me to really work on stopping these compulsions and switching from theme to theme. I was fed up with what OCD took from me and I needed to do something about it. I talked to an ERP therapist and it was one of the best decisions of my life. If you are struggling, keep pushing and get the help you deserve!! You got this!!!
- Date posted
- 17w
I had just posted a summary of ERP for a group member, and I thought it might be useful for everybody. Here it is below (with a little extra added)…. ERP therapy is researched-based. Most other therapies don’t work. There have been people who have been literally stuck in their houses (from their OCD) who gained their lives back through ERP therapy. NOCD does ERP therapy exclusively. You can find it in other places too, but you have to ask around. There are two tenants of ERP therapy: The first one has to do with the repetitive thoughts inside our heads. These thoughts are actually defined as “obsessions”. You are not supposed to do anything with the obsessions. You are supposed to let them run through your head freely, without trying to fix them or stop them. Imagine a tree planted by a river. The leaves fall off and float down the river. You can see the leaves falling, but you don’t try to stop them or pick them up. You don’t try to fix them. You just let them float away. This is really important to do with your obsessive thoughts. The more you try to fight them off, the worse they get. I used to have blasphemous sentences running in my head 24/7. I felt like I had to put a “not” next to each sentence in order to “fix” it. But this just took hours of my time every day, and it was very scary, because I was worried that if I messed up, that I would go to hell. It was very freeing to learn later that I could just let those sentences run freely through my head without trying to fix them. The second part of ERP therapy is all about “denying your compulsions.” Every time OCD tells you that if you don’t do things a certain way that something really bad will happen, that is a compulsion. Once you recognize what your compulsions are, ERP therapy will have you practice stopping doing all of those things. For some people, that will mean stopping washing their hands or touching lights switches or, in my case, putting “fixing” words in their head. Compulsions are safety behaviors. During ERP therapy, you will practice stopping engaging with safety behaviors. All this is very hard to do and scary, so during therapy you will be given tools to help you deal with the fear. Often ERP therapy will take people from being non-functional to functional. I highly recommend it. ————————————————- PITFALL #1: After you have been doing ERP for a while and become somewhat successful, the OCD will try subtle little tricks to bring you down again. The first one is to tell you that your thoughts are REAL and not OCD, and therefore you can’t apply ERP therapy. Don’t fall for this trick! All thoughts are just thoughts. They are all meaningless. Don’t try to figure out what is real and what is OCD. Just treat all thoughts with ERP therapy. PITFALL #2: The second pitfall is that OCD will tell you that you can’t move forward unless you have absolute certainty that you will be safe. Hate to tell you this, folks, but there is no certainty in life. You will never know for SURE that you or your loved ones will be “safe” from the OCD rules. Therefore, you have to move forward in the uncertainty. It’s hard, but it gets easier with time and practice. We got this, guys !!!!!!
Be a part of the largest OCD Community
Share your thoughts so the Community can respond