The truth about ERP

It wouldn’t work because it wasn’t making me feel better right away. It gets worse before it gets better.

The RP is the most important part, not the E.

Not me, but my family. Doing certain exposures will make you a bad person (related to ROCD)

It wouldn't work on Pure OCD or just obsessive thoughts...I was wrong!!!

That it might not work for my specific case. My OCD is real. It’s not imagined.

It doesn’t eliminate OCD, but it helps you live your life again.

I think I always used to think that ERP was meant to help me calm down or stop having bad thoughts, anxiety, or confusion when in fact it's all about letting those things be there all the same and learning how to manage them until they pass. And it happens all the time, not just when you're in therapy or practicing it, but also when it hits you out in the wild- especially then, really.

That each session is going to be a massive rollercoaster that is going to be the scariest thing in your life. It's a process all about making new pathways in your brain and making the good pathways faster.

A friend told me that “because it makes you uncomfortable it’s not doing you any good”

A. That my therapist had to specialize in ROCD. B. It wouldn’t work unless I knew exactly what we were doing. C. It wouldn’t work unless it was the same as what I have researched. Omg I was so wrong about so many things

That it's torture. It's really hard, but its not torture because torture harms you. ERP will help you.

If I do ERP my ocd will get worse.

Writing out the worst case scenarios means they will come true

Some triggers are inappropriate for exposure like harmful dust but that doesn't mean it applies to all triggers and shouldn't be used as an excuse to not engage in it for triggers that are such as checking rituals. OCD is all or nothing. But the myth is that ERP is a catch all, perfect treatment which it isn't however it does have limited application.

That I would be judged for my obsessions

What is erp

That it is bad to feel uncomfortable in the process. The temporary discomfort is worth it for the long term results.

That one has to start at a high anxiety level for ERP to work. I think where I'm from, that's a widely spread misconception amongst therapists. It might work for some OCD sufferers, but for others, like myself, it made ERP impossible. I'm glad I did online therapy with OCD specialists from the US and Canada. Their approach is so much better in general, than any therapy for OCD I got in my country.

A big one for me is the idea that my exposures have to be extremely intense all the time in order to help me. Sometimes I will use a low-rating written exposure on a day I’m feeling anxious and it helps so much

I thought it would make me give into committing the crimes I was scared about (i have pocd and zocd) but as i did it further i noticed myself less and less afraid to be around triggers.

Worried that it won’t work for REOCD, that it will make me so much worse, etc.

That it’s “too mean”. It works!

I thought that the therapy would be easy but personally I don’t think I knew what was going on because it was kinda hard to find out what my OCD was doing to me

That is was hokum.

It will cause me to be a bad person

It fixes you, I'm broken forever despite therapy. Some of us aren't meant to be happy

My dad seems to think that because I'm doing erp it's ok for him to do "surprise exposures" like sending my pictures of things I'm phobic of. He thinks it's hilarious, but he clearly does not understand the level of trust it takes to do ERP

I had no idea how effective therapy could be.

That reading an imaginal script will somehow manifest the thoughts coming true

That it isn’t currently the best form of therapy for OCD at the moment because it is 💯

Some of the exposures actually WILL hurt me

One myth is that it's available to everyone. It's an expensive practice only practiced by a few therapists...thus only availing the help to the wealthy amongst us. The rest of us will be bogged down by the affliction of ocd with no reprieve.

You have to do it perfectly in session and by yourself

I have a story for this. But Not2today. I have a memory or a connected thought to everything as a matter of fact... I wasn't really sure what ERP therapy. I was introduced to it here just months ago. But according to the name, exposure and response prevention, I understand what it does. I guess I have to tell you the story to explain my misconception that ties to this question. (My stories, I guess is how I understand and break information down. What is this, what now... geesh!) Now this is an compulsion and I mostly need explanations this way. Don't skip over stuff I need the entire scenario. I love other like this because I'm like this and I know for sure "it" has a name. Anyway, telephone surveys about violence on TV, in movies and songs. Oh and video games! I use to get calls from those trying to prevent or placing "ratings" on the above list. They believed violence in movies, music and TV shows would influence kids to become violent. The wanted to ban these movies, I was like oh my gosh Noooo. I love violence iny movies. The blood, the gore, tge slicing off a limb and splatter of blood on the camera lens. Initially, I thought it was hogwash, I felt if a person is violent it's because they are violent. And then I thought no music, TV show, video games or music made me feel like I wanted to commit crimes? Or influence me to be violent... hogwash! Then one boring typical day of my life, I watched Mississippi Burning, Mommy Dearest, and some other weird ole' school that was popular to the entire world but I cared less to watch. Anyway, because I had not seen/watched many "black movies" intentionally or many old school antiques I set out to correct my wrong doings. Those movies gave me intense feelings of upset and displayed to much negative representation and steeorypes. But I watched and I played them loud inside my apartment then and had them hooked of to my new surround sounds stereo system. (Yay!) I like the effect of being at the movies and ingulfed in the sound effects. Anyway, Just at middle toward the end of Mississippi Burning, (my girlfriend said watch that one last because I would make me angry [for what?])... my doorbell rung and a loud unsuspected knock at my door. I jumped up from the couch, swung the door opened swiftly and said, "What!" In the most intimidating angry and aggressive voice that I had ever heard come out of my body? A mailman. (black) was like, Nevemind, just leaving your packet, try to have yourself a good day anyway... angrily as well. I recognized my tone, my emotions and my behavior immediately. I'm sorry, Sir I'm watchjng this movie and I can't believe it. He kept walking, brushed me off. I closed the door, turned the TV volume down. And thought back to those phone surveys. Oh, woooow. She meant emotions? POINT: I try not to include, hide or suppress my emotions. Growing up loosing my mom at an early age, I did not want to feel. I taught myself not to. (Well you know I did feel, but suppress them, all of them until my response to everything was numb. (This is probably why most of my high school is a space of blackness. Hard to recall and remember all details like I can in every other part of my life. Just bits and pieces that I have to alway piece together like a jigsaw puzzle. Answer: I thought if you weren't gullible, naive or a "follower" you could not be influence. Younger; but I was absolutely incorrect. Exposure, that word alone makes a world of difference and has taught me so much that I think completely different about the 5 Para above. My misconception of ERP is my crazy life, having been exposed to almost everything... I think? Maybe, some people have horror stories, not that bad... that ERP would not really work on me. My repeated exposure to trauma and suppression of "feelings" won't allow it to work. Not until that 1 Counselor had my to turn those dog on "feelings" back on. "And how does that make you feel" She said. Ugh. I'd never think about it because I didn't want to know. I loved and I cared but in a distanct kind of, don't crowded me way. If that makes any sense at all. My perception is that I didn't think it would work. (Avoidance, that's it!) Exposure and exposing my true feelings without suppressing them to recognize and understand the why behind the response ("feeling, i.e emotion... ") Ugh, yuk.

Like, hypnosis. That doesn't work, but would not want to try it either. What is that saying, mind controlling thoughts instead control the thoughts. That part. "Work in progress.."

ERP doesn’t cure OCD. You have to do it for the rest of your life and it’s always going to suck, but it doesn’t suck nearly as much as OCD.