I’m so tired practicing ERP like I’m so mentally exhausted and also feel a little unmotivated. I don’t want to feel anxious it’s freaking me out now but I have to do it to stay vulnerable. How do I do stay motivated and strong-willed?
This is just me personally I don’t practice anything directly. Instead I try to live life to a positive standard and focus on the matters at hand. To the extent possible I leave OCD & GAD in the background and that way for me things will run their course.
@777Q I tried doing that and it kinda backfired
I understand. We are all wired differently and need to do what works best for us as individuals to achieve good outcomes .
@777Q Thanks though I appreciate it
If it helps, when I do ERP and I'm in the do not respond part, I literally go through all five stages of grief and feel like I am going through withdrawal, the substance I'm withdrawing from being a compulsion. You're not alone. Idk if you're practicing ERP under guidance of an OCD specialist, but when I did a really distressing ERP and I felt so hopeless, my OCD specialist said it's okay to stop and refocus my efforts elsewhere. I have depression so I also have a behavioral activation plan with my therapist and so I went for a walk, as unmotivated as I was to go for a walk.
@Anonymous Thank you for sharing your experience! I’m so sorry to hear the troubles of resisting compulsions though that sounds so tough. Unfortunately for me, I don’t have a therapist or any sort of professional guidance, I am doing it all by myself. It sucks too, no one really relates. That and I have to be on top of it. I really need help. I’m stuck in a 3 week long episode and it’s really bumming me down.
@Emilia<3 If you don't mind sharing, what does your self-guided ERP look like? Perhaps I can share tips on how I would go about it. Maybe you're throwing yourself into the deep end of the pool rather than starting at the manageable kiddy pool.
@Anonymous Ngl I kinda am
To peoples who are struggling with ocd and wants to know if ERP will actually work or not read this: It's been a year I'm struggling with OCD, in 2023 I didn't realize that I was being a victim of OCD, I thought it was normal to worry about the thoughts I was having, actually the thoughts are not even about me, I'm having thoughts about singer's sexuality since years I know it may sound silly but I have been since a year these thoughts are real to worry about, in January my ocd became stronger, I strat having episodes of ocd every week, in may I got to know that I have ocd and from the moment I got to know that I have ocd I didn't have a single day struggling without ocd, in April I started doing ERP it's been 5 months I doing ERP but I'm not still recovered fully but yeah I don't have episodes anymore, I don't worry about the single thoughts for days but still my every thought is controlled by ocd , I still have anxiety which is out of control, I still feel like these thoughts will never go away but I choose to live the way I want without caring about these thoughts.....I know no one's free to care about my mental health but if anyone's reading this please encourage me😔🙏
Happy Tuesday friends. Question for you all: I have recently started ERP therapy (about one month ago) and I feel in a way it has helped. But I also notice that I feel the thoughts I do have are SO intense that I feel like I’m gonna explode and then I’ll cry and get upset but then feel better after having a “freak out”. Does this happen to any of you guys? Also, I told my therapist yesterday some of the exposures we had been doing made me uncomfortable. Like really really uncomfortable. She made me feel a little bad about not doing it and stated this would prolong my progress if I didn’t do it. I’m not sure if I should push my self to do this exposure because she told me to or to stick up for myself and move at my own pace. Thanks everyone.
Hi, I don’t know what to do anymore Pocd kills me I had many themes before but this theme is the hardest for me. I’m tired. I’m on therapy and meds but I barely do erp . I don’t have a reason I just don’t want to do it but today I will because I have to. I’m taking meds and they help with the anxiety for sure. But the obsessive part is still here . I’m almost 2 months on it (40 mg on Prozac) but I’m still super obsessed like I can have thoughts 24/7 every second of the day and not leave me alone. I have experienced a thought right now for a month + . It’s a thought to do compulsion/urge. My therapist says to let go and gives me tips how to she also tell me to do more erp. But I have this thought to do compulsion for more then month. Im scared what if I don’t have ocd the thought is 24/7. Do you think I should switch meds im so tired.
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