- Date posted
- 5y
- Date posted
- 5y
I suppose medicine is there to mask the problem and when you come off it shows its face again. Im guessing you've tried ERP? Forcing your brain to accept uncertainty is difficult but the best thing for everyone with OCD long term
- Date posted
- 5y
I've done some ERP, but I'm not entirely sure how to do it with fears that I can't exactly face in real life, if that makes sense.
- Date posted
- 5y
@seekingvee The way to do it is when the worry comes in, accept that it could happen but until then you don't know so no point in going over it. So every time it comes up which im guessing is a lot, just say, yes that could happen. Yes it would be horrible if it did but its a what if, ERP is about exposing you to your feared outcome and preventing yourself from responding to it. After weeks of showing your brain its response is irrational, you will stop feeling desperate to figure out an answer.
- Date posted
- 5y
@DrBurnzz So imaginal exposure, essentially?
- Date posted
- 5y
@seekingvee Example; Old way: Thought - What if my meds give me brain cancer; Response - check online Thought - what if im on meds forever Response - check online New way; Thought - What if im on meds forever? response - ye that would be bad Thought - sort it out then?? Response - no its a what if thought Though - but what if it happens??? Response - then it does ?♂️ Thought - WTFFFF?? Response - ? Thought - oh maybe its not that bad after all
- Date posted
- 5y
@DrBurnzz Your mind wants certainty thats its going to be ok, its natural state is to survive so when theses thoughts come in and you react with danger then your brains natural reaction is to figure it out. But you cant figure out the future so when your worry thought pops up, react appropriately and say yes that would be bad whatever. Dont go down the rabbit hole of taking the worry seriously and trying to get certainty from an in solvable problem
- Date posted
- 5y
@DrBurnzz Gotcha! So I have to do that and try to figure out what my compulsions are. I'm primarily obsessional, so I often don't realize that something is a compulsion because it isn't logically related. I do know I skin pick when it's really bad, and I do compulsively research. I've been resisting the urge to research long-term effects of prozac lol
- Date posted
- 5y
I think about this too sometimes, but remember you're the only one thinking that. Try to take the medication a month at a time. Set yourself goals in therapy that will help you reduce the medication if you want and your doctor approves it. Focus on recovery rather than the thought that you may never be recovered enough to be stable on your own. By the way, you're not alone in this thought by any means - it's not a nice thought to have.
- Date posted
- 5y
If you really want to be off meds you need to try imaginal erp. I have a lot of health related fears too, have been working with a therapist. Erp has been like creating a really detailed story where my worst fears come true. (such as: going to the doctor, getting diagnosed with cancer, going through xyz treatments, it doesn't work, eventually dying) I record this story and listen to it in repeat for about 1 hr each day while imagining that this is actually happening to me. I tjink this is the sort of exposure you need to try without giving into compulsions or distractions. If you're able to work with a therapist it would be easier.
Related posts
- Date posted
- 24w
This is kind of a weird question, but I recently increased my SSRI dosage and have experienced tremendous relief. It has quieted my intrusive thoughts so much and my compulsions are no longer as all-consuming. However, I don’t want to be on this high of a dosage forever and know that medication alone shouldn’t be my only fix. I’m seeing a new psychiatrist on Wednesday and am wondering if the recent decrease in frequency of my symptoms will be a bar to my getting ocd treatment? In other words, if in this present moment I’m doing better, but up until a few days ago my compulsions were taking up pretty much every moment of my waking day, will I still be classified as having ocd? I start getting worried when I feel better that I don’t actually have ocd and just use it as a defense mechanism to avoid consequences of my actions/I’m secretly a terrible person
- Date posted
- 12w
So, I’ve had my OCD mostly “under control” for the past 10 years (I’m 44, battled this all my life). I’ve been on a high dosage of Luvox, but unfortunately it’s lost its effectiveness about 6 months ago. For the past five months I’ve also been doing therapy sessions on this site and have had a fairly good outcome. My main obsessions have mainly regarded around balance and symmetry. Anyhow, I’m in the process of switching to Prozac. It’s only been 6 days, so I obviously feel nothing yet. I made the foolish mistake of googling “What can antidepressants cause?” Unfortunately I found a very recent article of a study showing antidepressant users have a higher chance of getting ALS. There’s also older articles that say the opposite. But this one article FREAKED ME OUT. And I can only focus on the worst outcome. So, now I’m stuck in a repetitive thought pattern of getting ALS from the one medication that is supposed to help me. It’s absolutely terrifying and I haven’t experienced a health anxiety fear like this in years. I want to research more and more online, but I know this won’t help. It will only make things worse. Anyone with health anxiety have any advice on how to conquer this? I’m standing strong and not getting off my medication or doing any research.
- Date posted
- 9w
I had OCD earlier in life, but it came and gone. For the last 4.5 it's been one thing after another, though. Today I felt especially grossed out by my POCD and I feellike I'm losing last hope that I had. I hate to sound awfully dramatic, but I want to clarify things a little bit and ask for advice. So I've been taking antidepressants up until some point, had a break and then started taking them again. In the beginning of this month, I finally finished that second course. This time it lasted 1.5 years. It's important to note that for the last half year I was pretty proactive in finding solutions to my ocd, finding new methods and reading articles. It probably did help, but mostly in short-term. Today I felt like my symptoms (it's mainly groinal response) were scaringly prominent and it made me really depressed. Do I have to start all over? It never got good enough in the first place, so I'm not even sure if it's possible to cure. I admit I might've not been pushing myself enough to do the scariest possible things, but that doesn't mean I didn't do ERP. Now, to the venting part. I'm not sure if anything really helped: if I'm relaxed it's probably just a matter of good mood. I'm anxious when going outside. I feel like I don't deserve friends because of my "dirty" secret -- I feel incredibly ashamed for groinal sensations. There were times when I'm sure it wasn't a phantom feeling, but a real one I caused. But I can't undo anything, so it has to stay with me. My family really loves me, so of course killing myself was never an option. But I still hate myself. I'm too tired to keep on fighting with OCD and bearing the burden of those very shameful events is too hard. What do I do? Maybe I'm just not adapted to living without antidepressants, so I'm being too emotional and all I should do is continue doing ERP. But my point is that I'm too exhausted. Thank you for reading. I see many here have a similar problem, I hope you're staying strong. I'd love to help you all, but I'm afraid that right now I'm not suit for giving out good life advice
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