- Username
- seekingvee
- Date posted
- 5y ago
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
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.
@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.
@DrBurnzz So imaginal exposure, essentially?
@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
@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
@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
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.
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.
I don’t normally make posts like this but if anyone can relate or has advice so I don’t feel so alone I would appreciate it! I feel like crying and I’m so anxious. So I’ve been dealing with an ocd flare up since February. It started out as contamination and harm after I had a really bad experience on a edible. The contamination mostly centered around the fear of someone accidentally giving me an edible to someone putting it in my food or water. Then it went from there to my Brian going you know what’s worse than edibles? LSD. So then I obsessed over that and it’s been like that on and off. I’ve had an extremely hard time with it it’s been one of the worst themes I ever had. I don’t eat certain things. Especially sweets. I avoid them. I avoid taking medication Bc I’m scared. I limit myself. I’m horrible about opening water bottles and if it doesn’t open just right I won’t drink out of it. I know it’s crazy I know it’s untrue but the panic I feel traces back to that night. I don’t ever want to feel that out of control again it scared me so bad I got diagnosed with ptsd (to be fair I had a lot of unresolved trauma that caused my glass to overfill) well, I’ve been going to EMDR therapy it’s got my ptsd under control but the ocd is louder. My ocd is clawing to stay alive. I’ve started to have intrusive thoughts now about my boyfriend might slip something into my water even though ITS NOT TRUE. So then I panic because the thoughts are so irrational that I get scared like why would I ever think that about him???? But the intrusive thoughts are so jarring and I don’t want my ocd to focus on him now! I need advice! I’ve been prescribed pristiq but haven’t taken it Bc you guessed it.,.. I’m scared to! I can’t go on like this! The thoughts are so irrational it scares me even though the rational side of me knows it’s not true but I guess that’s ocd. We get scared of the thoughts even though we know it’s not true and I know it’s my brain trying to keep the ocd going. I know therapy must be working otherwise my theme subjects wouldn’t have changed so fast. I’m so tired of this.
im new here! this is the first day ive really started understanding that i may have OCD. and now that i read about it im so off put by the fact that no one around me noticed this is what i have been struggling with. (my family members are in the mental health field of work) i struggle mostly with what i think is rOCD. it’s been debilitating this past week, but i feel okay right now. i think covid and moving out of my childhood home and in with my partner during lockdown combined really inflamed this problem for me. right now im just working on accepting that i may suffer from this and accepting what that might mean for my life in the future. im diagnosed bipolar currently which i have been able to manage un medicated for about a year now. but this feels different, and i hate hate being medicated, but i feel like i may need to be until i learn some coping mechanisms for this particular problem. just a lot to think about. any thoughts on medication and how to get past the thought that you’re changing yourself by taking it? anyway love to you all, we’re gonna be okay 💌🤝
I’ve been avoiding taking medication for ocd because I’m afraid I’ll be stuck on them for years. I’ve heard of so many people saying they have been taking medication for years… what do you think?
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